By Yang Feng

(Clearwisdom.net) My name is Yang Feng. I was arrested on March 1, 2005 by Beijing police and sentenced to two years of forced labor. I was "released" on September 1, 2006 after having suffered physical and mental torture. Even after my release, the local police continued harassing me. They made it quite clear that if I refused to renounce Falun Dafa I would be arrested and sentenced again. I was left with no alternative but to escape from China.

At 7:30 p.m. on March 1, 2005 I went to deliver experience sharing articles downloaded from the Minghui/Clearwisdom website to fellow practitioners. However, within less than two minutes of entering the practitioner's home, about eight policemen broke into his home; only one wore a police uniform. Without showing any ID they ransacked the practitioner's home and arrested us. The police took my keys, pushed me into another car and went straight to my home. They confiscated my computer, two printers, dozens of Falun Dafa books, hundreds of CDs, two address books and some other items. At about 12:45 a.m., they took me to the local police station. At 9:00 a.m. I was taken to the Haidian Police Sub-station. At about 4:00 p.m. I was locked into Cell No. 7, Section No. 1 at the sub-station's detention center.

This is a cell of about 20 square meters in size. It has a very high ceiling, and there was only one dim light. In this cell there was a one-meter square toilet and a half square meter area for storing quilts. A total of 21 people were locked into this cell. There was only one bed, which was 4 x 2 meters in size and made of bricks. The so-called bed was only 15 millimeters above ground and covered with a very thin layer of planks. There was no hot water all year round, and we could only take one shower per week. Each shower was only three minutes and several people shared one shower. We put our clothes back on when wet, because of the time limit. Every morning the breakfast was a cup of rice water, some preserved pickles and a piece of steamed bread. Lunch and dinner were boiled cabbages leaves and steamed bread. The leaves were not washed, leaving a layer of sand in the bowl. When sleeping, one could only sleep sideways with one's chest pressing close to another's back. It was very uncomfortable and our bodies ached after getting up. As a matter of fact, sleep was rather painful.

March in Beijing was still very cold. However, the camp guards opened all the windows and we had to sleep in the cold draft. We therefore had to cover our head with towels. This not only kept us warm, but also blocked the dust falling from the ceiling fan. There was a thick layer of dust on the fan, which was blown all over the cell.

Since I was arrested at the fellow practitioner's home I had not slept for one day and night, and I was exhausted. I was interrogated from 8:30 p.m. until midnight. Liu Dafeng was in charge of my case, and he took me to his office. Upon entering the office he began swearing at me with very dirty and obscene language. He kicked me and swore at me while taking notes. Finally, he asked me to sign the record. I refused. He swung my head against the wall by pulling my clothes and kicked me. I told him that Falun Gong practitioners all tried to be good people in accordance with the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance." I had not done anything wrong nor committed any crimes so I refused to sign. The next day I reported to guard Wang Wei that Liu Dafeng beaten and swore at me. I asked to change to another preliminary hearing officer. Wang said OK. However, that evening it was still Liu Dafeng who interrogated me. He swore at me as before and ignored my request. I went on a hunger strike to protest the mistreatment. This went on for three days. On the fourth day, the detainees who were held in the same cell (non-practitioners) cried and begged me to eat something, as otherwise I would be force-fed, and they had to help with the forced feeding. They were the ones who would hold the practitioners' hands and feet and force-feed the practitioner with very thick salt water (they only mixed it with a little bit of milk power). These inmates said they didn't want to watch us being tortured. This was because after force feedings every practitioner had blood all over their face. I strongly requested that they change the preliminary hearing officer, but they refused.

After the second week at Haidian Police Sub-station, the Security Division brought in four former practitioners, who had enlightened along an evil path and renounced Falun Dafa, in an attempt to "transform" me. It lasted three days, from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. daily. Finally, Yang Jian, head of the Haidian National Security Division, came in person. He told me that other practitioners were not treated like this and that he did not want to sentence me. At the time I did not understand what he really meant. I thought it was because I had relatives abroad. In late July, 2005 he repeatedly came to the forced labor camp to talk to me and clearly spelled out their intentions. He asked me to be a special agent. He promised me that if I agreed they would release me instantly. I refused.

