(Clearwisdom.net) Mr. Xu Dawei, a 34-year-old Falun Gong practitioner, was from Qingyuan County, Fushun City, Liaoning Province. Mr. Xu was persecuted for eight years by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials in Dabei Prison in Shenyang, First Prison in Lingyuan County, Second Prison in Fushun City, and Dongling Prison in Shenyang City. Mr. Xu was tortured in a number of ways: violent brainwashing, being forced to wear handcuffs and shackles for extensive periods of time, brutal beatings, being hung up, force-feeding, being beaten with a rubber hose, being pierced with a steel needle more than 10 cm long, electric baton shocks, etc. February 3, 2009, was the last day of Mr. Xu's illegal imprisonment. When his family came to Dongling Prison to take him home they found that he was emaciated, his hair had turned gray, and his face was heavily bruised and stiff. Worst of all, Mr. Xu did not even recognize his family members. Just 13 days after returning home, on February 16, 2009, Mr. Xu died. Upon his death, his body still exhibited numerous injuries and scars caused by the tortures while in custody.

Photo: Mr. Xu Dawei, taken just a few months before being persecuted.

The following are some facts about Mr. Xu's persecution in Dabei Prison in Shenyang City and First Prison in Lingyuan County.

Mr. Xu Dawei was transferred to the Lujian Team in Dabei Prison and kept there for about 40 days. At first, the inmates forced Mr. Xu and three other practitioners to stand facing a wall, during which time other inmates were instigated to monitor and torment the four practitioners. When the practitioners were asked if they would continue to practice Falun Gong, they asserted that they would. Then policemen instructed inmates to remove Mr. Xu's pants and beat him. However, Mr. Xu continued to practice the exercises. Later, Mr. Xu and other practitioners went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution. The inmates then intensified their tactics with brutal force-feeding and hanging them under a ladder for about 20 days.

Mr. Xu Dawei and Mr. Yang Xinyu were taken away for torture and brainwashing. Both practitioners were resistant ,and the police allowed other inmates to strictly monitor them and beat them. They were then taken to the "strict management team" for much more severe abuse. The then-deputy head of the 12^th team incited armed policemen in plainclothes to handcuff Mr. Xu and other practitioners with their arms behind their backs and then sent them to the "strict management team." They were locked in a small cell, where Mr. Xu and the others were beaten by inmates regularly. They were subjected to long-term starvation and were only allowed a small portion (about 100 g) of bread or just a cup of porridge.

The two-person cell to which Mr. Xu Dawei was confined was two square meters. Mr. Xu had to sit from 4:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. After an extended period of time passed, the muscles in his buttocks degenerated, resulting in extreme pain.

On January 31, 2002, Mr. Xu and five other practitioners were taken to First Prison in Lingyuan County. Because Mr. Xu, Liang Hongbo, and other practitioners continued to study the Fa and practice the exercises, they were sent to the"strict management team" and were confined in a solitary cell by Wang Hongbo, the head of the Prison Administration Section. The police designed handcuffs made of reinforcing bar that was 8 mm in diameter and caused severe pain when put on. The policemen used these handcuffs on Mr. Xu for one month; his hands were handcuffed behind his back 24 hours a day and his feet were shackled. He could not move his hands even a little, for even the slightest movement would induce excruciating pain. His skin was broken and infected, which resulted in further festering and pain. The suffering Mr. Xu Dawei endured was unfathomable.

The prison in Lingyuan also forced practitioners to do hard labor, such as making carpets, etc. Mr. Xu resisted by going on a hunger strike, which resulted in brutal force-feeding. He was sent to the "strict management team" many times and tortured further. One of those tortures was the "extreme stretching method:" his limbs were stretched in four different directions for 24 hours a day. Usually a person could not bear it for more than three days, but Mr. Xu 's limbs were stretched like that for seven days the first time and then many more times thereafter.

Wang Hongbo, Head of the Prison Administration Section Chief, over 40 years old, lives in Lingyuan County.