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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