In April 2005, they sentenced me to two years of forced labor without any legal procedure.

On April 12, 2005, I was taken to the Forced Labor Dispatch Center in Beijing. On the first day I was held in a separate cell. The guard nicknamed "King of Big Eye" was assigned to talk to me. In an attempt to force me to write a guarantee statement she talked to me for three hours. She sat on a chair cross-legged. However I was forced to stand in front of her with my hands resting at my sides and was ordered not to move. After she left I tried to move my legs and almost tripped, since my legs were too stiff to walk. At the time, there were two drug addicts in the cell who helped me walk. The "King of Big Eye" walked out without even turning her head.

Thereafter the "King of Big Eye" sent in four drug addicts who were ordered to force me to write a guarantee statement. I still had not written the statement by 10:00 p.m. Therefore, theses drug addicts began to swear at me. One of them acted shamelessly by resting one arm on my shoulder and leaning against me. Another one shouted at me and asked me to sit in the position they wanted. This was to sit like a child on a small plastic chair with knees and legs closed together, hands resting on my knees and back straightened up. Just at that time a guard named Li ordered the drug addicts to carry in a bed plank, which meant that I could go to sleep. I asked these drugs addicts how they would sleep. They said that they could only sit for the night. I said to them, "You can sleep. Let me sit here." They said, "We don't dare to do so. The guards would punish us." It was one of the most evil tactics the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) minions used in the Forced Labor Dispatch Center in Beijing or the Women's Forced Labor Camp. This was called law of implication. The camp guards made use of the drug addicts to punish Falun Gong practitioners. However, when the practitioners refused to write a guarantee statement or to renounce Falun Dafa these guards would swear at the drug addicts and even punish them. This would force them to cruelly torture practitioners. Tang Jingjing, one of the guards at the No. 2 Division of the Forced Labor Dispatch Center in Beijing once said to me, "You must remember, we as guards would not touch you, not even with a small finger, but we will make sure that someone else beats you."

Gao Zan and other drug addicts cruelly beat practitioner Ms. Zhang Xiuyun because she refused to write a guarantee statement. The two inmates pushed Ms. Zhang to the floor and threw their weight on her arms with one on each side. Then they began to pull her eyelashes. Ms. Zhang Xiuyun screamed for help, as it was very painful. Everyone on that floor heard the screams. Another practitioner's face was slapped, kicked and she was forced to stand all night. Every time I passed the boiler room I could see her stand facing the window. In order to have their terms reduced and not be punished by the guards, theses drug addicts would stop at nothing. They tried every to force the practitioner to renounce Falun Dafa. One day when I talked about the spread of Falun Dafa abroad, the head of my group did not stop me in time. Therefore, she was punished and had to squat down with both hands holding her legs and her head in a bowing position. The real purpose was to incite hatred among the inmates against the practitioners so that they would stop at nothing to torture practitioners. Zhao Hui, a drug addict, once told me that the current head of the Beijing Women's Forced Labor Camp, Chen Li, ordered her to torture a practitioner who refused to renounce Falun Dafa. She punched and kicked the practitioner. When these drug addicts beat the practitioners they all chose the farthest end of the corridor or the guards' office. The guards would turn the music up to full volume in an attempt to cover up their crimes.

At the Forced Labor Dispatch Center these drug addicts were able to walk around, chat and associate with other groups freely. However, the practitioners, even if they were in the same group, could not talk to each other or sit together. When sitting, an inmate sat in between the practitioners.

The guards at the Forced Labor Dispatch Center were all very greedy. If they found the practitioners carrying valuables or anything they took a fancy to, they would confiscate them in the name of "contraband" goods and then put them into their own pockets. Two hairpins I had with me were from Great Britain. The guards confiscated them in the name of "contraband" goods.

Besides the so-called contraband goods, they also confiscated any written complaints when they searched the camp. All this showed that they were very much afraid for their crimes being exposed to the public.

