(Clearwisdom.net)
My physical health was very poor. It was Falun Dafa and Teacher's mercy that saved me and gave me a new life. Because I did not want to give up the practice of cultivating Dafa, I was persecuted. The following describes the persecution I suffered.
Several days after July 20, 1999, people in the "610 Office" in our company forced me to hand in my Dafa books. Because I was a member of the Party, the secretary of the company had already prepared for me in advance a statement guaranteeing to give up Falun Dafa and said, "Just sign your name on this form, and you won't have any more trouble." At that time, because I did not understand the Falun Dafa teachings very deeply and thought that it was not my true self that signed this form, and that I could still practice at home, I signed my name. Afterwards, I realized that I was wrong because it was not truthful and I could be used to make the persecution more severe for other practitioners.
1. Persecuted for Going to Beijing Four Times to Appeal and Clarify the Truth
On February 16, 2000, to ask for justice for Falun Gong and our Teacher, I went to Beijing to appeal and clarify the truth about Falun Dafa. At Tiananmen Square, an armed policeman stopped us and asked, "What are you doing?" I said, "I am a Falun Gong practitioner." He asked, "What are you doing in Beijing?" I answered, "We came here to appeal for Falun Gong." Without any words, the armed policeman arrested us and sent us the Tiananmen Square Police Station. Then we were sent to Qinghuandao government's liaison office in Beijing. We were interrogated just as soon as we entered the door of the liaison office. A fat policeman slapped and beat my face with his palm and beat on my chest four times with his fist. Because I was very thin, you could hear the hollow sound of "Thud, thud, thud" as he struck my sternum. After beating me, he got so tired he had to sit on the sofa. He asked my name and I told him, "Ma." Then he said fiercely, "Your name will be Steadfast Ma!" I realized suddenly that it was our Teacher's hint that I must steadfastly persist in Dafa. That same day, Xinchu Ma, Chunhua Jiang and Zhenglin Jia from our company's "610 Office" worked all night drove to send us back to our hometown. We were sent to the second division of our local police station and then to the city's detention center where we were held for 11 days. My employer refused to pay any of my salary that month.
On March 26, 2000, I was on my way to Beijing to clarify the truth when Changhui Liu, Xingsheng Ma and others from my company's "610 Office" and security department had me sent back. I was sent to the second division of the police station and then transferred to our city's detention center for two months. The policemen did not allow me to sleep. Because I persisted in practicing, they commanded several criminal prisoners to pour more than 10 basins of cold water over my head, then to bind me with ropes and wedge me between the slats of a bed to beat me severely for over six hours during the night. Then I was pushed out the door to suffer in the cold wind. I was also tortured by having my hands cuffed behind my back. Each time my hands were not released for several days. My hands became numb and severely swollen, with blood dripping from them. I also had to wear leg irons that weighed over 20 pounds for a long time. Both of my feet were swollen and I could not walk. When I was released, my legs could not bend and I could not walk. One thousand yuan was extorted from my family members.
On June 1, 2000, when I went to Beijing to appeal for the third time, Guoguang Ma, Changhui Liu and Xingsheng Ma in my company's "610 Office" and security department again had me arrested. I was sent to the second division of the police station and then transferred to our city's detention center for one month.The weather was very hot, so the police rolled me in a cotton quilt from head to foot and put me in the field outdoors to suffer in the sun. They also cuffed my hands behind my back, made me wear heavy leg irons, and handcuffed me to the windows.
On July 2, 2000, on the second day after my release from the detention center, I went to Beijing to appeal for the fourth time. Guoguang Ma, Changhui Liu and Xingsheng Ma from my company had me arrested. I was sent to the police station and then transferred to the detention center. It was July and very hot. Because I persisted in practicing, the police handcuffed me and hung me up in the field outside the detention center to suffer in the sun. At night, mosquitoes bit me. Every day I suffered from inhumane treatment. On July 6, I was sent to the First Detention Center, where I was locked in an iron cage, forced to sit on a "Tiger Bench," (1) had my hands cuffed behind my back and wore the heavy leg irons. On July 18, I was sentenced illegally to a three-year term of forced labor.
