Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Confessions of a “Baojia” – a Prison Monitor’s Insights into the Persecution of Falun Gong

The middle-aged woman I was assigned to watch told me not to hate the guards. She said the guards were the most pitiful, as they had been deceived by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and that they were the ones being persecuted.

She said, “The guards are also human and should learn the truth and be saved. It’s because we haven’t done well that they have been unable to awaken from the maze, and are still doing bad things in ignorance. They have not only lost their futures, but have also implicated their families.” Tears suddenly filled my eyes. 

June 21, 2013 | By Liangzhi (alias)
(Minghui.org) 
A “baojia” refers to a criminal inmate assigned by the guards to monitor Falun Gong prisoners of conscience.
What follows is a firsthand account and confession of a “baojia” who was forced to participate in the persecution against her will.
I did not expect to see Falun Gong practitioners at the Haidian District Detention Center in Beijing. We respectfully called the practitioners “Aunties.” Unlike what is depicted in the TV broadcasts, they were kind, calm, and taught us uplifting Hong Yin poems and Falun Dafa songs. They didn’t look down on us, and encouraged us to be good people by following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
The guards here were all very cruel. They extorted confessions from inmates by means of torture, such as shocking the breasts and genitals with electricity, and stripping off their pants and pulling the pubic hair, etc. They said they represented the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), as they were wearing police uniforms.
Guards in the 4th Team of Beijing City Women’s Forced Labor Camp demanded that practitioners take off all of their clothes so that they were naked when they were filling out forms and being interrogated. Even the elderly women who were in their sixties or seventies were not spared.
Shortly after I arrived, I was assigned to the night duty. One night after midnight, practitioners were shouting, “Falun Dafa is good” in the corridor. The guard on duty named Xu was just over 20 years old, and the youngest guard of the 4th Team. She was very brutal, even when she beat practitioners who were the age of her grandmother. I personally witnessed that the “Aunties” did not fight or shout back at her. This kind of mistreatment happened frequently and I could not bear to see it, nor could I do anything about it. So I requested to be exempt from this assignment and return to the team.
Upon returning to the team I was assigned to be a “baojia.” One day at noon, everyone was taking a nap. I heard some faint sounds outside the window. When I looked through the window I was stunned. I saw a person who was tied up tightly kneeling on the ground. Her arms were tied behind her back, her mouth was stuffed with something, and four guards were stepping on her. They were all holding police batons. The guards even stepped on her head. Her face was on the ground and her head twisted when they stepped on her. She was shouting with a faint voice, “Falun Dafa is good!”
Doctor Zang from the medical office then appeared, and in his right hand he was holding a syringe. He waved to the guards to signal them. The guards then dragged the practitioner on the ground into the medical office.
The “baojias” took meals to the practitioners who were locked in solitary cells. I took meals to Xing Limin and Ning Yuhuan, both of whom had refused to give up their beliefs, and were thus not “transformed.” One day when I went to get the meals for them, I noticed that guard Yang Jie had just finished putting drug powder in their food. She had a small piece of paper that contained the drug powder in her pocket and she wiped the powder on the edge of the plate and then into the food with her right hand. Practitioner Ning Yuhuan was later transferred to a faraway place, and when she left she shouted, “Falun Dafa is good!” Xing Limin was eventually unable to walk due to the drugs and torture.
Guard Yang Jie told us during a conference with some of the “baojia,” “Your terms can be reduced if you make special contributions, such as finding ways to ‘transform’ Falun Gong practitioners, or when you report situations while monitoring Falun Gong practitioners in a timely manner, etc.” When I had just joined the team, guard Sun Shuyin once said, “You must report whatever the Falun Gong practitioners say or do in a timely manner. The practitioners have a very close bond, so you should be careful not to be too friendly with them.”
Searches were frequently conducted as a “security check” in the labor camp. This included random searches of practitioners’ personal items. If a practitioner was found with a suspicious piece of paper, she might be subjected to punishment and forced to write a self-criticism. Even the practitioners locked in solitary cells were searched. They had to strip and turn around before they were allowed to put their clothes back on. The bedcovers along with their clothes were unfolded and searched. Sometimes they were strip searched several times per month.
The life of a “baojia” was not easy. The “baojia” had to accompany the practitioner while they sat for 18 hours facing a wall every day. She was the first up and the last to bed. If the practitioner didn’t “transform” after a long time, the guards scolded the “baojia,” and they were sometimes forced to write a self-criticism and deprived of sunlight. The “baojia” rarely had a moment of free time because every day she had to keep track of and report on the practitioner she was assigned to, even when the practitioner used the restroom.
The middle-aged woman I was assigned to watch told me not to hate the guards. She said the guards were the most pitiful, as they had been deceived by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and that they were the ones being persecuted. She said, “The guards are also human and should learn the truth and be saved. It’s because we haven’t done well that they have been unable to awaken from the maze, and are still doing bad things in ignorance. They have not only lost their futures, but have also implicated their families.” Tears suddenly filled my eyes. I subsequently started to pass on Falun Gong articles and notes for the practitioners.
Every practitioner imprisoned in the labor camp had extraordinary experiences. After I heard their stories, it was as if a magnificent movie had been playing. Sometimes I was a member of the audience, sometimes I was a walk-on part, and sometimes it was as if I were dreaming. Some of the memories have faded and some I have tried to forget. However, human history will never forget. The gods were watching the thoughts of every person. I knew this was serious, and knew I should support the good.
Those nightmarish days are finally in the past. I have returned to my hometown and I told my relatives about my experiences in Beijing. I will also tell everyone in the world, “Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.”