If you needed to use the restroom or get some water, you had to shout out, "Report" as long as there was a door. Before the three meals we had to recite the rules and regulations known as the 30 provisions for detainees, and also sing two songs. When getting the food we also had to say, "I am xxx from xxx Team" and words like "thank you, team leader." This was not all. We had to walk on the right side of the passageway and had to look straight ahead. This was to force us to remember we were the detainees who were to be taken to a forced labor camp. We had roll call every morning and evening. Whenever one's name was called, one had to squat down holding the legs with both hands. One would not be allowed to raise one's head, nor look directly at the guard who was doing the roll call. No matter how cold the weather, we had to use cold water for washing our faces and brushing our teeth, and we were only allowed three minutes. We were allowed to take a shower and wash our clothes once per week. Normally we were not allowed to wash our underwear and socks. Sometimes, there were 12 to 16 people in a 28-square-meter cell. After the roll call every evening all the doors were locked so that 12 to 16 people would have to urinate and defecate in plastic basins. As a result, the cell would stink.

On April 25, 2005, I was transferred to the Beijing Women's Forced Labor Camp. I was handcuffed and had to put my hands on the front seat and lower my head. This was to humiliate me.

I was taken to the No. 5 Division. During the first two weeks, two female guards were responsible for brainwashing me. One of them was Zhang Sumin and the other had the surname Guo (I forgot the rest of her name.) They wanted me to renounce Falun Gong. They talked to me in turns from 6:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. Since I refused, beginning on the third week the head of the division, surnamed Chen, tried in person to force me to renounce Falun Gong. She deprived me of sleep. I was only allowed to sleep for two or three hours per day. In the evening I felt very cold while being forced to sit on a small plastic stool. I requested to put on more clothes but Chen did not allow it. When Chen left the cell I hurried to put on one more layer of clothes. When I was buttoning up my clothes Chen came in. She said, "You tried to make a scene. Now you lie on the floor." They always humiliated steadfast practitioners. The language they used in forcing the practitioners to renounce Falun Gong was exactly the same. The same was true concerning the Tiananmen Square Immolation story. It was obvious that they were trained. Chen forced me to watch many video programs. They all framed and slandered Falun Dafa. Everyone else would have a break at noon, including all the camp guards. However, I was forced to get up at 4:30 a.m. and go to bed after midnight. At noon I was forced to sit on a child's plastic chair and watch slanderous video programs over and over again.

Later, Chen talked to me almost daily from morning until 2:00 a.m. the next morning. She slept in the morning. Sleep deprivation was one of the torture methods she used on practitioners. The normal sleep time was from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. One 61-year-old practitioner was suffering from high blood pressure. However, Che used the same method to torture her. The older lady told me that midnight was considered early for her to go to sleep. Chen usually would not let her go to bed until 2:00 a.m. After one week of this kind of torture, this older practitioner fell and lost consciousness, and required emergency treatment at the hospital. At No. 5 Division everyone else could wash his or her clothes twice a week. However, I was only allowed to wash my clothes once a week and it had to be done at bedtime, which was only a few hours. Anyone who did not renounce Falun Gong had to suffer torture.

After the persecution began on July 20, 1999, the CCP used its power and the media under its control to fabricate numerous lies to slander Falun Dafa and its founder Mr. Li Hongzhi. The CCP has been arresting and sending steadfast practitioners to forced labor camps. The CCP minions tortured practitioners both physically and mentally. They have a large arsenal of methods in persecuting practitioners secretly because of strong international pressure. On the surface there were no injuries. However the mental wounds were far more harmful to the practitioner.

In September 1, 2006, I was released when my forced labor term expired. The so-called freedom did not give me freedom of mind. I carried a heavy cross in my heart, because I said something that I did not want to say and did something that I did not want to do. Against my will, I went against my conscience in exchange for release. As a person with conscience, I would rather die than live.

