We were lucky that we got the following article written by our fellow practitioners in prison. It was written on a piece of paper stained with blood and tears.

I am a Falun Dafa practitioner. I was sent to a women's labor camp at Qiqihar City in Heilongjiang Province because I legally appealed to the government. I have witnessed many illegal things happening here. I want to let the whole world know about them, in order that more innocent and good people will not suffer from this inhumane persecution, and to stop the evil. We firmly believe all the kind-hearted people in the world will lend us their support and help. The truth of Falun Gong will be revealed to the world eventually.

About 200 practitioners are detained here. Each practitioner is isolated and monitored by criminal prison inmates when he/she first arrives. According to the criminal inmates, new rules were set up. If practitioners were found practicing Falun Gong exercises, the prison terms of the criminals will be increased. If criminals can convince practitioners to stop practicing Falun Gong or write a pledge, then the criminals' prison terms will be reduced. If a criminal can convince a practitioner to give up Falun Gong, then his prison term will be reduced even more.

A 60-year-old Falun Dafa practitioner, Zhang Zhenran, was sent to a small room as soon as she was brought into the jail. Prison inmates beat and cursed Ms. Zhang everyday, and forced her to recite 65 prison rules in order to reduce their prison terms. She was forced to stand for hours if she missed a single word. The inmates also cursed her using foul language. Once, prison guards struck her with an electric baton. She was hit on the mouth and face. Fellow practitioners heard the sounds of the beating from far away. Then the prison guard put her arms behind her back and handcuffed her to the bedpost. Her head was bent forward almost touching the ground, and her mouth was sealed with tape. The punishment lasted more than ten hours. While beating her, the prison guard taunted her: "What's wrong with beating you? Beating you to death is OK! Even if you sue us, you will not win. This is the rule set up by Jiang Zemin." The crimes they committed are monstrous, extremely evil and totally inhumane.

Another practitioner, named Zhou Bing, is approximately 60 years old. When her movements in the prison yard looked at though she was practicing the exercises, guards and inmates attacked her. They tore her clothing, including pants, to shreds. Her abdomen was lacerated. The scar is visible even today. Through the wall, we could sounds of beating, swearing, moaning and protests mixed together. After Zhou Bing was sent back to her small room, the inmates in the same ward beat her again. After they became exhausted, they bound her hands and sealed her mouth with tape. They did not allow her to stand up or to sit down. They forced her to squat on her heels for a day and a night. When she was released on the second day, her hands were greatly swollen. It took three months for her hands to become normal, however, they continue to feel numb and shake uncontrollably. At another time that guards and inmates found her practicing the exercises, they attacked her, held her down on a bed and beat her. Still not satisfied with the evil things they had done, they tied her hands with a rope and hung her from a pole. Because she recited Falun Gong teachings quietly, her mouth was sealed and she was beaten with an electric baton. Under this situation, she thought that the guard was humiliating her human dignity, depriving her of her human rights and violating the law. So she started a hunger strike in order to obtain justice. The guards called in the newly formed "security team" to force-feed her, and intentionally made her nose and her upper jaw bleed. During the hunger strike, they deliberately assigned hunger-striking practitioners to do the heaviest and dirtiest manual labor, such as loading and unloading the waste truck and applying fertilizer to the field.

A practitioner who was about 30 years old was handcuffed for 18 days and 17 nights because of practicing Falun Gong exercises. She was not allowed to sleep for three days and nights. She was under surveillance by criminal inmates. If she closed her eyes for a while or bent her legs a little, she would be kicked and punched. As a result of this inhumane treatment, she went on a hunger strike to protect her rights. A guard force-fed her once every few days. An official whose surname was Hong beat her cruelly, and cursed while beating her: "You are nothing! I have dealt with lots of 'Falun Gong' who are much stronger than you are. We have lots of ways to deal with you guys. Even putting you to death is just like killing a chicken! It is nothing. We just need to fill out a form and hand it in, then everything will be OK. Jiang Zeming told us to do so. It is useless to sue us."

Another practitioner was handcuffed and fastened to an iron ring on the ground, with two arms behind her back. The cruelest thing the guards did was to strip her of her clothes, leaving her wearing only her underwear. They opened the door and windows and let her be bitten by mosquitoes. There are lots of big mosquitoes in the bushes and grass around the jail. We have not heard any news about her for more than twenty days. Some criminal inmates grabbed a practitioner's hair, dragged her onto the floor with her hands cuffed and kicked her. She was then handcuffed to a door. The guards went to check the handcuffs and thought they were not tight enough. They blamed the inmates and accused them of being clumsy and not knowing how to use the instruments. The guards then showed the inmates how to tighten the handcuffs. Soon, the practitioner's hands were bleeding severely. Later she was taken to the office of the guards, where she suffered another round of beatings and was handcuffed to the heating pipes. Afterwards, she was brought back to the small ward. Some criminals handcuffed her to the bedside. Her arms were fastened to the bed. She was kept in this posture for two days and nights. They would not release her unless she wrote a pledge letter.

Whoever treats Falun Dafa practitioners the worst can obtain a reduced prison term. Guards encourage criminals to torture these innocent and kindhearted people. One practitioner was more than 60 years old. They did not leave her alone just because she was a senior citizen. They cuffed and kicked her and imposed on her all sorts of penalties. Some other practitioners suffered the same. We do not have the freedom of speech at all. We lost all of our rights as human beings. Our human dignity was subjected to humiliation at will. The convicted criminals can beat us violently and willfully. Even convicted murderers could beat us. Of course, we will not fight back. Our only right is to conduct a silent hunger strike. However, this right has been deprived now. Now they stipulated that each time we get on a hunger strike, it would result in the extension of the prison term by three months. They force-feed hunger striking practitioners brutally. They organized a so-called "security team" for conducting force-feeding. Once they tied one practitioner up, pulled her hair, stepped on her body, pried open her mouth using an iron spoon or screw driver and forced fed the corn gruel through her mouth using half-cut plastic bottles. Lots of practitioners had their teeth pulled out, mouth injured, tongue swollen, and throat damaged.

All of these practitioners were put into a labor camp. Without exception, they suffered various degrees of miserable and inhumane treatment. A little carelessness would l incur a savage penalty. The jailers are utterly devoid of conscience. They think that they can evade the punishment for their monstrous crime by following Jiang Zemin. Pitiful people, please don't forget the ancient teachings: pay with your life if you kill a person; pay with your money if you owe someone a debt. The net of Heaven has a large mesh, and it lets nothing through. Even if there is no justice in this world, there are eyes in Heaven. The ultimate universal principle is fair. We believe firmly that evil will not survive for long. In this dark moment before dawn, we just hope all kindhearted people could give us more help and understanding.