(Clearwisdom.net) It has been four months since I was locked up in a small cell. [a form of punishment in which guards handcuff practitioners on their backs in a fixed position, so that the practitioners can neither move nor lie down. The small cell is very damp and no sunshine comes in. Detainees have to urinate and defecate in the cell. Only half of a regular meal is served, rats run around during the night, and the stench in the small cell is so bad that it is difficult to breathe.] The small cells are damp and poorly illuminated, hot and stuffy in summer and freezing cold in winter.
Those responsible for the "June 19th " incident, in which three female practitioners were hung by their handcuffs and tortured to death, remain at large. Instead of being subdued by this atrocity, some police officers have further intensified the persecution. Wanjia Labor Camp authorities have spread false reports to cover up this incident, and have continued their serious violations of law and discipline by illegally extending practitioners' terms of detention. They have also adopted a "Five Nos" policy, by which practitioners are allowed no visits, no fresh air, no conversation, no deposit of any money and no return of their personal belongings. Under such harsh circumstances, we practitioners have suffered great injury both physically and mentally. Only five days after the "June 19" atrocity, the guards once again locked us up in the small cells inspite of the fact that we were still suffering physical disorders and memory loss. While locked in the small cells, most of us developed scabies, running with pus, or eczema on the skin. This was extremely painful and itchy, causing unbearable pain and suffering. Such an extreme situation went beyond the limit of forbearance, and we stepped out from the notion of self to eradicate the evil. The following are some of the ways we used to resist the persecution:
- Writing: Since June 26 when we were locked up in the small cells, we have written to the departments concerned many times, reporting the facts of the incident in which practitioners were tortured by being hung up and beaten, and demanding that the assailants be brought to justice; we also requested that a mourning ceremony be held for our fellow practitioners who were tortured to death. Our appeals have effectively frightened the evil persons.
- Hunger strike: Over ten of us Dafa practitioners went on hunger strikes, demanding that we be moved out of the small cells, and the release of all the illegally detained Dafa practitioners with a verdict of not guilty. Among us, Zhang Guirong (female, 48 years old, a railway worker from Acheng City, Heilongjiang Province) staged the hunger strike for 55 days, during which time she was force-fed twice [Note: requires a tube inserted down the throat or through the nose by guards or inmates who are untrained in medical procedures.] a day, totaling over 90 times. Once, she kindly advised Song Shaohui, the head of a department, "Don't beat Dafa practitioners any more. It is not doing anything good for yourself either." However, before she had even finished the sentence, Song kicked her savagely in her chest. Immediately she experienced difficulty breathing and began to feel lightheaded. Before she realized what had happened, she received a blow to her face, causing an inch long gash on her cheek. She spit out a lot of blood on the spot, and the cut kept bleeding for the whole morning. Her face and gums were swollen for a very long time afterwards.
- Speaking out: We were deprived of almost all personal rights, even the way we sit or lie down was restricted. Once, fellow practitioner Han Shaoqin was sitting cross-legged. A few guards yelled at her and pulled her around. On another occasion, when a practitioner was lying with her legs crossed, officer Guo Qiuli went inside and started kicking her. The practitioner was in pain and felt degraded when Guo kicked her in her genital area, so she spoke out and told other practitioners as well as other guards about it, compelling the lawless police not to dare to behave as viciously as before.
- Practicing the exercises and spreading the Fa: On August 16, officer Wu Baoyun locked all the doors of the small cells, because practitioner Wang Fang had recited the Fa softly. It was in the middle of summer heat and this caused a number of practitioners to feel dizzy and have difficulty breathing due to the lack of air circulation. The next day, we started to practice the exercises in a group. Once, female officer Wang Zhonghua saw practitioner Lin Yongmei practicing the exercises. Straight away, she went to drag Lin out like a mad person. She did not even allow Lin to put her shoes on, but just kept shoving her forcefully forward. Lin stumbled against a chair and fell on her back. The radiator was right next to where she fell. It was really dangerous and she could have been seriously burned.
- Exposing the evil: Some guards had misunderstandings about us. One said, "You are against the government. The government forbids you to practice, and yet you keep practicing." We told her, " It was not the government who forbade us. It was Jiang Zemin and his accomplices who were doing evil deeds in the name of the government. Jiang Zemin has no right to use his position to personally defame and slander Falun Gong and what he said as an individual cannot represent the government. It was Jiang Zemin who manipulated those willing evil villains and the rumor-spreading media to deceive kind-hearted people. It is he who is trampling on the law and violating human rights."
