NEW YORK, November 9, 2001 (Falun Dafa Information Center) - On June 17th, Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Lan Hongyu, a 35-year-old resident from Hebei province in western China, died after 10 days of torture by police.

Sources disclose that Lan Hongyu, from the Fourth village of Pingancheng town, Zunhua city, Hebei province, was taken away by policemen from the Shimen police station on June 2, 2001, when he was taking care of his grandparents in Shimen.

Ten days later, Wang Cun, the Secretary of the township government, instructed Lan's family to pick him up immediately from the detention center. When Lan's wife arrived at the detention center with Wang, she was witness to Lan's hands and feet shackled to an iron bed, surrounded by several hatchet men in black glasses standing bare-shouldered beside him.

Lan was in a coma, his lower body wet. He did not respond at all when his wife talked to him and cried. The detention center did not permit Lan's wife to inquire about anything, but told her that Lan hadn't eaten anything for ten days.

According to his family, Lan vomited and convulsed, and remained unconscious after coming back. His condition became more severe on June 17th, and he died after a failed rescue attempt in the Beijing Emergency Center.

An autopsy report confirmed that Lan Hongyu died of brain tissue death as a consequence of brain vein hemorrhage and bleeding, which in turn was caused by brutal beating and torture. All his internal organs were bruised.

Lan Hongyu was 35 years old this year. People from the town who knew him all said that he was a good person and he was very strong before he was arrested. He is survived by his elderly mother, his wife, and an 8-year-old daughter.

Lan's death is the 27th verified case in Hebei province attributed to police brutality since the persecution of Falun Gong began in July 1999. However, government sources estimate that the actual numbers are over three times that many.

Conditions for Falun Gong practitioners in labor camps are often severe, with routine beatings, torture, and foul conditions used in an effort by officials to dissuade practitioners from maintaining their beliefs. The "6-10 Office," headed by Luo Gan, was founded over two years ago for the sole purpose of persecuting Falun Gong and those who practice it.

Local officials are rewarded or penalized financially based on how many Falun Gong practitioners they can "convert" or keep from appealing publicly in Beijing, according to sources inside China. Once detained, hunger strike is often the only non-violent means of protest left, though it often results in violent, unskilled administration of forced feeding.

"This death is atrocious," said Erping Zhang, spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Information Center. "The circumstances of Lan's death reveal the XX Party's modus operandi: use any means to destroy Falun Gong practitioners, but take no responsibility for the victims or their families. It constitutes mass murder."