Nobly Walking Out of the Forced Labour Camp After a 119-Day Hunger Strike

I began to practice Falun Gong in 1996. During the past years, my morality continually improved, my body was purified and my family life became happy and harmonious. But after July 20, 1999, Jiang Zemin and his accomplices attempted to destroy all of this in order to advance their selfish agenda. Like other practitioners, […]I went [three times] to Beijing to peacefully appeal, clarify the truth and expose the evil to the public. I was illegally detained 4 times after July 20, 1999. In the end, I was sentenced to 1 year of forced labour without any legal process. Now I want to share my experience of walking out of the forced labour camp.

At the beginning of December 1999, my husband and I went to Beijing to appeal. We just wanted to tell the truth about Dafa. Only after we arrived at the National Appeals Bureau did we discover that this bureau didn't welcome any appeals. Instead, it had become a police department for arresting Falun Gong practitioners. After filling out a form, we were sent back to the local police department and were detained there for almost a month. In December 2000, some fellow practitioners and I went to Beijing to peacefully appeal again. We saw that the policemen required the passengers who were taking the train to slander Mr. Li Honghzhi(founder of Falun Dafa); otherwise, they were not allowed to get on the train. However, we got on without being questioned. On the way to Beijing, the police detained us and sent us back to a local detention centre. The police tortured, beat, kicked, poured cold water on us and put shackles on us. I was imprisoned there for half a year without any legal process. I was released after my family paid 2,000 Yuan [500 Yuan is the average monthly income in cities of China]. Less than 10 days later, the police detained me again. Three days later, I was sentenced to 1 year of forced labour.

When I was put into the labour camp, I didn't cooperate with the policemen's persecution. Because I refused to get in the vehicle, they forcibly dragged me into the vehicle. There was another practitioner already in the vehicle and we shouted together, "Falun Dafa is good!" and, "Falun Dafa is a righteous Fa!" We loudly recited Hong Yin (Mr. Li Hongzhi’s poetry collection) on the way. The policemen beat our mouths with books as we recited the Fa. We refused to obey their orders and continued reciting. After we arrived at the labour camp, we were required to report to the policemen before we entered the labour camp [a labour camp requirement to common prisoners]. We refused their request. So they gave it up and had to let us in.

The guards ordered the drug addicts to watch us. A criminal asked me to stand, but instead I sat down in the lotus position. The criminal called the guards. Two male guards asked me to tell them my name while shocking me with an electric baton. I ignored them. They handcuffed me with one hand going down over my shoulder to my back, and the other hand reaching up my back [This is a common form of torture used against Falun Gong practitioners]. They then stomped on my feet to force me to kneel down. At that moment, I thought, I would never cooperate with them. They continued to torture me in this way for more than two hours. On the second day, a guard ordered me to recite the Thirty Issues [regulations of the detention centre for criminals] and write them down as well. I declined. I said that I was not a criminal and he had no right to ask me to do that.

Several days later, a guard said, "Why do you eat, but do nothing else?" […] I decided I should not stay in such a filthy place. […] So I went on a hunger strike. The policeman said, "It's impossible for you to return to your home in this way."[...] In order to compel me to eat, the policemen exposed me to the scorching sun while forcing me to stand against an iron panel during the hottest part of the day during summer. I wouldn't obey. They asked me to stand, so I sat down. Later, they tied me to the iron panel with chains and ropes and exposed me to the hot sun for more than two hours. By that day, I had been on the hunger strike for over 80 days. I felt my body was burning. […]
Though big drops of sweat fell down from my head and body, I felt very peaceful and tranquil. They kept on exposing me to the sun for several days. But I feared nothing. On the contrary, I became energetic. My face became smoother and fair. My appearance seemed to frighten the policemen.

After I went on the hunger strike, the policemen began to force-feed me food and capsicum (hot chili pepper) extract. One policeman pried my teeth open, while another forced the food into my mouth with an iron scoop. One can image what a coarse iron scoop can do to the mouth. All the new incoming people got a new, but coarse scoop. I, however, got an old but smooth one. I did not cooperate with them and vomited all the food. Then they began to force feed me through a tube inserted into my nose. As long as I thought of vomiting, all the food would be expelled. I vomited every time they force-fed me. The doctor who fed me said, "Force-feeding can seriously injure people. A normal person can't even bear it once every 2 days. Falun Gong practitioners sometimes are force-fed twice a day but it seems like nothing happens. Why?" Finally, I began to vomit a green substance. They sent me to a hospital to have it checked. What they took out from my stomach from examination was still this green substance. They thought there must be something wrong with my stomach, so they gave me injections and medicine. Later, I realised that this green substance was bad things. After my 119 day hunger strike, the labour camp authorities thought I was going to die, so they decided to let me go home.
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Source: http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/12/22/17017.html