- Clarifying the truth: Some people scolded us, saying, " You are selfish and irresponsible to your family. You don't care about anyone else." When this happens we would rectify their warped thoughts, and tell them, " Since we took up the practice of Falun Dafa, we have always worked conscientiously; we get along very well with our neighbors and colleagues, and always take good care of our family members. But since July 20, 1999, Jiang Zemin and his followers abused their power and started to persecute practitioners, arresting, beating, sentencing us to labor camps, and torturing practitioners to death. If we refused to give up cultivation, we would be laid off from work or expelled from school. Many practitioners have lost their jobs, families, basic human rights and even their lives as a result of the persecution. Under such circumstances, we went to appeal in line with our constitutional rights and from a sense of responsibility to society, to the people and to ourselves. We have done nothing violent or illegal. It is Jiang Zemin who took away the rights we deserved to have. Now you have extended our detention periods, keeping us from going home."
- Suffocating the evil: When we were practicing the exercises, some of the guards turned the TV volume up high, kicking the metal doors and yelling loudly. Some put slippers on our hands and beat our hands with sticks. They pushed and shoved us with force, and locked us up in cells under tight security despite the temperature being as high as over 30 degrees Celsius (86F). They even went so far as to condemn Teacher and Dafa. We tried to stop them, but some of them still acted willfully. So we reported them to the chief officer, because what the evil fears most is the exposure of their evil deeds. Once, after we failed to stop them from doing bad things, we started to recite "Lunyu"[the forward of Zhuan Falun,] and effectively suffocated the evil. From that incident we truly understood the inner meaning of "the Fa can eradicate all evils"("Deter Interference") and "The Great Law rectifies the universe, so it naturally has the powers to repress evil, put right disorder, perfect and harmonize all things, and remain invincible." ("Foregone Conclusion")
- Sending forth righteous thoughts: When they saw us practicing the exercises and eliminating the evil, some guards would drag us out and force us to stand in the toilet. We refused to cooperate. Once, officer Wang Zhonghua dragged a practitioner out and forced her to stand still with handcuffs on. We then started to send forth righteous thoughts. Soon, Wang had a heart attack on the spot and was unable to move, and met with retribution in this lifetime. On August 29, officer Wang Zhonghua deceived practitioner Sun Jie and Xu Lihua into making a video recording. When we asked Shi Yingbai, the Director of the Camp who those people were that had come to make the video recording and why they were doing it, we were told, "I have no idea." Under such circumstances, we refused to be video recorded. Shi then ordered the guards and other common criminals to force us. We resisted and kept sending forth righteous thoughts. As a result, they could not make use of what they had recorded.
- Letting go of concern about life and death: The physical torture in the Wanjia Labor Camp has now been escalated to mental torment, which includes: indefinite extension of detention terms, indefinite confinement in small cells, secret solitary confinement, noise harassment, confinement in hot and stuffy cells, verbal abuse, humiliation and threats (e.g. that they would force us to sit on iron chairs, hang us on the cell doors, deprive us of bedding, extend our detention terms, sentence us... etc.) What is more, in July, they installed surveillance devices in all the small cells, trying to monitor everything we say and do. Facing all this, we understood from the perspective of the Fa that Dafa practitioners should not be controlled by evil assailants! As long as there was an evil element, we would not cooperate, we would not accept it, and we would eradicate it. In the following two months, we studied the Fa, shared experiences and practiced the exercises (all five sets) openly and with dignity, kept sending forth righteous thoughts (20 to 60 times every day) and did what we were supposed to do as practitioners, throwing the arrangements of the old forces into confusion. As a result, the surveillance devices, which cost tens of thousands of Yuan [thousand of US$] to install, are now no more than superfluous decorations. We have also gained a better understanding of what Teacher said, " If a cultivator can let go of the thought of life and death under any circumstances, evil is bound to be afraid of him. If every practitioner is able to do this, evil will of itself no longer exist." ("Eliminate Your Last Attachment (s)")
"The current evil persecution has been imposed on Dafa and the disciples by the old forces. Isn't everything that is done to resist the persecution the most magnificent display of Dafa disciples' being responsible to Dafa and to themselves?"("Path") "Do you know? I completely deny the evil test arranged by the old forces." ("Advice"- unofficial translation) Teacher does not accept the arrangements by the old forces; how could we accept them? Fellow practitioners, do not endure passively; let us advance vigorously together! Let us take the initiatives in suffocating the evil, in breaking through the arrangements of the old forces, and let us keep up with Teacher's Fa-rectification and return home as soon as possible.
Note: All practitioners mentioned in this article are female.
Written on October 26, 2001, Wanjia Labor Camp