In June 2005, with the direct interference of the forced labor camp, I was sent to the so-called Intensive Assault Unit. This unit was established specifically to deal with steadfast practitioners. Basically, practitioners who had not been "transformed" within six months would be taken to that unit. However I was sent there two weeks after arriving at the forced labor camp. Later I learned that the real reason was because the National Security Division wanted the forced labor camp to force me to renounce Falun Dafa as soon as possible. They intended to send me overseas as their spy.

In the "Intensive Assault Unit" there are all sorts of torture methods and each one is worse than the next.

In the beginning I was tortured with the "High Board" torture method. This high board was 30 centimeters (12 in.) in diameter and made of plastic. The surface was very rough and the victim would sit on the board for 18 hours a day. There were very strict rules on the sitting position. One had to have legs and knees close together with both hands on top of the knees and the back had to be straight. One could not close the eyes, or move. When I wanted to move I had to report to drug addict Xue Mei, the one who monitored me, and ask for permission. If I was thirsty I had to say, "Report to monitor. I want to have some water." If the drug addict said, "Go ahead," then I could pick up a cup and drink water. When I finished I had to say, "Report to monitor. I want to put the cup down." If the drug addict said, "Move!" then I could put the cup down. If I felt an itch, I had to report to the drug addict, "Report to monitor. I want to scratch myself." If she said, "Move" then I could scratch. If she said no, then I could not move. A practitioner had no right to move or stretch at will. No matter what action, I had to report and ask for permission first. If I moved without permission they would swear at or beat me.

One practitioner was beaten black and blue by three drug addicts. This practitioner was sentenced to one year and six months of forced labor in 2001. This time, she was sentenced to two years and six months of forced labor. She was seriously ill as a result of the inhuman torture. Her husband had been sentenced to five years of forced labor in 2001. The high board was one of the torture methods the evildoers used to ruin us physically. After one or two weeks many practitioners' buttocks festered. One practitioner who was transferred in from the No. 4 Division was subjected to this inhuman torture. Drug addict Ma Qiang even placed a piece of paper in between this practitioner's legs. If the paper fell down it meant her legs were not close together. When this happened Ma Qiang would yell and shout at her. One day the practitioner requested to see Tang Jingjing, the guard who had responsibility for her. Ma Qiang stepped behind her and tried to strangle her with a towel. Some of the drug addicts and other detainees at the forced labor camp no longer had the hearts to witness this kind of physical and mental torture. They tried to persuade the practitioners to renounce Falun Dafa, so they would no longer suffer such inhuman tortures. They said they found it very hard to be the personal cangues (1). If they treated the practitioners kindly then the guards would mistreat them. If they treated us badly they suffered a bad conscience. Some inmates who still had a conscience told me how the guards taught the drug addicts to torture the practitioners, how they ganged up and what method they would use. They hoped that I would help those practitioners, and they also expected me to expose this to the international community.

Then there was the hunger torture. The practitioners were not given enough to eat. For each of the three meals the practitioners were only given a half-piece of steamed sour bread and no other food, not even preserved pickles. After one week I became very skinny. I asked guard Li Ziping to increase the amount of food. Li told me that since I refused to renounce Falun Gong I was considered purposely resisting the CCP. Therefore, I would not be given enough to eat. As practitioners we do not have enemies. How can keeping one's belief be linked to resisting the party? The drug addicts would rather throw away the food they were unable to finish than give it to practitioners.

Depriving drinking water and restricting toilet visits were other tortures to which practitioners were subjected. I was taken to the "Intensive Assault Unit" in June. The temperature in Beijing in June reached 40 degrees Celsius (104^o F). I was only give 500 mm (2 cups) of water per day. When I was thirsty I could only moisten my lips with this limited water. Besides that, restroom visits were restricted. I had to wait from thirty minutes to three hours to get permission to visit the restroom. Every time I needed to use the restroom, I had to report and then at least two drug addicts would follow me to the toilet. Practitioner Nan Xiuping, 55 years old, suffered from hemorrhoids and therefore restroom visits took a bit longer. Drug addict Niu Yuhong grabbed her hair from behind and pulled her up while grumbling and swearing. In order to force practitioners to give up their belief in Falun Dafa the evil party even used basic human needs to torture us.

