Five years ago, Lizhe He was jailed for his belief in Falun Gong. He suffered sickness, forced labour, torture and physical abuse.
"Every cruelty I endured targeted my conscience and aimed at destroying my spirit and belief," He said.
In 1995, He discovered Falun Gong, a practice combining exercise and meditation with the principles of truth, compassion and tolerance. In July 1999, the CCP banned Falun Gong.
According to The Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group, the CCP started a "nation-wide systematic persecution" against Falun Gong practitioners (those who practise Falun Gong). Jan Jekielek, a member of The Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group, defined two elements of the CCP's persecution against Falun Gong: hate propaganda, and torture.
"It defies imagination," Jekielek said about the torture methods.
During this period, He and his wife applied for immigration to Canada. Both were accepted. Before He left, he wanted to tell his friends the truth about Falun Gong. He did this by mailing out letters.
"In my letters I wrote Falun Dafa is good. Beneficial to both the nation and people," He said.
Arrested for his Actions
He said he was followed by the National Security Bureau in China, who videotaped him when he went to mail letters. On July 21, 2000, He went to work and never returned. He was arrested for "sabotaging the political solidarity of China". The bureau used the videotapes of He's trips to the post office as evidence against him.
"There is nothing wrong with mailing letters," He said.
Nevertheless, it landed him in prison for three and a half years. The conditions he endured were terrible. Forced to sit in a fixed position, He's clothes began to stick to his skin. He coughed and urinated blood. His refusal to denounce Falun Gong resulted in shocks from an electric baton and forced military drills in the winter.
"Every day felt as long as a year. It's worse than slavery," He said.
What He found especially hard was watching other Falun Gong practitioners suffer.
"The higher authorities set "spiritual destruction" quotas for jails," He said.
This meant the police were to do anything in their power to destroy a [practitionr's] belief in Falun Gong.
"The police used all means to reach the quota, and to vent their violence at practitioners," He said. "What was more evil was that the prison forced us to acknowledge the spiritual destruction as salvation."
Canada Provides Safety
While He remained in prison, He's wife Li Zhang traveled to Canada. She too faced detention in a prison. Zhang contacted Amnesty International Canada (Amnesty) and they were able to help her bring her husband to Canada. In May 2004, He finally arrived. Now he is free to practice Falun Gong. A luxury he cannot enjoy in China.
"Terrorism is always mounting. Even if I do nothing, I could be followed, monitored and harassed, because I am a Falun Gong practitioner," He said.
At the end of November, He had an opportunity to speak about his experience. As part of a human rights series, sponsored by a chapter of Amnesty International Canada at the University of Toronto at Scarborough, He told his story to university students.
Patrick Salvatori, co-ambassador of the chapter, feels human rights is an issue that is sometimes forgotten.
"People care so much about natural disasters," Salvatori said. "But there are actually human made disasters as well."
For He, the Falun Gong persecution is one of them.
"The persecution of Falun Gong is entirely based on lies," He said.
"By manipulating all news outlets and extending its evil propaganda overseas, the Chinese Communist regime has desperately been defaming Falun Gong and demonizing practitioners ever since the persecution started in July 1999."
Patricia Balfour, a volunteer for Amnesty International Canada says the Falun Gong persecution is one of the major human rights issues happening in China.
"But many others are suffering too," she added.
Though He appreciates his life in Canada, as a Falun Gong practitioner, he still feels there is a great deal of work for him to do.
"When I managed to land in Canada, I felt a great relief, because of the freedom I gained. (But) there are a lot of things to do." He said. "Everything we do is to end the persecution, to stop the crimes against humanity that is still ongoing in China. We need support and help from all kinds of people. Every voice can make a difference," He said.
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