First Hand Experience of Cruel Brainwashing at the Beijing Women's Forced Labour Camp (Part 9)

Part 1: http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200702/38017.html
Part 2: http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200702/38022.html
Part 3: http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200702/38038.html
Part 4: http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200702/38072.html
Part 5: http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200702/38090.html
Part 6: http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200702/38091.html
Part 7: http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200702/38129.html
Part 8: http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200702/38162.html

19. Being Released

(a) Taken To Prison

It was close to the date of my release. My actual release date was September 2002 and it was now July 2003, because of the ten months they had added to my term.

The rumour was that practitioners who refused to be "transformed¹" were given another ten months detention. And if they were not "transformed" after ten months, they were taken from the forced labour camp to a prison.

I didn't know if this was true. But I knew it would affect me. I recall that there were some practitioners who did very well until just before they were to be released. But, when they were threatened with longer sentences, they agreed to be "transformed" or wrote down things they should not write.

In May, a practitioner who had to be released from the camp was taken at 5 a.m. We heard that she was taken to a prison. Then came my turn. And after me, there would be six more people whose sentences were served. The authorities used their last chance to try to "transform" us.

I decided that, wherever I went, I would remain calm. With only two weeks left, no one came to tell me anything With only a few days left, still nothing. Other practitioners were all watching and hoping that I would be released. If I was released they thought they would be, too.

I gave some of my clothes and some other daily goods to several kind "helpers" and prisoners who had longer sentences. Only three days left. That morning leader Zhang suddenly came and called me to come along. She took me through the gate. I asked, "Where are we going?" She answered, "You will know soon."

She took me to the visitors building. We went to the second floor. She opened one door and asked me to go in. I saw a group of four or five policemen coming from downstairs. I was surprised, since policemen were usually not seen in the women's forced labour camp. What was this group doing here? I saw a policewoman in the room. Were they going to keep me in confinement? I asked: "Why did you bring me here? I won't be 'transformed.'" Zhang said: "Oh, nothing. You stay here for two days and then you will be released." "If I'm being released, why do you detain me here and not let me go openly?" Suddenly I understood: they wanted to release me quietly.

Half an hour later, the policemen brought my belongings and left. I looked at those things. They even brought the things I did not want anymore. I could only imagine how those four men had broken into the female cell and packed up everything of mine. They were pretending that I was detained and would receive another long sentence. They wanted it to serve as a warning for others. If not "transformed" there would be a prison sentence. They were making a show.

A normal release procedure is to tidy up a day before one is released. The second day, family members would bring clean clothing, and the person would change. The director would take the person through the prison door to the outside, while other prisoners waved good-bye.

They made a real show of my release. They wanted to keep me isolated from the others and then release me quietly. They wanted the others to think that if they were not "transformed" they would be given another sentence to be served in a prison. They sometimes succeeded with their charade and frightened people.
Now I was isolated from the others. I wanted to expose their game, but I didn't know how to proceed.

(2) What Really Matters Is That You Persecuted Falun Dafa

I walked to and fro in the corridor, so guard Zhang asked, "What are you doing, Zhang Yijie?" "I'm practising walking," I said. "I was held captive for nearly two and a half years in that small cell with little or no space. One is not even allowed to go 'outside for fresh air,' a privilege even given to criminal inmates. It was a 'privilege' if one was given the opportunity to fetch hot water with the others, go for a walk outside, look at the blue sky and take in a breath of fresh air while being in the 'Special Training Team' section."

There would still be a long way for me to go once I was released! I walked despite my injured legs, still wondering if I would be able to leave this place. Was it really true that this nightmare would come to an end? I was not excited, but still some type of sentiment came over me at times. I couldn't figure out what this sentiment was about. I could not guess what this feeling represented.

I looked through the window at the end of the hallway and saw the marvellous blue sky and the green trees. I'd never envisioned that I would leave with dignity. Whenever I watched practitioners being released they were waving. I sighed with emotion and felt sorry for them. I held the thought at times that this would not be the way I would leave. I usually thought only of leaving the land beneath my feet. I never thought of green trees and blue sky. It was as if they did not exist. The scene changed and it was as if they were so close to me and the boundless universe was only one step away, but the picture was still tinged with dark clouds moving along the sky and an occasional flash of lightning followed by thunder.