We were not allowed to wash our hair, take showers or wash our clothes. Steadfast practitioners would only be allowed to wash clothes, take showers or wash their hair once in several months for up to six months. During the hot weather, when temperatures were at times over 40 degrees (104^o F) in the cell, there was only one window open and the door was closed. We would sweat at all times. After two weeks my clothes became very smelly. I requested to wash my clothes, but my request was rejected. In addition, drug addict Xue Mei swore at me because I made the request.

We were monitored around the clock. At the "Intensive Assault Unit" I was locked in an isolation cell. Three drug addicts monitored us, each being assigned an eight-hour shift. They recorded every detail of my daily activities, such as at what time I drank water, how much I drank, and when I used the toilet, and whether I was passing water or a stool. If it was passing water then how much did I pass and what was the color of the urine, yellow or clear. If I was having a bowel movement, they recorded whether it was dry or liquid. What was my facial expression? Whether I was happy or not happy? What did I say? When I was in bed did I lie flat or on the side and when did I turn over? The purpose of this detailed record was used as a reference for finding a psychological breakthrough. Because the British government showed concern regarding my treatment and with the help from overseas practitioners, on November 24, 2005, the UN special rapporteur on torture named me as one of their interviewees. Before the UN staff came, Du Jingbin, head of the No. 2 Division, talked to me and deceived me by saying that reporters from a foreign TV station wanted to interview me. During my time at the forced labor camp I often saw foreigners come and do some recording. I did not want to help the evil forces so I rejected the interview. At the same time Du told me clearly that the camp authorities did not want me to be interviewed. Before the UN staff came the camp, the authorities had already taken four bus-loads filled with practitioners to other places. They only returned the day after the UN people left. If the forced labor camps are as nice as what the CCP claims, then why don't they dare to have detainees interviewed and why did they have to move practitioners to other places?

The camp authorities did not allow their families to visit steadfast practitioners. These practitioners were also not allowed to have a paper or pen. Therefore, it was impossible for them to write appeal letters or letters to report the illegal practices at the camp.

During the preliminary stages of the persecution, camp authorities extended Falun Gong practitioners' detention terms if they refused to renounce Falun Gong by the end of their terms. Despite international pressure, they continued to conceal their persecution. Later, practitioners who refused to renounce Falun Gong were released at the end of their terms, but officials and police from the 610 Office and local police station were waiting outside the camp gate. They took the practitioners who had just been released to a brainwashing center. If they still refused to be "transformed" at the brainwashing center, then they would be sentenced again to forced labor. Guard Zhang Sumei from the No. 5 Division talked to me about it in person. Later when I was at the "Intensive Assault Unit" one drug addict told me the same thing. This was because she saw with her own eyes that practitioners were sent back to the forced labor camp not long after they were released. In June 2006, guards from the forced labor camp announced through a written document, "As long as the practitioners refused to be 'transformed' their terms at the forced labor camp would be extended."

Because of physical and mental torture, my health was ruined. After one year and six months at the forced labor camp I had lost much of my eyesight, my memory had deteriorated and my hair had turned gray. The inhuman torture took a toll on my body. I even came close to a mental collapse at one time. I suffered increased interstitial fluid in my organs due to prolonged malnutrition and sitting on a high board for a long period of time. Even after being released from the forced labor camp I had difficulty walking unaided for a long time. I persisted in doing the five sets of Falun Gong exercises, which helped me recover my health.

