(Minghui.org) Inspired by the article “Clarifying the Facts to Law Enforcement, the Procuratorate, and Courts,” I would like to share how I successfully stopped the prison guards and inmates from forcing me to stand for long hours, depriving me of washing up and denying me access to hot water.
When Falun Dafa practitioners were detained for our faith, we were being persecuted as we didn’t break any law. In the prison where I was held, the guards incited the inmates to transform practitioners with incentives. The inmates completely lost their moral conscience and went all out to abuse practitioners in order to please the guards and earn points. If any practitioner refused to cooperate or “transform”, the inmates would intensify the persecution without any reservations.
Practitioners were treated differently from other inmates upon admission to the prison. Other inmates were usually ordered to memorize the prison rules and do some simple labor work during their first month, before being transferred to different divisions afterwards. Practitioners were sent to a training division the second day of their arrival at the prison. The prison lied to the top management that 100 percent of the practitioners were “transformed,” thus, they spared no efforts in their attempt to force practitioners to renounce their faith.
When I was sent to the training division, I had to sit on a small stool for two days. I was also not allowed to wash up or have access to hot water. I was forced to stand from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. while the television played videos that slandered Falun Gong. Sometimes, a few inmates surrounded me and swore at me. By then, I had been standing for seven days and my lower back became very painful and my legs were swollen.
The authorities often came to the prison to inspect. They knew that the prison had to rely on the money that the inmates earned from doing labor work to feed the corrupted guards. Every inspection made the lower rank officers afraid and they would arrange desks and chairs for some “learning” sessions with a guard leading the “learning.”
Once, there was a guard that I'd never seen before, and I heard others call her “Captain Wei.” I took this opportunity to tell her, “I have a very bad breath because I was not allowed to rinse my mouth. I'm not bothered by it but it affected the hygiene in the cell. Moreover, I was made to stand from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. for 16 hours. Look, a pit developed when I pressed my thighs. Is this part of the prison rules? The prison belongs to the country, not someone else's prison. Thus, I must give this feedback to you.”
The inmates and the prison guards denied their abuse of me. I was angry that they lied and asked captain Wei to look at my legs again. She said that she would pass along my complaints to the top.
The next day, the prison lifted the standing punishment, gave me hot water, and allowed me to wash up. At that time, I didn't know the law and thus didn't use it to resist the persecution. I just felt that we were already being persecuted with the prison sentence but were still forced to endure abuses. We may not get the problem resolved if we complained to the inmates, but the inmates would be afraid if we complained to the guards and may restrain their actions as they were afraid of the guards. In fact, the guards would also be on guard against each other. One inmate who tortured me told me later that captain Wei criticized her and asked, “Is this what I told you to do?” Later, the inmate was transferred away and said to me, “I've lost to you.”
Above is my experience of ridding the abuse against me, including being forced to stand, deprived of washing up and access to hot water.
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