As I thought, I walked slowly on unsteady legs.

The two guards on duty asked me, "What will you do once you are released?"

I answered, "If I was dismissed by my work unit, I will find another job. If not, I will work there."

Zhang told me then, "I didn't mean that. I meant if you can sign a 'guarantee statement²' not to practise?"

I finally knew what they wanted to know. I told her calmly, "I will not sign the guarantee statement or write anything else. How I make my living is my concern. If this is the condition for releasing me, you may as well take me back to my cell now."

She said, "I didn't imply that."

I said: "That's fine, then." That day we were at peace with each other.

The morning of the next day, the day of my release, Zhang brought something for me sign. I told her, "Sorry, but I refuse to sign." She responded, "I think you'll need to sign this document, won't you?"

She took out the deposit slip I for me to sign so she could return my property. At that time, I realised that someone was taking photos of me from the front and back. They made sure that they caught my face on film. I turned back immediately and lowered my head and stood next to her. She followed me and was on her knees to take some more photos. I turned another time and she followed once more. I suddenly realised that they could make use of this photo and tell others that I had been transformed. The photos would show that I was in cahoots with the police, that we were standing next to each other. How intimate!
I stood up straight and told her, "You can't take my photo without my permission."

She then stood up. When I bent down to sign the document for my deposit, she tried to take another photo. I asked, "Why don't you listen to what I said?"

I said, "Why didn't you take photos of the others when they were leaving. Is your duty to just take a photo of me? And another thing, why didn't you take a photo when my face was bruised and black and swollen from the beatings? Why didn't you exercise your duty then? Why didn't you take a photo of me at that time?" The female guard was speechless and stopped taking photos.

Then the educational section guards, in charge of handing out punishment arrived, came in holding files in their hands. They opened up the file, asked questions, and got ready to put down my answers.

The taking of photos and making notes were for a special reason, as other practitioners were not required to go through these procedures when they were released. I thought that they planned to make a record for "important people." This was not good, so I wouldn't cooperate with them.

I soon calmed down, but the solemn and strong feeling to face death unflinchingly rose again inside me.
When writing this, another thought came to me about keeping in mind or making notes when something is important. It is about the guards, the team chief and also the head of the prison. By being with them those two-and-a-half years, I did see and feel a little of their good sides, something decent left in their human natures. Once a team chief said to me," Since I have been associated with all of you, my temper towards my family has really changed for the better, and I also understand much of the human truth." I believe what she said came from the bottom of her heart.

Speaking to those who showed their good sides, I'm telling you now that it is for your and your family's benefit if you try to open and hold on to the goodness in your heart, put down the "butcher's knife" and stop your criminal activities. Only then is there a future for you--but only if you can pull back before it is too late. You should take responsibility for your own lives and future. Anybody who participated in the persecution of Falun Gong must pay for it, and those police and guards who treated Dafa practitioners well must always remember the proverb that good deeds will bring rewards and bad deeds will result in retribution. The universal principle of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance" will eventually judge every human being.

As to the male and female police and guards and everyone who participated in persecuting me, I have one thing to say to you: "It doesn't matter if you tortured, harassed or hurt me, because I am only an ordinary cultivator. I won't carry any resentment, hatred, nor memory of what happened. I do not carry the wish to retaliate. But it really matters if you persecuted Falun Dafa, for that will decide your life and your future. Therefore, I hope you will think it over."

Then the head of the special training team arrived. She finally gave me the letters that I had asked for many times and which she had refused to hand over. I opened several outdated letters from my family, which had been torn open. I read them slowly, having an upset feeling inside me. This little bit of kindness made me feel that everything had passed.

Several female guards asked me to change into the clothes that my family had brought. I then walked slowly downstairs and towards the entrance door of the forced labour camp.

As I turned the corner of the building I suddenly stopped in amazement.

Almost the entire special training team, except for the several "higher level people," including the officers on duty, were in front of me, face to face. Everyone held an amazed expression on her face. I think this expression said, "Oh, she was not taken to a prison, she is going home!" As to the facial expression of the guards, it was quite surprising. To me, it was awkwardly colourful. There was surprise, complaint, and depression written all over their faces. I was close to shouting loudly, "How do you feel now? Really too bad! I really was released!"

