【美聯社 2005年1月21日，作者：Audra Ang】法輪功是一項精神運動，在中國因其“邪惡”而被取締。

　　3年前，他是一個頑固的法輪功學員，以法輪功的名義試圖自焚而被判處無期徒刑。今天，由於他在獄中的良好表現，刑期縮短至19年。劉雲芳，一個另類轉化分子，也是中國急於展示的一個成功“轉化”例子。

　　劉雲芳在接受記者採訪時說：“我錯了。應該受到法律的制裁。”中國政府組織記者在他所在的監獄進行為期一周的訪問。

　　這個監獄位於河南省中部。劉雲芳作為2001年天安門自焚案的策劃者之一，與另外兩名男子關押在那。當時他用汽油把自己澆濕，在點燃前被員警及時制止。

　　不過，一位母親和她12歲的女兒死了，她們的身體被火焰吞沒，焦如黑炭。這些畫面在國家電視臺播出，用以強調中國政府的立場：法輪功是一個危險的邪教。

　　劉雲芳因製作小冊子教導法輪功信徒通過自焚可能達到精神圓滿被判刑。海外法輪功成員否認該組織鼓勵自殺的教義，取而代之的是法輪功重視生命的哲學體系。

　　自從1999年取締法輪功，北京經常傳播反對法輪功的宣傳，並在嚴格控制的環境中，通過允許記者採訪轉化者來證明其正在進行的打擊工作是正當的。這個持續運動說明了執政的共產黨堅持認為法輪功是一種威脅。

　　20世紀90年代，法輪功把體操動作、佛道教教義和創辦人李洪志，一個前政府糧油公司職員的觀點相結合，吸引了上百萬信徒。直到2001年自焚事件發生前，法輪功信徒們抗議中國政府取締法輪功的行為，幾乎每天都在中國首都北京精神和政治心臟——天安門廣場上演。

　　當與記者分別會面時，劉雲芳和其他兩名轉化者王進東和薛紅軍，身著統一藍白相間的條紋制服和帽子，對過去深感懊悔，表示與法輪功及其創始人徹底絕裂，並對政府優待他們表示感謝。

　　監獄長於曉明介紹：“這三名犯人在服刑期間對自己進行了深刻反思，最終他們都認清了邪教法輪功的本質。”由於“積極改造”，王進東和薛紅軍的刑期分別減少了兩年半和兩年。

　　修煉者聲稱中國法輪功成員在監獄和勞教所遭到虐待和拷打，並有數百名成員被殺害。中國當局否認虐待指控，但沒有透露他們如何轉化法輪功成員。

　　在2002年政府組織的一次記者採訪中，劉雲芳仍然堅定他的信念，甚至當場表演了法輪功修煉動作。

　　現在，這個前工廠工人似乎變了。劉雲芳拖著步子走進一個光線充足的會議室。談到以前的生活時，他語無倫次，聲音顫抖，淚水從眼眶中湧出。監獄官員說，他患有高血壓和其他疾病。

　　劉雲芳說2003年9月27日，他停止相信法輪功。

　　“當時我比其他人更癡迷，所以我給國家和政府造成的傷害也更大。”60歲的劉雲芳彎著腰坐在座位上。“上一次記者來採訪我時，我仍然想要堅持法輪功，現在我知道我錯了。”

　　他在監獄官員攙扶下離開了。

　　54歲的王進東是唯一一個自焚後入獄的。他的臉上沒有眉毛，滿是斑駁的疤痕，部分手指被截。

　　“是政府給了我第二次生命。”王進東說：“我已經完全醒悟了。我想要說服仍然沉迷於法輪功的人們也趕快醒悟。”

　　“在我心中，對於李洪志只有一個字‘恨’。因為他殺死了那麼多我們的愛人，我們的同胞。”

　　王進東在一張桌子上擺放著他的照片：微笑著的妻子和女兒，而自己是一個英俊的小夥子。

　　“相信法輪功讓我覺得慚愧。”他說，“是法輪功和李洪志毀了我。”

　　開封，位於這個監獄的東北處，是一個繁華的城市。在一個小巷深處一個單人間裡，同為前法輪功成員的王進東的妻子和女兒與他的女婿及孩子生活在一起。房間內擠著張床、一堆棉被、手提箱和碗櫃，牆上掛著一張世界地圖。

