My simple experiences
One day after July 20, 1999, I was illegally detained when visiting Tiananmen Square, merely because I admitted that I practise Falun Gong. At the Chaoyang Detention Centre, the police officers order the detainees to curse and beat practitioners. In the winter they tied hunger-striking practitioners to a wooden board and force-fed them. They also stripped off the practitioners' pants and underwear in public.
One day when I was watching TV with my family, a local police officer came to me and said he wanted to talk to me. He deceived me and sent me to a labour camp. At the Beijing Labour Camp Dispatch Centre I refused to write a "guarantee statement."* The lawless perpetrators forced me to take off my clothes and squat in the snow, with my hands folded on my head. Drug addicts were ordered to stab me with needles. An elderly woman asked to go to the toilet, but the guards didn't allow it. She was forced to defecate in her pants. The guards cursed her out loud.
True Life at the Xin'an Labour Camp
The environment seemed more civilized at this camp, but the guards used more insidious means, and most put on hypocritical faces.
Basically there was no time schedule at the labour camp. We had to do whatever the guards wanted us to do. If the practitioners were not successfully reformed, or if the superiors scolded the guards, they would persecute the practitioners. They also instigated other detainees to hate Falun Gong practitioners. They cursed the practitioners during meetings, forced us to view Dafa-slandering videos and forced us to run up and down the stairs. They also forced us to write reflections on "reform," and they didn't allow us to walk or talk to each other. We had to do a large amount of work and had to meet a quota, even if it meant staying up all night. The practitioners were forced to make toys including stuffed rabbits for the Nestle Company, cloth slippers, knit sweaters, gloves, and mats for export. We were forced to make disposable chopsticks while sitting on our bed and on the floor, as well as uniforms for labour camp detainees. The authorities even forced us to dig a two-meter's deep foundation for a conference hall. We carried out the dirt, bucket by bucket. They didn't allow us to do the Dafa exercises. When someone came to visit, they hid determined practitioners elsewhere and threatened the "unreformed" practitioners not to say anything inappropriate. One time a foreign journalist came to visit, and they ordered us to put dishes and utensils in a disinfection cabinet, which we never used. They didn't even turn on the cabinet, to save electricity. This is the true life at the Xin'an Labour Camp.
How I was "reformed" against my will
When I first arrived at the labor camp, the guards told me their job was hard and that they needed my cooperation. When I refused, they told me they wouldn't let me see my family nor will they release me unless I reform. They also sent "reformed" people to "help" me. I didn't know then what "reform" was. None of them answered my questions; they only told me to write the "three statements."** They lied to me and said everyone at the labor camp has reformed. They didn't allow me to sleep, and forced me to stand for long periods of time. They ordered reformed people to take turns "helping" me, meaning they read Dafa-slandering articles to me non-stop. Some practitioners couldn't stand the torment and reformed against their true will. After they left the labour camp, they returned to the path of cultivation. The methods used to reform practitioners were physical torture, lies, and other mental torment. These deceitful methods do not stand the test of time and fly in the face of facts.
Later I learned that several determined practitioners had been isolated, or were detained at the group drill division. The instructors surrounded them in an attempt to brainwash them. They locked these practitioners in solitary confinement and basically didn't allow them any sleep for half a month. For practitioners who still refused to write the "guarantee statement," the perpetrators would order others to write it and put the practitioners' name on the statement. Afterwards they claimed that the practitioners had written the statement.
The reform rate at this camp has a direct bearing on the guards' bonuses and promotion. Some guards who are somewhat conscientious were forced to administer brainwashing and were not willing to do it themselves. They asked the practitioners to write the "guarantee statements" and once they comply, their job is done. Other guards, though, bore a personal grudge and irrationally tortured determined practitioners. They also forced reformed people to carry out brainwashing. One of my classmates was a former practitioner. She worked day and night as an instructor after she was reformed and wasn't allowed to rest for a single day, even after she fell ill. Now she regrets it. The people who reformed her were former practitioners and classmates. The lack of sleep and tremendous psychological pressure made her feel confused and agonized. She lost faith in humanity and hated the ugly side of it. She wanted to escape the environment as soon as possible so she didn't have to listen to the lies. That is why she wasn't thinking with a clear mind and resorted to self deception and self abandonment. I was also reformed this way. I said things that let down Teacher and Dafa, and I aided the evil persecution. [Note]
The so-called reform is destruction of human nature
After thinking with a calm mind, my conscience told me I did wrong. After I betrayed Dafa, self-blame and regret deeply distressed me. I always cried during monthly family visits. I couldn't tell my family anything, although I wanted to tell them everything. The physical torture was hard to bear; yet, mental torture hurt my soul. During the days when I could not come to grips with myself, I remembered Teacher saying that practitioners cannot kill, and that suicide is a crime. These words helped me to get by those difficult days. I didn't know how to cleanse myself of the stain until I left the labour camp and read Teacher's lectures. I felt Teacher's boundless benevolence and I finally triumphed over my old self and walked out of the shadow. I returned to cultivation.
The persecution is ongoing
Readers, friends, and fellow practitioners! Everything I said is true. I wanted to say more but the environment here is vicious and I have to stop. Looking back, in the early days of the persecution I wrote letters, appealed, and went to police officers, government officials, colleagues, and neighbors to tell them about my feelings and changes after I practiced Dafa. I hoped to achieve justice and peace with my honesty and kindness. Even during the days I was illegally detained I told the police everything I knew, with only one purpose: so we can practice in an open manner, and so our respected Teacher receives just treatment.
I told people about my true experiences. I hope kind-hearted people can distinguish between good and evil, and understand and support Dafa practitioners.
[Note] signed solemn announcements will be sorted and published.
* "Guarantee Statement": A statement to declare that he or she is remorseful for practicing Falun Gong and guarantees not to practice Falun Gong again, not to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and never again associate with any Falun Gong practitioners.
** 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 appropriately brainwashed. The statements consist of a letter of repentance, a guarantee to never again practise Falun Gong, and a list containing names and addresses of all family, friends and acquaintances of the detainee who practices Falun Gong.
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2003/8/28/56410.html
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