Experiencing First Hand the Selfless Realm of Persecuted Falun Dafa Practitioners

In December 2002, I was sentenced to three years of forced labour because I was caught distributing leaflets exposing the persecution. I witnessed with my own eyes the cruel persecution suffered by Falun Dafa practitioners in Jiamusi City Forced Labour Camp at the hands of the police guards. I also experienced first hand how the Falun Dafa practitioners still continued to patiently explain the facts about Falun Dafa to the guards during the persecution.

In the year 2003, the forced labour camp once again tried to force us to give up Falun Dafa cultivation and ordered us to write the so-called three statements¹. Many practitioners maintained righteous thoughts and righteous actions and refused to renounce Falun Dafa. The guards ganged up with the criminal inmates and pushed the practitioners to the concrete floor. They immobilised them on the floor, and using a metal bed as a torture device, handcuffed their hands behind their backs with one arm pulled over the shoulder (a torture called "carrying a sword on the back"). The handcuffs cut into the practitioners' wrists and their hands became bloody. Many practitioners almost became disabled from being handcuffed this way. To this day, some practitioners still have scars left on their wrists, evidence of the crimes committed against practitioners by the guards in the forced labour camp.

I witnessed with my own eyes how a fellow practitioner was handcuffed with her hands behind her back for a whole day because she refused to read out loud slogans that slandered Teacher Li. At night she was handcuffed to a device in the warehouse and forbidden to move or sleep. In the daytime she was handcuffed in a corner of the production room and tortured. She was handcuffed even when she went to the canteen for her meals. This persecution lasted for twenty-two days.

Another practitioner also had her hands handcuffed behind her back for a day because she refused to read out loud slogans that slandered Teacher Li. She was locked in the warehouse and had her hands handcuffed behind her back for four days. She was forbidden to sleep and was not even allowed to close her eyes.

The two practitioners did not give way under the persecution. They finally managed to leave the forced labour camp with their steadfast faith in Falun Dafa. They did not do or say anything that let down Dafa.

Beginning in early June of 2003 we were forced to sit on a bench for as long as six months. In the scorching summer heat, more than ninety people were squeezed into a classroom. We were not allowed to speak to one another and not allowed to sit on mats. The prolonged torture, in addition to the stuffy air, made people feel suffocated. Due to lack of oxygen for long periods of time, some people suffered chest pain and shortness of breath. We were being closely monitored for twenty-four hours. Sometimes even an exchange of glances between practitioners resulted in beatings. However, be it handcuffed, shocked with electric batons, beaten, slapped or subjected to brutal brainwashing attempts, none of these made the practitioners waiver in their steadfast faith in the truth of the universe.

I saw the selfless realm of Falun Dafa practitioners. As the forced labour camp was cutting costs by saving on food, what we were given to eat was equivalent to chicken feed. In these circumstances, one apple or one piece of bread was very precious. Many practitioners gave up this little bit they had and gave it to the practitioners who were weaker, or even offered it to the criminal inmates who were ill.

Of course, when living in freedom, one apple and one piece of bread means nothing. But in such a setting as the forced labour camp, this kind of selfless giving was extremely precious and viewed in a different light. The practitioners frequently used all kinds of opportunities to clarify the truth about Falun Gong to the criminal inmates. They showed concern for the daily lives of these inmates. Their kindness and righteous actions deeply moved some criminals and led them to experience the wonders of Falun Gong. After some of the criminals learned the truth about Falun Gong, they were no longer willing to assist the authorities in the persecution and they secretly helped practitioners in many matters.

Note

1. "Three Statements": Practitioners are coerced under brainwashing and torture to write "Repentance Statement," "Guarantee Statement" or 'Dissociation Statement" as proof that they have given up their belief. In the statement, the practitioner is forced to admit remorse for practising Falun Gong, promise to give up Falun Gong, and never again associate with other practitioners or go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2006/12/31/145819.html