(Clearwisdom.net) Ms. Lu Guifang, a Falun Gong practitioner, was a retired employee of the Yingkou Cigarette Factory in Liaoning Province. On January 25, 2002, police officers from the National Security Bureau in Dalian City broke into her home and arrested her, her husband and her son. She was illegally sentenced to two years of forced labor. On March 8, 2003 she was transferred to the notorious Masanjia Labor Camp and was near death in late April. The labor camp authorities notified her family to take her back. She had since been bedridden, and passed away on November 26, 2003 at the age of 63.

Ms. Lu Guifang was a chief accountant at the cigarette factory, a position that began in 1984. She was widely acclaimed as a good person. She had suffered from dozens of severe illnesses, including heart disease, anemia, thyroid gland tumor, rheumatoid arthritis, edema, gynecological disease, back and neck problems that caused her to lose consciousness several times, as well as internal and external hemorrhoids. It is assumed that her difficult work schedule contributed to these ailments. She took many medications every year and was hospitalized several times. Each hospitalization cost nearly 10,000 Yuan. She often had attacks while at work, and was sent for emergency treatment.

After Ms. Lu Guifang began practicing Falun Gong in June 1995, all of her illnesses disappeared. She didn't take a single pill in the past six years and her family was happy and harmonious. Falun Gong gave her a second life and she actively studied, promoted the Fa and did the Dafa exercises. In 1999, Falun Gong was banned and she took part in the April 25 appeal at Zhongnanhai. On October 1st, 1999 she again went to Beijing to appeal and shouted "Falun Dafa is good." She was taken back and detained for 15 days and was forced to stay away from home.

In 2002, Dafa practitioner Lu went to Dalian City and was invited to a fellow practitioner's home. She was followed. Police arrested her, her husband and her son. Her husband was sentenced to three years of forced labor; her son to one year of forced labor; her sister-in-law was sentenced to three years of forced labor, and the women practitioners were sent to the Masanjia Labor Camp. It was the cold of winter during her detention at Yaojia Detention Center in Dalian City. She paid the detention center 300 Yuan for a quilt and bedcover, but never received them. The extreme cold prevented the 63-year-old woman from sleeping at night. She was also forced to work and sit on the bed in the day. They also physically and mentally tortured her.

After she was sent to Masanjia Labor Camp, persecutors subjected her to forced brainwashing and attacked her. She received tremendous psychological pressure and her vision began to blur. When her mind was not clear, the police forced her to sign "three statements"* written by someone else, which added to her anguish.

Soon after, her lower back was excruciatingly painful, she became severely dehydrated and was at the brink of death. The authorities sent her to a hospital for emergency treatment but her condition did not improve. The officials were afraid of being held responsible for her condition, so they sent an urgent notice to Lu's family around 4:00 p.m. on that particular day, ordering them to immediately pick her up. When Lu's family arrived in the evening, the doctor tore up all paperwork for Lu's physical exams and inspections. He refused to write anything indicating Lu's condition but forced Lu's family to pay a 2,000 Yuan "deposit." After Lu was taken back to Yingkou City, she was bedridden and suffered unimaginable pain, yet the local police didn't stop harassing her. She passed away on November 26, 2003.

In April 2003, instructor Zhao from the Masanjia Labor camp called Ms. Lu's family and asked if Ms. Lu still practiced Falun Gong. He doesn't know that no force can sway a true practitioners' heart. The last thing Ms. Lu said before she passed away was, "I will follow Master Li Hongzhi."

*Three statements (also called guarantee or repentance statements) are documents coerced under extreme pressure, torture and brainwashing, designed by Chinese authorities to ensure that detained Falun Gong practitioners be thoroughly brainwashed. The statements consist of a letter of repentance, a guarantee to never again practice Falun Gong, and a list containing names and addresses of all family, friends and acquaintances of the detainee who practices Falun Gong.

December 4, 2003