(Clearwisdom.net) Convicted prisoners in China's prisons and labor camps often show sincere care and support for Falun Gong practitioners subjected to rampant persecution. What courage and kindness they have demonstrated! Those people manifest the existence of a precious human conscience.
1. Practitioner Ms. Zhang Jingyu's experiences at a detention center
Ms. Zhang Jingyu is a Falun Gong practitioner in Yingcheng City, Hubei Province. She was arrested and sent to Yingcheng Detention Center on September 16, 2009. Ms. Zhang went on a persecution protest hunger strike, along with several other practitioners, and was sent to the Yingcheng Hospital to be force-fed. Following her return to the detention center she vomited and had diarrhea the whole day. The inmates showed their sympathy and expressed dissatisfaction with the guards' actions. Together they petitioned detention center head Ding Zhengzhi and the female guard Li Quihua to release Ms. Zhang Jingyu, saying, "You should release Zhang Jingyu. She is a good person and should not be detained here." One of the prisoners also said, "We are here because we have done bad things. But those Falun Gong practitioners didn't do anything wrong. They always do good things. You should unconditionally release her."
Their sympathy for Zhang Jingyu reflected their kindness. Although they violated the law, the prisoners can still feel and be moved by the kindness of Falun Gong practitioners, which is precious, especially in a place like a detention center.
2. Ms. Ju Lili's story
Ms. Ju Lili, from Puyang City, was abducted and taken to the Xinxiang Mental Hospital where she often took care of other patients in the same ward. One of the patients was the daughter of an agronomist. She had a mental disorder and didn't know how to eat or go to the bathroom. Ms. Ju Lili kept helping her. The agronomist commented many times, "You practitioners are all good people. The authorities have mistreated you!"
Agents from the 610 Office and from the police department ordered hospital officials to increase the persecution of Ms. Ju Lili, so she was injected with overdoses of drugs and lost consciousness. She was then fed more unknown substances and was comatose for four days. She regained consciousness on the fifth day after being electrically shocked. She had loose teeth, experienced stomach bleeding, pain in her liver and kidneys, was incontinent, and bleeding deep in her eyes. Her whole body was swollen. The agronomist cried seeing her like that and said, "Intolerable Justice! How can a healthy person be tortured to such a state!"
Of course the agronomist is not a prisoner. His opinions let us see how practitioners who still try to help others while being mistreated themselves move the common people.
While Ju Lili was incarcerated in the Zhenzhou Women's Forced Labor Camp one of the drug offenders assigned to monitor her told her before she left, "Because I know you are all good people, I try to treat you well. I didn't follow the instruction the guards gave us." She was told to re-set the clock. Bedtime should be 12:00 a.m. and wake-up time should be at 5:00 a.m. She was instructed to re-set the clock so that bedtime was actually at 1:00 a.m. and wake-up time actually at 4:00 a.m. The practitioners would only sleep for three hours instead of five hours. It was an easy assignment, but the prisoner didn't do it, which is really hard to do so in such an environment.
3. Ms. Chen Xiumei's experiences in a forced labor camp
Ms. Chen Xiumei, over 50, is a practitioner in Baoding City. She was healthy when arriving in the Hebei Province Women's Forced Labor Camp but soon lost all her teeth from ruthless beatings. All her underclothes were taken away. She only had thin clothes in the cold winter. Once the guard even took away her bed cover and mattress, leaving her only bare bed boards to sleep on. Since it was so cold she decided to retrieve the captured bed cover and mattress hidden in another room. Her action infuriated guard Wang Weiwei who handcuffed Ms. Chen to the side of the bed for several days. Prisoner Zhu Liying was instructed to monitor her. The sound of the handcuffs annoyed Zhu Liying since it affected her sleep. She would beat practitioner Chen Xiumei whenever the handcuffs made a sound. When Chen Xiumei, unable to bear the pain while being beaten groaned a little, Zhu gagged her with a towel to prevent her moans from being heard.
The malicious Zhu Liying was rewarded with a four-month reduction in her term for her abuse of practitioners.
After Zhu Liying took Ms. Chen's money deposit card that showed a deposit of 400 yuan. Chen Xiumei was unable to purchase a roll of toilet paper. Inmate Yang Xuelian quietly gave her a roll. Somehow Zhu Liying found out about it, punched Yang Xiulian in the chest and reported her to the guards. Inmate Yang Xiulian was punished and had an additional two weeks added to her prison term.
4. The story of Ms. Li Ping and of the inmates in charge of monitoring her
Not all the inmates who are in charge of monitoring Falun Gong practitioners are
vicious. Since they have more time to stay with the practitioners, they get to know what kind of people the practitioners are.
Ms. Li Ping was held in the Tianjing Women's Forced Labor Camp and was unable to walk due to torture. Witnessing her suffering, the monitors refused to cooperate and requested to be transferred.