I just watched them, smiling, and we walked away from each other. The news of my going home would spread to everyone in the special training team within ten minutes. The lies about having been taken to the prison would be exposed.

Postscript: I Deeply Regret My Actions

One day I received a strange telephone call at home. The person said in a low and depressed sounding voice: "I want to speak to Zhang Yijie." I answered: "This is she." After a long silence came the weeping voice from the other end. She said: " I am so-and-so from the special training team. I once participated in torturing you. I was the one responsible for having your sentence extended by ten months. I deeply regret my actions towards Teacher Li [Teacher Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa], Falun Dafa, and you. I now understand the truth!" Tears immediately came to my eyes. Still holding the receiver, I replayed the scenes in the special training team in my mind. It was vivid and just as if it had happened yesterday.

All the people in that unit filed through my mind, just like a movie, but nothing else could make me feel more gratified than hearing what I just heard. I said repeatedly, "To be aware is good! To be aware is OK!"

As I put down the receiver, my face was bathed in soundless tears and I wept for a long time. I felt that my entire mind and body was immersed in Dafa's grand mercy. I knew that it was Dafa's boundless benevolence and mercy that had brought about this change in a practitioner who once went astray. I thought of Chen Ying and the many statements on the Clearwisdom website that were written by awakened hearts who regretted their participation in the persecution. I wept for the many who were still on the wrong path and had not yet returned.

In fact, we have all experienced the same kinds of thoughts during our cultivation process. We all let go of our human aberrations thanks to the broad and profound mercy of Dafa, and we became more and more purified and walked a straighter path.

Addendum

I am from Changchun, Jilin Province, and a graduate of Jilin University. After graduation I was assigned to work at the Ministry of Economic Relations and my task was to analyse foreign countries. In 1982, the three Ministries of the State Council merged into one and became the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation. I was also assigned to that Ministry. From the middle of the 1980s to the beginning of the 1990s, I was assigned to the Chinese Embassy in Romania as second secretary.

After being reassigned back to China I continued to work in the administration of that Ministry (now the Ministry of Commerce) as a section director until 1999, when I was persecuted for practising Falun Dafa.
I began to cultivate in Falun Dafa in 1995. I was persecuted for not renouncing Falun Gong from that day in July 1999 when the Chinese Communist regime banned Falun Gong. Because, seven years ago, the former head of the Chinese Communist regime, Jiang Zemin, gave the order "to destroy them physically, starve them financially and destroy them mentally and spiritually," I lost my basic right to earn a living and live a normal life. I was harmed physically and mentally. Because of the rule "guilt by association," my family and relatives suffered and still suffer from this persecution.

After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) publicly declared the ban on Falun Gong in July of 1999, the administrative service at the Ministry began a full investigation on Falun Gong cultivators. I have suffered attacks, suppression and persecution of various kinds for appealing to higher authorities, since asking for an end to the persecution on July 21st, and for declaring openly that I would not renounce Falun Gong. Between July 1999 and March 2003, I lost the Party secretary title, Party membership, and administrative director's title, was demoted to the lowest staff level, was dismissed from the civilian ranks, and was finally driven out of the administration of that Ministry.

After that, I was persecuted for reporting the facts of Falun Gong to the higher authorities and for refusing to give up my belief. The police detained me four times in a detention centre and twice in a police substation and a school. I became homeless and police took me to an asylum. I was sent to a brainwashing centre and suffered brainwashing twice. In May 2001, I was sentenced to one and a half years in a forced labour camp for refusing to "transform" at the brainwashing centre. In the camp, my imprisonment was prolonged for ten months for refusing to be "transformed."

I once had a peaceful and harmonious family and was rather wealthy. All this was destroyed by the persecution. Monitoring and harassment destroyed our peace. The "Breaking them economically" policy ruined us financially, and separation and anger destroyed our once harmonious family.