2. Persecution in Kaipin Forced Labor Center, Tangshan
On July 18, 2000, six practitioners including myself were sent to Kaipin Forced Labor Center in Tangshan by the second subdivision of the police station. As soon as we arrived at the forced labor center in the afternoon, our heads were closely shaved and we had to recite the rules of the prison. I persisted in refusing to recite them. In the middle of the night, I began to practice Dafa but the prison staff member on duty discovered me. They asked the police to handcuff me to prevent me from practicing. They also send three staff members and two policemen to monitor me. The morning of the second day the police sent me to the hardest labor unit--the quarry. The work in the quarry is very hard and dirty. We must work more than twelve hours a day. Every day we were forced to get up before daybreak and could not stop working until it got dark. We were given steamed black bread and vegetable soup to eat. The quarry was located in an area without water. Every day we were each given only a little bottle of water. We could not wash our faces or our lunch boxes for several days. Our living quarters were in very poor condition. More than 30 people lived in a damp, dark work shed less than 15 by 15 feet. Because we had to eat, sleep and relieve ourselves all in this same small place, the shed smelled horribly. We were locked inside whenever we were not working. Because I persisted in practicing, the policemen in the quarry tortured me. They beat me, handcuffed me, and shocked me with an electric baton. I was never afraid of these persecutions and continued to do the exercises twice a day. After a while they just left me alone. I worked in the quarry for more than two months.
On September 25, 2000, I was detained in the forced brainwashing center with a group. All of the Falun Gong practitioners were gathered together to be brainwashed. A special training unit composed of over forty men was formed. On our third day in this unit, the director ordered us to run laps in the morning. After we were gathered, Director Wang spoke to everyone in the unit. He required everyone to get up in the morning and run laps every day. I said bravely, "I will not run laps. I am a practitioner and I want to practice the Falun Gong exercises." The director said, "How dare you?" I replied, "You can see whether I dare to practice or not." Then I began to do the exercises in front of these people. I was beaten to the ground, handcuffed, and hung up on a big iron column. I told them, "Falun Dafa is a righteous Fa. Why don't you allow me to practice it?" The policeman said, "This is a labor camp and not a place where you can practice." I said, "Falun Dafa is a righteous Fa and we can practice any place, even Tiananmen Square!" I remained handcuffed and hung on the iron column. When I was released from the handcuffs to eat or go to the washroom, I immediately began to practice the exercises. They had no choice but to handcuff me again right away. Every night, the policemen handcuffed my hands and feet to each corner of the bed so that my body way handcuffed in the shape of an X. I was tortured in this way for an entire month.
On October 5, 2000, a meeting of all the prison inmates was held, and all the Falun Gong practitioners were required to participate. The night of the meeting, a female Falun Gong practitioner took out a banner that read, "Falun Dafa is Good!" and everyone in the prison was astonished. When I heard this, tears ran down my face and I was really proud of being a practitioner.
3. Being a Slave in Gaoyang Forced Labor Lead Factory in Baoding
On November 18, 2000, Kaiping Forced Labor Camp in Tangsha received orders from the Ministry of Law to transfer all male Falun Gong practitioners to Gaoyang Forced Labor Camp. The conditions in Gaoyang Forced Labor Camp were very poor and the policemen there were very harsh. Shuchun Gao, Wenyang Deng, Qiyue Li and other 10 Falun Gong practitioners including me were assigned to the fifth unit, which was the worst one. That night the policemen forced us to stand in the courtyard and refused to give us anything to eat. They ordered the criminal prisoners to shock us with electronic batons. The most excruciating torture was when they shocked us with manual generators hooked up to an old-fashioned crank telephone. They connected the electrical wires from the telephone to our hands and feet. The electricity from the telephone shocked us when the police cranked the phone. After midnight, we ten were finally released from this excruciating treatment and assigned a place to rest. We were given two slices of dried-out steamed black bread per person with no pickles. The living conditions were terrible. We were housed in an abandoned unit in a factory with wind whistling into the room. It was very cold in the winter without any heat. We were living with criminal prisoners, and there were over one hundred of us altogether in one room.