The practitioners have moved inmates who have quietly turned around to help them. When being instructed to beat the practitioners, they would pretend to have done so by making the practitioner look dirty and messing up their hair. Some inmates knew the details of murder cases. They would say, "I know you are all good people. Someday, if you need me to testify, come to find me." Two inmates in Tianjin Women's Forced Labor Camp have been moved by the practitioners and become Falun Gong practitioners.
5. The story of Ms. Xu Qingyan
Ms. Xu Qingyan, from Daxue Township, Taihe District of Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, had been subject to forced labor in the Masanjia Forced Labor Camp. While there, she was sent to a mental hospital and kept calling "Falun Dafa is good" on the way. The guard on duty surnamed Li beat her head viciously with a bottle. When the practitioner returned to Masanjia, a villain fiercely slapped her face, resulting in Ms. Xu losing her hearing.
Ms. Xu was handcuffed to a rack and forced to stand for nine days, merely for practicing the Falun Gong exercises. Her feet were swollen, and she was unable to walk normally. At night she felt tightness in her chest and nausea. She slumped forward, collapsed on the ground and lost consciousness. The loud sound from the handcuffs woke up inmate Li Junjing. At that time a huge thunderstorm rampaged, making it seem heaven and earth were touched by her solemn and unyielding will. Inmate Li Junjing couldn't help but yell, "Qingyan, you moved heaven and the earth!"
Ms. Xu Qingyan was previously sentenced to three and a half years in prison and was sent to the Dabei Women's Prison in Shenyang City. While there she had been on several hunger strikes and suffered from brutal force-feeding. At her first force-feeding eight guards held her on a bed. Prison head Wang instructed the inmates to do the force-feeding. Ms. Xu's mouth was forced open with a mouth opener. They tried to insert a finger-thick tube through her mouth into her stomach. The inmates used a wide bamboo stick to hold her tongue, which resulted in her bleeding at the corner of the mouth. Having failed to insert the tube through the mouth, inmate Zhang Yuanyuan tried it again - through the nose. Each force-feeding caused Ms. Xu unbearable suffering.
Ms. Xu eventually experienced kidney failure. She often felt chest pains, and had difficulty breathing and walking. Still, she was still forced to do daily slave labor. One day she had no strength left to sit on the bench and fell from it. That night she was completely unable to move. Her eyes and mouth were wide open. She was unconscious. When she regained consciousness after midnight she saw several guards and inmates outside. They thought she might be unable to live through the night. An inmate cried and said to her, "Qingyan, if such a good person like you is carried out of here, we would all feel bad."
Ms. Xu's great compassion and tolerance deeply influenced the people around her. They respect her greatly. When mentioning the founder of Falun Gong in front of her, they would talk in a very respectable tone.
Ms. Xu had been at death's door twice, once in prison, and once in the forced labor camp. In both circumstances, comments from the two inmates came from the bottom of their hearts, although these two inmates hadn't given her any tangible help.
6. The caring from an inmate for Ms. Zhang Xiuying
Ms. Zhang Xiuying, an employee from the No. 851 Farm, had been detained in Harbin Women's Prison in 2002 and suffered from tortures such as beatings, verbal abuse, sleep deprivation and being exposed to freezing temperatures. Once the guards viciously tortured the practitioners with electric rods and dragged them outside to suffer in the cold for two consecutive days. When Zhang Xiuying was allowed to come inside after midnight an inmate tried to warm her cold feet with her own body. Zhang Xiuying said to her, "Thank you very much! You don't have to do this. I'm ok." The inmate insisted. She cried and said, "Your feet are frozen! It's not ok." This inmate eventually became a Falun Gong practitioner
7. The story of Mr. Shi Yuan
The following is edited, based on an article written by Mr. Shi Yuan.
With careful planning, in 2001, 610 Office agents in Ningxia Autonomous Region transferred all male practitioners to the Hedong Brickyard at the Yinchuan Prison where practitioners they from harsh abuse and slave labor. Following torture at the hands of prisoners and guards, Shi Yuan was put into a solitary confinement cell.
He was provided only two meals a day while in solitary confinement, each meal consisting of half of a steamed bun and half a bottle of water. It was extremely cold there. One prisoner surnamed named Liu was assigned to monitor him. After Shi Yuan told him the facts about Falun Gong and the persecution, prisoner Liu often gave him an extra piece of steamed bun and another bottle of water. He would take the empty bottle away immediately after Shi Yuan finished, to avoid others seeing what he did. Shi Yuan had been placed in solitary confinement several times, and Liu took care of him each time. He saw him doing the exercises but never tried to stop him or report it to the guards. Seeing Shi Yuan was shivering from the cold, another prisoner surnamed Ma asked a guard with whom he had a good relationship to give Shi Yuan some clothing. This prisoner also gave him food many times and helped him pass information to other practitioners. The guards planned to destroy Shi Yuan's will with hunger and cold, but these people's kindnesses, like the spring sunlight, silently helped him disintegrate the evil.
