overseas media on Falun Gong

"I have never thought that Falun Gong could be so shockingly cruel." "It reminds me of my own bitter experience." "I hope that the exhibition can make any person of benevolence keep a cool head."

These were remarks made by former Falun Gong addicts, who committed minor offenses and were detained in re-education-through- labor centers, after they visited an anti-cult exhibition Saturday afternoon.

At 5 pm, 100 Falun Gong members from two of Beijing's re-education-through-labor centers arrived at the downtown Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution after hours of travel from the suburbs to visit the exhibition named "Against Cult and For Civilization."

The story behind each picture or each thing on show is bloodcurdling. There are pictures of some Falun Gong followers burning themselves, a young student who committed suicide, a mother killing her innocent daughter, all just to "achieve nirvana " or "go to heaven" as preached by Li Hongzhi.

The group was quiet in front of the display of these shocking cases, and their faces became more and more sullen when the stories were unveiled.

Dai Jianhai, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Re- Education-Through-Labor Bureau, said all these former Falun Gong addicts have been helped out of the "mental control" of the Falun Gong cult preaching and the visit is expected to further consolidate their educational result.

"The exhibition makes me see more clearly the evil nature of the Falun Gong cult, but I never thought that it could be so shockingly cruel," said Li Shuying in her 30s.

"One of my fellow practitioners has gone insane for practicing Falun Gong, and now I realize that the stories on display here could happen to anyone of us," she said.

The former postal department worker said that she was arrested for spreading flyers which said that more than 40 kinds of torture are used in re-education-through-labor camps.

The re-education-through-labor system is an administrative measure against minor crimes exempted from prosecution. The sentences, out of strict legal procedures, range from one to three years.

"I thought I was fighting for justice then, but when I was sent to the camp myself, I came to know that I had been wrong and fooled," she said.

He Jinghong, an IT technician, said the exhibition reminds him of his own experience of being intoxicated in the Falun Gong theories.

"I feel lucky that I'm out of it," he said.

"I didn't know the truth before I was transformed," a woman in her 40s said, "I am rather frightened by what I was when I was controlled by the Falun Gong."

She patted the shoulder of a woman police officer accompanying her and said that "police officers have been a great help to me."

At the conclusion of the 90-minute visit, many wrote down their message on the opinion booklet: "Break away from Cult and Treasure Human Life," "Wipe out Falun Gong and Save Lives," etc.

(Xinhua)