The work in Gaoyang Forced Labor Center's fifth unit was mainly farming, although several subdivisions had other responsibilities. Every day I was forced to work outside harvesting soybeans or corn. After several days, some practitioners were assigned to different labor subdivisions. I was assigned to the lead forge factory. The work in the lead factory was extremely toxic, dirty and exhausting. We had to work over twelve hours a day in a high temperature environment. After I finished a day's work, my face, hands and body were covered with black lead powder. Because we worked in a hot environment, even in the winter we would sweat so much that we wore only with a single layer of clothes on our bodies. Any carelessness would cause burns on our hands. The first week I was in the lead factory, three people from the factory where I was previously employed came by to visit me. Actually, they came to pressure me and to find out what I would do if I were kicked out of the Party. They asked me, "Do you want to be a member of the Party or a Falun Gong?" I told them, "I want to continue my cultivation and practice of Falun Gong." They also said, "You can come back with us only if you can write a Guarantee Statement." I said, "Nothing is wrong with my current choice." The police were very corrupt, as were the criminal prisoners on duty. If family members mailed something to a prisoner, the police would take half of it and the criminal prisoners on duty would also take a part. When the intended recipient got his package, there would only be a little left. They always shared these packages mailed to prisoners. If a prisoner refused to give them his package, they would look for an excuse to beat him. If the prisoners worked a bit slowly, they were beaten and verbally abused. There were no human rights in those places. According to the law, it is forbidden to beat and harass prisoners, let alone those who are detained illegally. Jiang's group was trampling the law by executing laws in violation of the law.
Before the Spring Festival of 2001, several of us Falun Gong practitioners contacted the director of the unit and asked for permission to practice the Falun Gong in the lead factory. The director refused. After that, we discussed and thought that we should persist in practicing even it was not allowed. One night, we practiced as a group. That night, the policemen locked us up separately and held an urgent conference to discuss how to persecute us. At 9:00 PM about 15-16 policemen ignited a fire in the courtyard. It was very cold that night and snowing. The police brought us one by one to the cornfield in the courtyard where no one could see us. They peeled off all our clothes, shocked us with electric batons, kicked us, stepped on us and beat us with wooden sticks. We were persecuted like this for more than two hours. Then we were brought to the front courtyard for the "Killing Rope" torture. The number of times the "Killing Rope" is used is different for everyone, with a minimum of five times. After that, we were handcuffed to car wheels so that we could not stand up or squat down. We were persecuted all night and locked up on the second day. We were locked up for three entire days and nights.
On the third day before the Spring Festival 2001, we practiced Dafa and validated the Fa together again. The police handcuffed us one by one. I was handcuffed in the doorway of a corridor to suffer the cold. It was very cold that day. All of the staff of the factory was on vacation for the New Year. Because we practiced, the police were not given time off and more people in the unit were on duty. All the police officers and people on duty were stayed in the room for the warmth of the fire. We practitioners were handcuffed in several different places and some were handcuffed in the rooms. A very old person in the unit saw that I was really cold and he put his own hat on my head. Other people on duty saw this and beat the old man who had given me his hat, saying angrily, "If you give your hat to him (referring to me), you will be handcuffed in the cold!" I was handcuffed in the cold draft for three days and nights.
The day before the 2001 New Year, my hands were handcuffed to the upper level of a bunk bed, my feet not able to touch the ground. It was midnight, and I could hear the fireworks here and there. Every family was celebrating the New Year with happiness. Yet the forced labor camps had detained large numbers of Falun Gong practitioners illegally. They were incarcerated just for being truthful and just for saying from their heart--"Falun Dafa is Good." Jiang had ordered their inhumane persecution. I dangled there the whole night. I was not released until the first day of the New Year when the policemen were changing shifts. When I was finally released, my whole body was numb and I could not move. This was just one more crime in the persecution of the Falun Gong practitioners in Gaoyang Forced Labor Center's lead factory.
After the Spring Festival 2001, my wife came to the lead factory to see me. The police refused her request because I was being strictly monitored and kept alone. At that time, the police asked whether I wanted to continue to practice or not. Because I answered, "Yes," they did not let my wife see me. My wife had to leave. She turned her head and looked back again and again as she left. I saw all of this from my locked room. I told myself silently, "Dafa will bring righteousness into the world. Good-bye!" The police took more than half of the contents of the package my wife had brought me.
On July 26, 2001, because I did not study the Fa for a long time, the attachment of fear and other attachments of ordinary people appeared in my mind. My thoughts became unstable and were used against me. I was sent to the center for forced brainwashing by the vice director of the fifth unit in Gaoyang Forced Labor Center and Director Wang, who was responsible for the Falun Gong practitioners' brainwashing program. In the beginning, they treated me with a hypocritical attitude. After seeing my determination to practice Falun Gong, they changed their attitude and began to persecute me. They handcuffed my hands to two rings, which had been driven into the ground far apart. I was unable to move and could not sleep. I was deprived of sleep. If I closed my eyes, people in the unit on duty would shock me with an electric baton. It was the end of July and the weather was extremely hot. I was left out in the sun in the heat of the day. At night, there were so many mosquitoes that I was bitten all over. Even if it was raining, I would be standing outside in the rain. I could not wash my face and hands and my entire body was covered with dirt, like a Mud Man. We, the five Falun Gong practitioners who persisted in practice and cultivation, were handcuffed this way for 27 days and nights. There was a big chasm where I stood. They saw that it was too difficult to brainwash me into renouncing my belief using their methods and assigned me to another forced labor facility to persecute me with hard labor.