Later, Shi Yuan was placed into solitary confinement and monitored by several inmates. Qi, one of the inmates, gave him a radio, enabling the practitioner to listen to Radio Free Asia and Voice of America. He also helped him exchange Dafa books with fellow practitioners. Although this was discovered and Qi was put into solitary confinement, he didn't complain after he came out.
This inmate was so thoughtful. Loneliness while being imprisoned is most dreadful for any detainee, and it can erode one's will. The radio was the most valuable gift for one to be able to know what goes on outside the prison walls. Furthermore, the inmate was even willing to help him exchange Dafa books, which violated the prison rules. He did it without expecting any reward and without any complaints, even after he was punished for it.
Another inmate also helped Shi Yuan to exchange Dafa books at Yinbei prison.
Before Shi Yuan was sent to Yinbei prison, the guards there had discussed how to deal with him. They claimed he was more dangerous than a terrorist. They forbade anyone from speaking to him, but let others verbally abuse him. They forbade anyone from having any two-way interaction with him, but allowed others to watch his every move. They turned the prisoners against him and tried to pressure him into giving up cultivation.
How did Shi Yuan deal with this? When they beat him, he faced them with dignity. When they cursed at him, he handled it compassionately. He explained the facts to them as much as he could - to the point that they could understand and accept. After a while most of the guards and inmates treated him better and more respectfully.
Of course, not only di Shi Yuan gain a good reputation among the inmates. Shi Yuan also mentioned practitioner Wang Yuzhu in his article.
Mr. Wang Yuzhu was the most severely abused inmate in the Yinchuan Prison's Hedong Brickyard, but he was also the most determined. The prisoners admired him greatly and called him Mr. Wang Iron Man. The guards once had a prisoner monitor Shi Yuan. When the practitioner explained the facts to the inmate, the inmate told him he admired practitioners. His family member once brought the inmate drinks and gave some to Mr. Wang first. The monitoring inmate said Shi Yuan could do the exercises freely, and he would be on the lookout for him.
Prisoner Qian Wanxi had graduated from Ningxia University and worked as a teacher. He was given six years of imprisonment because he had raped a 6-year-old girl. 610 Office agents selected him as the lead prisoner to hold brainwashing sessions.
Prisoner Qian did many bad things to slander Dafa and abuse practitioners. The inmate mentioned in the previous paragraph told Shi Yuan, "Even when that guy is walking around, he is still thinking how to harm others. I had planned to beat him many times. I haven't done it yet because I haven't yet received my commuted sentence." One evening, more than two months later, the guards announced the list of those who had received a commuted sentence. This inmate was on that list. The following day he attacked Qian Wanxi, who didn't dare to fight back, and escaped quietly. This inmate had expected to suffer a severe beating and to be put into solitary confinement, but nothing happened to him.
Of course practitioner should not fight back when being beaten or scolded. We also do not agree that violence must be met by violence. However, who can deny that this inmate is a righteous man who can stand up for justice?
This incident created a shockwave among the prisoners. Many of the inmates who had previously helped the evildoers backed off. The compassion and forbearance that practitioners expressed awakened the conscience of many prisoners. The persecution was very unpopular in the prison.
Since there were many complaints about the prison cafeteria food, the quality and prices, for the first time the prison authority agreed to have an elected prisoner representative supervise the cafeteria. During a meeting to discuss the issue, the prisoners were excited about the news and discussed who should be the one to represent their best interests. In the end, practitioner Shi Yuan was elected without any objections. The guards in charge of the meeting turned hostile, "No! A Falun Gong practitioner cannot be elected. Try again. Elect someone else." Many prisoners immediately questioned, "You told us to elect someone we can trust! We trust Falun Gong. If it is someone else, his only concern would be how he can get good food." Some said, "Why can't it be him? I just want him to be in charge of the food."
The last evening before Shi Yuan's release a group of inmates came to say goodbye. He again urged everyone to recite, "Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good." The guards had spread the news that he would not be allowed to go home since he was so headstrong, which made many inmates indignant. They asked Shi Yuan to keep them informed them after he returned home. Once at home again he received letters from the inmates. They were worried about him and anxious to know of his safety. Shi Yuan was moved and wrote a letter to thank them.
8. Conclusion
The CCP has persecuted Falun Gong for 11 years. With righteous support from international organizations and the common people, the persecution in prisons has become weaker and weaker because it has lost the public's favor and goes against historical trends. When this page of history is turned, people of the future will be amazed. From past to present, how many incarcerated prisoners have testified for Falun Gong with their kindness. Their conduct manifests the kindness of human nature, although they are the prisoners who have done some bad things.
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Category: Perspectives