After I was persecuted, in September 2000 my son and daughter passed the college entrance exam. But, because I was now at the lowest staff rank, I could not afford to send them to college. Our living conditions were poor, and my entire family had sunk deeply. Especially from 2001 to 2003, during the two years when I was in imprisoned, my work unit stopped my paycheck. My family's life was extremely difficult. My husband could not find any way to bring us out of this economic plight and finally had to sell the house because we could no longer pay our mortgage. All his salary went for school and living expenses for the entire family.

For several years my entire family suffered hardship, turmoil, and harassment. It is difficult to describe the bitterness. And the worst of it was the "implication" policy. My relatives in my birthplace of Changchun also suffered from the persecution. They were troubled quite a lot.

The topic of my husband I have tried to avoid until now. He has suffered from the "guilt by association" policy for a long time, and I can do nothing to protect him when facing such a powerful government, not even to give him some peace.

He was head of our country's trade and economic affairs with European countries and a very busy person. Even so, the authorities used him as a bargaining chip in persecuting me, and even threatened him from the day when they tried to force me to "transform" and renounce Falun Dafa. The leaders of the Ministry asked him to be present at every discussion they held with me, and they exerted pressure on him to force me to "transform." I did not swerve from my decision to remain firm in Falun Gong, even when they threatened me over and over again with dismissal and expulsion. I stood openly by my decision and told them that Falun Dafa practitioners were of high morals and the so-called "ban" was wrong. They even sent someone to read a letter during a public occasion: "If you still stand by Zhang Yjiet, we will have to make a decision about your employment." They also threatened him: "Concerning this issue, you must think clearly. You have to align yourself with that of our Party at the Ministry when handling the problem of Zhang Yijie." When my husband received the news that I was about to be taken to the forced labour camp, he went to reason with Ministry leaders. They told him: "We are shocked by your action and will bear in mind your behaviour. I'll write the following down, 'Zhang Yijie cares for nothing but Falun Gong. Her family means nothing to her.' Why can't you see it?"

In April of 2000, I was transferred to a lower level research centre and prevented from working. I had nothing to do other than just sit there, day-in and day-out. All I did was fetch hot water, clean the floor, and get newspapers. I was treated as an outsider, an outcast. Persecution from all sides never ceased.

Since my release from the forced labour camp, staff from the residential committee and my work unit have me monitored at all times. The leader of my work unit said, "You are different than the others, as you did not 'transform.'" When I go to the office, the security guards at our living quarters are forced to get on the regular bus to follow me. My telephone at work and home are monitored. I often find myself followed clandestinely. Especially on sensitive days, they don't even hide that they follow me. The security guards put a desk in the entrance of my apartment building and stay there for eight hours each day. I'm monitored daily. I am not allowed to leave Beijing without the authorisation of higher authorities. My vacation leave and visits to relatives must be reported and approved by higher authorities. I can't have visitors and am not allowed rest in the assembly room at noon. They also have not paid my thirteenth salary for some time. When everyone gets a raise I won't. Last March, during the conferences of the People's Congress and the Political Consultative Conference, two men from the Beijing Public Security Bureau
broke into my desk drawers when I was absent. I was deprived of my leave privilege groundlessly, and there is so much more humiliation I have to suffer.

I want to tell and warn those who continue to swing the butcher's knife to stop persecuting Falun Gong and accept the opportunity to survive. Treat practitioners well, accumulate good deeds and associated blessings for yourself and your families. Leave your door open so you will survive!

I call on people worldwide who hold justice high in their hearts to help bring an end to this persecution suffered by Falun Dafa practitioners in China!

I call for human rights and for lawlessness to end! I call for an awakening of conscience and justice! I call for an end to the persecution!

Let us, people who uphold goodness and justice worldwide, stand hand-in-hand and welcome a new mankind, a mankind where happiness reigns everywhere!

Note

1. "Reform or Transform" Implementation of brainwashing and torture in order to force a practitioner to renounce Falun Gong. (Variations: "reform", "transform", "reformed", "reforming", "transformed", "transforming", and "transformation")

2. "Guarantee Statement": A statement to declare that one is remorseful for practising Falun Gong and guarantees not to practise Falun Gong again, not to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and never again associate with any Falun Dafa practitioners.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2006/11/19/142462.html