Practitioner Ms. Nan Xiuping suffered inhuman torture at the No. 2 Division. Every day she had to sit on the "high board" for more than ten hours, was not given enough to eat and was not allowed to wash her hair or take a shower for many months. One day when I met her in the corridor I saw that her hair was stuck together. Drug addicts Dong Jing, Ma Feifei, Wang Shuangshuang, and Niu Yuhong were Ms. Nan's personal cangues. They beat her, swore at her and did not allow her to wipe her nose. Her legs were covered with edema from sitting on the "high board" for a long time. She was imprisoned in a cell without sunlight for a long time. In winter it was very cold and her feet were inflamed from exposure to the cold weather. She requested to get her cotton-padded shoes from the storeroom, but her request was rejected. Since the cell was extremely cold the camp authorities supplied the drug addicts with four cotton-padded mattresses and two quilts each, while Ms. Nan only had a paper-thick mattress and a very thin quilt. Since Ms. Nan Xiuping was very firm in her belief she was transferred to the No. 3 Division.

Between July and August, 2006 it was extremely hot. One older practitioner suffered from heatstroke and vomited continuously. She was admitted to the camp hospital. She felt very dizzy and needed to lie down. However, the doctors ordered her to walk back and forth in the passage ten times. It was extremely inhuman that the doctors tortured an older patient who had been suffering from high blood pressure and heatstroke like this. After the older lady finished ten laps, the doctors claimed that she had walked only three laps and needed to walk another seven laps.

Another older practitioner shouted, "Falun Dafa is good" in the corridor. Drug addict Yu Yanhong beat her until the practitioner cried for help, awakening others who were sleeping. Yu Yanhong told me later that if she did not beat the practitioner the division head would have punished her. The older practitioner was then transferred to the "Intensive Training Group," also called the "Strict Discipline Team." She was locked up in an attic cell that was less than two square meters in size.

After arriving abroad, I learned from the Minghui/Clearwisdom website that organs were being harvested from living Falun Gong practitioners. This jogged my memory about my experience at the Forced Labor Dispatch Center in Beijing. On my arrival I had a full medical check up, which included a chest x-ray, blood test and gynecological checkup, and a thorough examination of the scars on my body. I had another medical checkup when I was transferred to the Beijing Women's Forced Labor Camp. In June 2006, before I was released, I had yet another medical checkup. It sends cold shivers down my spine when recalling the experience. If I were still there I might be the next victim of forced organ harvesting.

Practitioners who were "transformed" and who renounced Falun Dafa were still forced to perform slave labor. Sometimes we made handicrafts and other types of jobs. In the summer of 2006 we were required to pack sugar. There were flies everywhere in the workshop and it was a very unhygienic facility. Practitioners put sugar into bags and then sealed the bags, one bag at a time. I talked with the manager of the factory and asked him how much he paid for every bag of sugar. He said a few cents. The practitioners were paid one cent per bag. In summer the practitioners were forced to work in the fields. Non-practitioners were assigned to act as the practitioners' personal cangues, and they did not have to perform forced labor. They also did not have to attend the "study" sessions. They only had to take the exam. I did not see the camp authorities ask them to take part in the education sessions. The minute they entered the forced labor camp they were trained in how to torture practitioners. A non-practitioner detainee told me, "We are here merely to work, instead of being educated through labor." The drug addicts and other inmates who were sent to the forced labor camp for the very first time were not favorites of the camp guards, because they did not know how to be personal cangues. Only those drug addicts like Xue Mei who had been sent to the forced labor camp three times and Ma Qiang (four times) would win the guards' favor because they knew how to torture practitioners. Both Xue Mei and Ma Qiang were the enforcers among the drug addicts. These two became personal cangues of steadfast practitioners, those who refused to be "transformed." Therefore, they were promoted to "green card holder," which meant having many privileges.

When I was at the No. 5 Division the practitioners were forced to knit wool gloves for export, and everyone was required to finish one pair per day. As a matter of fact it was very difficult to fulfill the quota. Therefore, we had to cooperate with each other. Some were responsible for knitting the wrist and some the fingers. The fee for a pair of gloves was 97 cents. We had to work during the day and recite the answers for examination questions during our sleeping time.

In China today, it seems that the forced labor camps were set up specifically to torture practitioners. The ratio of practitioners to non-practitioners was 80 to 20. When I was at the No. 5 Division, Zhang Sumin told me that they had contacts at the police station. Whenever there were not enough non-practitioner detainees they asked the police to arrest and send some in.