4. A Slave in the Tianyu Printing and Dyeing Factory
Another forced labor facility was the Tianyu Printing and Dyeing Factory. The work conditions there were even worse, and the prisoners were exploited like slaves. We had to work more than 13 hours per day. The work was dirty and exhausting. Every shift we had to carry bamboo baskets that weighed over 100 pounds for printing 23 miles away. If we were too slow, we would be beaten with pickaxes handles and thick wooden bats. We had to continue to work even when we were beaten. If we slowed down again, they would continue to beat us. Despite the physically demanding work, there was no meat or fresh vegetables in our meals. We ate steamed black bread and root vegetables left by the policemen. They used these roots and leftover vegetable leaves to make some vegetable soup for us. Each person only had a small cup of soup with dirt in it per day. Over 150 people shared a small faucet that could not be completely opened. Even though printing factory work is dirty and toxic, prisoners were not permitted to wash their hands after work. The steamed bread became quite colorful when we touched it with our dirty hands. Printing pigments are toxic and harmful to the human body. Some prisoners were forced to work even though they had fevers of over 104 degrees. They were also beaten with sticks and were not allowed to wash their faces, hands, or lunch boxes, let alone their clothes. These conditions are evidence of Jiang's crimes against prisoners forced to work as slaves in Gaoyang Forced Labor Center.
Before the first day of 2002, the illegally detained Falun Gong practitioners in the printing factory began to practice as a group. The police persecuted us again. Special staff handcuffed us separately and monitored us. On the first day of 2002, we were sent to the fifth unit of Gaoyang Forced Labor Center for persecution again. My hands were again cuffed to the separated rings in the ground, and I could not move my body. I was deprived of sleep. Once I closed my eyes, the staff on duty would shock me with an electric baton. It was very cold. I was handcuffed outside and allowed no contact with anyone else. It was a severe persecution not only physically but also mentally. I was persecuted like this for more than a month.
In July 2003, I had finished my three-year term of imprisonment. However, the evil policy was, "No transformation means life imprisonment." From the time I went to Beijing to validate the Fa on February 16, 2000, I had been at home less than a month. I was always being illegally detained. By November 8, 2003, because I had not studied the Fa for a long time and I had been physically persecuted so severely, and because of the intense pressure and an unclear mind, I wrote the four documents guaranteeing to give up practicing Dafa and was released from prison. It was a humiliating thing for a Falun Dafa practitioner to do. It was an indignity to Dafa. I felt greatly sorry to our Teacher and Dafa. It brought negative effects on Dafa. After I got home, with the help of other practitioners, I returned to the work of validating the Fa. I will persist in cultivating Dafa in the future and do well every step on my road to success.
After I was released on November 8, 2003, the thugs did not give up. Once I was home, the people in the "610 Office" in my company had me come to the company and then told me to register in the police station. I answered, "I am innocent and I will not go to the police station. I have nothing to say." I refused the "610 Office" and security department's "request." After that, they were afraid to talk with me. Instead I sought them out by myself to tell them the truth about the persecution Falun Gong practitioners are suffering in the forced labor camps. I asked my employer several times for my salary which had been illegally withheld. My salary, if my memory serves, was supposed to be withheld due to my absence from February 2000 to October 2003, 33 months in total. However, my employer withheld my salary for 34 months. In other words, before I went to Beijing in January 2000, my salary had already been stopped. In addition, I was fined 1,269 yuan, and I had to pay 520 yuan for my board in the detention center. As of now, I have not been compensated for any of these economic losses.
Today, I will use the law to sue Jiang and his followers, to vindicate the truth of the universe, to protect our freedom of belief, and to protect our right to practice cultivation, and to restore justice to our Teacher and Dafa
(1) For a detailed description of this and other forms of torture used in forced labor camps, see
http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/11/24/16156.html and http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2002/2/3/18368.html
