(Clearwisdom.net)
I am a woman from the countryside. I have again been deceived by Jiang's crazy persecution of Falun Gong.
My son became healthy after practicing Falun Gong. The most significant change however, was that he got rid of all his bad habits, his moral standard improved, and we no longer had to worry about him.
However, since July 20, 1999, when Jiang started the widespread persecution of Falun Gong, my son was one of the many who were arrested and sent to forced labor camps. Due to the deceitful lies from the radio and newspapers in China, to a degree I could not understand my son. After his return, I tried to persuade him to give up the practice. However, he said, "We did nothing wrong. It was Jiang Zemin who trampled on human rights and brutally persecuted practitioners. We are good people and behave according to the principle of 'Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.' What's wrong with that? Only those who follow 'Fraudulence-Malevolence-Violence' and do bad deeds are afraid of kind people, and persecute them." I thought: I knew this a long time ago. But with those in power just refusing to reason with people, what can we do?
In October 2002, my son was illegally arrested again. I was very anxious. I thought, since the practice was not allowed, why still act against their order? At the end of October, news was spread from the detention center that many practitioners suffered excruciating torture in order for police to extract "confessions." The torture included "Big Hang Up,"* "Sit on Tiger Bench,"** "Sleep Deprivation," "Squat in iron cage," and other methods. They used all kinds of torture tools. To protest the persecution, practitioners had been on a hunger strike since October 15. My heart was broken upon hearing this. So I went to appeal at various government departments. From the political and judiciary committee to the police department, from the prosecutorial office to the court, I went everywhere, but the managers there always treated me rudely. I strongly urged them to release the practitioners, and pointed out to them that the practitioners had been held for more than a year, and such detention was illegal. The managers not only denied their mistakes, but tried to shift responsibility. The party secretary of the political and judiciary committee, and the director and vice director of the police department were especially unreasonable, and said, "It is we who arrested them. We won't release them at all." I was so upset. I really didn't think the government could be so irrational.
On November 13, I got the news that the court would hold a hearing the next day. So I went to the court for a hearing license. On November 14 around 8 a.m., I went to the city court. I was so scared by the scene in front of the court. A swarm of policemen stood in front of the entrance, together with several fully armed policemen who held batons in their right hands and shields in their left hands. An armed policeman in a broad-edge hat, who looked like a chief, kept walking back and forth. Many police vans and traffic police vans were parked on both sides of the entrance to the court. The line of guards blocked the dozens of relatives who had been anxiously waiting. This scene scared me so much, but I worked hard to see my son.
At last, the police brought our children into the court. Some were held by others, some were carried by others. They looked pale and were as thin as sticks. Some were on the verge of death and had difficulties breathing. I could hardly believe what I saw. But I saw it with my own eyes! When the court opened, the judge read the so-called "indictments," which were all fabricated accusations. What angered me more was that the policemen sat on both sides of us family members. Whenever we proposed a comment, the policemen would block our mouths with wet towels, or hold our chins to prevent us from speaking. When practitioners made statements, they forcefully interrupted many times, and even refused to let practitioners finish reading their appeal letters. After this fake display, the police just hurriedly ran away.
After this event, I now totally understand. What has been said on the TV is all lies. They accused Falun Gong practitioners of not caring for their families and being poor workers. This was all made up. Practitioners were innocently arrested and detained for persecution; how can they look after their families? They were forced to leave home to avoid further persecution; how could they work normally?
* "Big Hang Up" - There are two forms in this torture: (1) With both hands cuffed behind the back and only toes touching the ground, one is hung by a rope that is tied to the metal window frames; (2) One hand of a practitioner is cuffed to one bunk bed and the other hand to another bed, and the two beds are pulled in the opposite directions. One feels extreme pain as the body is pulled.
**
"Tiger Bench" - Practitioners are forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm. (6 inches) tall with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead. They are not allowed to turn their heads, close their eyes, talk to anyone, or move at all. Several inmates are assigned to watch over the practitioners and force them to remain motionless while sitting on the bench. Usually some hard objects are inserted underneath the practitioners' lower legs or ankles to make it harder for them to tolerate this abuse (see illustration onAll content published on this website is copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
