Manningham Leader (Australia): Escaping from Hell

August 30, 2006

DONCASTER'S Shuang Luan has been to hell and survived to tell the tale.

The Falun Gong follower said she fled from China's ruling Communist Party after being imprisoned and tortured.

The 31-year-old began practicing Falun Gong on April 25, 1999, after reading Zhuan Falun, the teachings of Falun Gong.

''Two months after I started, the Chinese Government began to persecute Falun Gong,'' Ms Luan said.

''All the media in China spread hatred propaganda against Falun Gong and I learned that my people were being arrested and tortured to death.''

Ms Luan headed to Beijing over her holidays to ''peacefully appeal'' to the Chinese Government for the release of Falun Gong prisoners.

Not only was that plea ignored, but she was arrested and taken into custody on January 1, 2001.

It started an experience that Ms Luan said ''put me in hell''.

''I was forced to squat with both hands holding my head and was not allowed to move, otherwise I would be beaten,'' she said.

''My group was put in a small room and it was very crowded. We were forced to take off all our clothes to enable them to (do a) body search.

''The food was really terrible. Dogs and pigs wouldn't eat it.''

Ms Luan was constantly interrogated by police who forced her to give up Falun Gong by threatening her with three years in a labor camp if she refused.

She was released on March 15, 2001, but was far from free.

''Almost once a week local police came to my workplace and I was asked to write a (psychological) report.''

Ms Luan applied for a passport, but it was rejected.

She remained under police watch and, fearing she could again be arrested, decided to go abroad.

Ms Luan received a protection visa and arrived in Australia on June 5, 2004.

She is creating a new life in Manningham, but scars remain both with her and her 10-year-old daughter, Helen.

''As soon as we arrived in Australia, my daughter asked me, "Is (former Communist Party leader) Jiang Zemin going to come to Australia to kill us?''

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