A Suggestion About the Translation of Torture Accounts

By a Dafa Practitioner in Washington D.C.

(Clearwisdom.net) The articles published on the Clearwisdom.net, both Chinese and English, have had a significant effect of clarifying the truth and frightening the evil, and in the future, these articles will serve as evidence in bringing to justice those vicious perpetrators via lawful means. Therefore, the accounts of the crimes of torture need to be very accurate so that they can serve their purpose well.

I have noticed that some English translations of torture methods are not accurate. For example, in the article "Short Stories: The Power of Righteous Thoughts" (http://www.clearwisdom./emh/articles/2003/9/18/40424.html)

"The Dafa practitioner was handcuffed to the death bed," was translated as, "Then he was tied to a bed, unable to move."

"Handcuffed to the death bed," and "tied to a bed, unable to move" are very different in conveying the extent of the torture.

"Tied to a bed, unable to move" does not give one an impression that the torture is very severe. I suggest that we refer to the annually published English Falun Gong Report when translating the torture methods so that ordinary society understands the facts of the torture and the articles serve the purpose of documenting the torture.

According to the Falun Gong Report published in 2002, Chapter Two "Torture Equipment" (page 48) it says, "Death Bed (also named Death Board) is a very cruel torture device. It is made of steel or a wooden board equipped with shackles. The victim's four limbs are fixed to the board for at least seven days. Because of completely losing the freedom to move, victims usually suffer from muscle degeneration. In severe cases, victims lose control of their bowels and bladders. They excrete directly on the steel plate, causing a unhygienic condition. In order to avoid the trouble of cleaning up, victims would usually be allowed to wear only a T-shirt, or sometimes even nothing at all, further denigrating the victims. Because victims are usually tied to the deathbed for many days, this torture is combined with the torture of force-feeding."

It is our goal that readers are able to immediately understand the facts of the torture when reading these articles, without having to refer to other websites. We need to explain well the cruel facts of the torture cases, as well as the circumstances in which torture cases take place and the victims' physical suffering.

If the translation is not accurate, people will be unable to realize the severe nature of the torture.

November 3, 2003

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2003/11/4/60034.html

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