(Clearwisdom.net) My name is Xin Minduo. I am an employee of the Measurement Branch of the Physical Exploration Company.

I started practicing Falun Gong at the end of 1996. When Jiang's regime started persecuting Falun Gong in July 1999, some company supervisors were afraid of being implicated. As a result, I was illegally sentenced to three years of forced labor, and was sent to the Panjin City Labor Camp. At the labor camp, I was threatened, physically beaten, abused, and tortured. After half year of undergoing a painful hunger strike to protest the forced labor and being held for a total of eleven months, I was on the verge of death. After my family was extorted twenty thousand yuan, I was sent home weighing eighty jin (about 88 pounds).

To the right is a picture taken on the third day after I was released. This picture was taken with great difficulty, as I could hardly stand up when I got home and I only managed to stand up by pushing the back of my head against the wall.

When the Sixteenth National People's Congress was held, the police in Panjin City arrested many practitioners. They also came to arrest me at my home. I avoided this tribulation by leaving my home, even though I still had not recovered and could barely walk steadily.

On April 2, 2003, I was abducted again without any reason by the police. They did not notify my family. A policeman stole one thousand yuan from me, which he later denied. A policeman with the last name of Zhao said viciously, "This time, I will not stop until I send you to prison." At Panjin City Labor Camp, I was tortured in the "fixed position" (fixing a person in the same posture for a long time) for one month. Both my hands and legs were handcuffed to the ground and stretched out like the Chinese character da ('å). I was force-fed with tubes inserted into my nose. The prisoners were ordered to clean away my feces and urine. My two arms were severely injured, and I was in critical condition. Finally I was released, but only after my family paid twenty thousand yuan. One week after I arrived home, the police came to harass me again. During that time, both my arms were in such pain that I hardly slept or took off my clothes. After the police left, I was forced again to leave home in a fragile condition. Right now, the scars on my arms are still very visible. If I did not firmly believe in "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance", I might have been tortured to death or suffered a mental collapse long ago. For almost a year now, I have not been able to live at home. The danger of being arrested anytime is always there. When a thief is arrested, he is detained for fifteen days. If he cooperates with the police, he might be released on the spot. If Falun Gong practitioners are arrested, they are sentenced to three years of forced labor. Meng Jian, an English teacher from Panjin Experimental Middle School, was sentenced to thirteen years for practicing Falun Gong.

For the past five years, Falun Gong has experienced unprecedented persecution. There are over nine hundred documented death cases. In the small city of Panjin alone, three practitioners were persecuted to death. Over two hundred practitioners were sent to the labor camp, and nearly twenty practitioners were sentenced to prison. At the detention center and labor camp, many methods of torture are administered. The various torture methods seen in the movies such as "tiger bench" ⁽¹⁾, "soldering iron", and "nailing the toothpick on the fingers" etc. are happening to us daily. New, unheard of methods of torture are also being used. I personally have experienced being tortured and beaten. At the Liaohe Oil Field Detention Center, I have been forced-fed many times. This is also a type of torture. I was pushed onto the ground by a group of prisoners, my front tooth was knocked loose, and my gums swelled up. Thick salt and corn porridge was forced into me. Many times, I almost suffocated to death.

At Panjin Labor Camp, I once was put inside a cage and hung off the ground for seven days. Tan Xiaobiao, the team leader spit on my face and shocked me with an electric baton every day. I was also hung up for three days and nights on another occasion. My feet became swollen and I could not put on my slippers. Also, the front of my body was severely shocked with electric batons. My head was slammed against the ground once. I was once beaten by a group of police with police batons. A policeman named Chen Changli beat me on the playground until he was out of breath. Every day, I was restricted from using the washroom. I was beaten up for going to the washroom. My arms were tied with a broom to the bed, so that I could be forced-fed intravenously for three months. I was forced to sit on a plastic stool every day for almost two months for eighteen hours. I was savagely force-fed very often.

At Panjin Labor Camp, I was handcuffed to the ground like the Chinese character da ('å). A tube was pushed from my nose to my stomach, through which I was fed millet gruel. Several days later, I could hardly move my arms. The police asked the prisoners to drag me by my arms during daily breaks, and they called this "helping move my arms slightly so that my arms would not be disabled". The pain was beyond description. At the beginning, I felt so much pain that I had to cry out. Later, I did not even have the strength to cry out. I spent twenty six days and nights in this state.

After practicing Falun Gong, I worked very hard without complaints. I always tried my best to help my colleagues. I was not preoccupied with personal gain and loss. I treated people with a tolerant heart. How could I do this? Because I practiced Falun Gong. I followed the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance." This is our Teacher's requirement. Of course, there are also people who did not understand me. They said that I was not clever. Nowadays, many people think that it is really not smart to be a good person. In their eyes, I might not be really smart.

We tell people about the savagery and viciousness in the persecution of Falun Gong. Some people do not even believe it, as the TV reports are covering up the persecution.

I am advising those people who persecute Falun Gong that there is no way any of you can do evil using the excuse of carrying out orders from higher authorities. The Minister of the Health Department was dismissed for covering up the truth about SARS. Even if you are a scapegoat, no one else will defend you, as you deserve your punishment for gaining through pursuit and by persecuting people. It is really foolish.

It is very risky for me to write this letter, and I am writing not for my personal gain. I wish to let you understand the truth about the persecution. After this tribulation of being in the labor camp, I went back to my workplace. I saw the fear of my supervisors of being implicated. Also, my colleagues cursed me, which hurt me deeply. I see the twisted hearts of the people who are deceived by the lies. These lies only hurt those who believe in them. There are also many people who know the evil of this persecution. They appear to be very apathetic. Nowadays, some Chinese really do not understand people who insist on defending the truth with their lives. However, they cling and agree to give in under pressure and lies.

After reading this letter, think carefully about this persecution. If you have learned the truth, I will feel my risk in writing this letter was worthwhile. Finally, I hope everyone will be a good person and have a good future.

(1) "Tiger Bench": A victim is tied on a narrow wooden or iron bench by the thighs and knees, with hands tied behind the back. Increasing number of boards or bricks inserted under his feet creates excruciating pain. The police often use this device to immobilize Falun Gong practitioners to force-feed them.

Illustrations of Torture Methods Used in Chinese Detention Centers and Forced Labor Camps, Part 1 http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/11/24/16156.html