(Clearwisdom Net)
First I'd like to tell you my experience.
My mother in China was detained for clarifying the truth about Falun Gong. I learned of her arrest a week later. My brother (who doesn't practice Falun Gong) told me that the local Police Department stated that as soon as she wrote a repentance letter they would let her go home. I told him that mother had done nothing wrong and that she shouldn't write anything. My brother thought that there was no hope for Mother to be released unless she wrote the repentance letter as required and that there was no use trying to argue with the police.
I called him several times and talked to him with a firm attitude. I asked him to give me the telephone numbers of the local government and the police department. I was going to call them. Later my brother went to the related offices and urged them to release my mother. After 19 days, my mother was free to go home without signing any repentance letter. My brother told me afterwards that he was surprised to see my firmness, which indeed gave him courage to go to the police department. I think it was my righteous thoughts that influenced him. He told me that the "610 Office" [A bureau specifically created by the Chinese government to persecute Falun Gong. It has absolute power over each level of administration in the Party, as well as over the political and judiciary branches] was trying to invent some evidence against our mother. She might have been sentenced to jail if we hadn't pressed for her release.
From this and other cases, I realized that what we do during the beginning period of the detention is crucial for the successful rescue of practitioners. Once they are put in labor camps or sentenced to jail, it becomes more difficult to obtain their release. This principal is illustrated by some of the detained overseas practitioners.
During the process of rescuing a detained Australian practitioner, officers of the local National Security Bureau threatened her family in China, saying that they would experience a lot of problems if they revealed the news to the world. Australian practitioners could see that the police were afraid of being exposed. The practitioners then doubled their efforts explain the facts to the media and governments, which created favorable conditions for the rescues.
From another perspective, the detention of overseas practitioners provides a good opportunity for us to clarify the truth and reveal the evil persecution to the governments, media, and people of the world. In 2001, Canadian practitioners started the campaign to rescue our family members, and some practitioners were not sure whether or not it would be successful. They were also concerned that it might result in more pressure to the detained people. After sharing experiences, we were enlightened to the Fa that no matter what effect it might have, it was an opportunity for us to explain the facts to the governments and people. We do not pursue any result. Over time, we saw that the effect of such rescue campaigns was tremendous.
Finally, I would like to say that rescuing our family members and overseas practitioners is not only an activity to rescue one person; it is an opportunity to thoroughly clarify the truth and expose the evil as well for us to improve as a whole body.
The preceding is my personal opinion.