There were seven divisions at the Beijing Women's Forced Labor Camp, with about 120 people in each division. There were several teams of 12 people per team. They were imprisoned in a cell of 28 square meters. Those at the No. 3 and No. 6 divisions were non-practitioners (some very steadfast practitioners were also imprisoned their, but only very few.) During the days when the communist regime rampantly arrested practitioners, seven divisions were not enough. Therefore, they added a division specifically to detain practitioners. Since the forced labor camps in Beijing had limited capacity, many practitioners were transferred to other parts of the country.

At least 70 percent of the practitioners detained at Beijing Women's Forced Labor Camp were women who were over 60 years old. Around 30 to 40 percent of the practitioners had been detained more than twice. During the morning exercise time you could see that most of them were gray-haired.

Many people did not understand why they couldn't practice the Falun Gong exercises at home. They thought they would not be arrested if they practiced only at home. However, this was not true. The majority of practitioners I met were arrested at home. Practitioner Ms. Li Lanping, 60, was looking after her grandson at home. When the officials from the local 610 Office went to her home and asked if she still practiced Falun Gong she was arrested after answering yes, and sentenced to two years and six month of forced labor. She is still at the Beijing Women's Forced Labor Camp. This is the third time she was arrested.

The police arrested practitioner Ms. Zhang Xiaojing at her workplace and she was sentenced to two years and six months of forced labor. Her first arrest was in 2001, when she was sentenced to one year of forced labor. Her husband was on active service at the time. Due to the severe pressure from the CCP, he divorced Ms. Zhang. When Ms. Zhang was arrested, her over 80-year-old paralyzed mother was left uncared for. The old woman passed away shortly afterwards, without being able to see her daughter one last time. Not long after Ms. Zhang Xiaojing was sentenced to forced labor, her son was sentenced to several years in prison for practicing Falun Gong.

When I was first taken to the forced labor camp, practitioner Ms. Su Wei and I were imprisoned in the Number 5 Division. She was released in September 2005. After I came to Great Britain, I learned from the Minghui/Clearwisdom website that she was arrested again two months after her release. This time she was sentenced to two years and six months of forced labor (the first time she was sentenced to two years of forced labor).

Another older practitioner was arrested on her way to the vegetable market and sentenced to two years of forced labor. At the time of arrest she was 65 years old.

Since I had relatives abroad and knew quite a lot about the situation abroad, they locked me in a dark cell. The camp authorities separated me from practitioners and I was among drug addicts. Later, when a lot of non-practitioner detainees learned the truth about Falun Dafa, they managed to obtain some of our Teacher's recent articles and food for those placed in confinement. One camp guard from the No. 2 Division of the Beijing Women's Forced Labor Camp clearly told me that among more than 100 practitioners, only one or two had been really "transformed." Later on, a lot of former practitioners who enlightened along an evil path and helped the evildoers to persuade other practitioners to give up their belief gradually learned the truth. One of them said to me, "No wonder the camp authorities did not allow us to talk to you. It turned out that the truth was not like what they described. Since the communist regime censored the Internet a lot of practitioners had been deceived by the lies. Once they learned the truth they would all come back to cultivate in Falun Dafa."

From my own experience, I learned that the CCP dispatched a large number of spies abroad to collect information, such as name lists of practitioners and what they have done. The Chinese police department spent lots of money, time and effort in investigating me. They followed me from 2000 until I was arrested in 2005. In the forced labor camp I met a practitioner who had just returned from the USA after visiting her daughter. She was arrested within three hours of the plane landing, and they tried to force her to renounce Falun Dafa. The local National Security Division pressed her to become a spy. However, the practitioner firmly rejected the request.

Note:

(1) "Personal cangues" -- Cangue, the name of an instrument of torture, is now used to indicate a person designated to supervise the behavior of practitioners

Posting date: 5/13/2007
Original article date: 5/13/2007
Category: Eyewitness Accounts
Translated on 4/26/2007
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/4/24/153327.html

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