　　“這些年來，我們感覺到上當受騙，堅定的信念也破滅了。”王進東26歲的女兒王娟說，“我父親的轉變是真誠的，我們對未來充滿希望。”

　　51歲的郝惠君和她23歲的女兒陳果住在幾分鐘路程外一個通風的福利院內，在天安門集體自焚參與者中，她們的身體遭受破壞最嚴重。烈火燒掉她們的鼻子、嘴唇、耳朵和頭髮，她們的臉部和頭骨與疤痕和移植的皮膚一起閃著光澤。郝惠君，一名前音樂教師，僅在她眼窩處保留著一塊皮膚，右眼一個細小的縫隙殘存著微弱視力，手掌短而禿，右耳失聰。

　　“我已經意識到給政府和社會製造了許多麻煩。”郝惠君邊說邊落下淚。她的女兒睡在隔壁房間，正生病發燒。“我們已徹底轉變。”

　　原文網址：http://www.cesnur.org/2005/falun_01.htm

AP: Chinese show off repentant Falun Gong

Three years ago, he was a die-hard Falun Gong follower, serving a life sentence for trying to set himself afire in the name of the spiritual movement banished by China as "evil."

Today, with his prison term drastically cut to 19 years for good behavior, Liu Yunfang is a convert of a different sort - and one Beijing is eager to showcase as a successful "rehabilitation."

"I was wrong," Liu told reporters who made a government-organized visit to his prison in central Henan province this week. "I should be punished by law."

Liu is one of three men imprisoned for orchestrating a group self-immolation in Tiananmen Square in 2001. Liu doused himself with gasoline but was grabbed by police before he could ignite himself.

However, a mother and her 12-year-old daughter died, and images of their bodies engulfed in flames - and later charred and blackened - were aired on state television to underscore China's position the sect is a dangerous cult.

Liu was sentenced for producing pamphlets teaching that Falun Gong followers could reach spiritual fulfillment by burning themselves. Falun Gong members abroad have denied the group's teachings encourage suicide, saying instead its philosophy values life.

Since banning the group in 1999, Beijing regularly disseminates propaganda against it and justifies its ongoing crackdown by allowing reporters to interview converts in tightly controlled settings.

The persistence of that campaign illustrates the ruling Communist Party's continued perception that Falun Gong is a threat.

Falun Gong drew millions of followers in the 1990s with its mix of calisthenics and doctrines drawn from Buddhism, Taoism and the ideas of its founder, Li Hongzhi, a former government grain clerk. Until the 2001 self-immolations, followers staged near-daily protests of the government ban in Tiananmen Square, the spiritual and political heart of the Chinese capital.

Liu and two other converts, Wang Jindong and Xue Hongjun, wore matching blue-and-white striped uniforms and caps when they met reporters individually this week. In contrite tones, they renounced their faith in Falun Gong and its founder, and expressed their gratitude to the government for treating them well.

"These three criminals have deeply reflected upon themselves while in prison," warden Yu Xiaoming said. "Finally, they are clear about the nature of the Falun Gong cult."

Their sentences were reduced because they were "active in rehabilitation," Yu said. Wang's 15-year term was lessened by 2 1/2 years and Xue's by two.

Practitioners claim they have been abused, tortured and killed by the hundreds in Chinese prisons and labor camps. Chinese authorities deny mistreatment but have not disclosed how they rehabilitate Falun Gong members.

When reporters visited the prisoners in a government-organized trip in 2002, Liu was steadfast about his beliefs and even demonstrated the slow-moving exercises that Falun Gong followers practice.

Now, the former factory worker seems changed.

Shuffling into a fluorescent-lit meeting room, Liu mumbled incoherently at times to reporters, his voice shaking and eyes welling with tears as he spoke of his former life. Prison officials say he is ill, suffering from high blood pressure and other maladies.

Liu said he stopped believing in Falun Gong on Sept. 27, 2003.

"I was more addicted than (the rest) so I caused more harm to the country and the government," said Liu, 60, who sat hunched in his seat. "Last time when reporters came to me, I still wanted to uphold Falun Gong, but now I know I was wrong."

He was supported by prison officials on either side when he left.

Wang, 54, is the only one in prison who set fire to himself. His face, devoid of eyebrows, is mottled with scar tissue. Some fingers have been amputated.

"It is the government that has given me a second life," Wang said. "I have totally woken up and I think I should persuade people still addicted to Falun Gong to wake up, too.

"To Li Hongzhi, I have only one word in my heart - hate - because he killed so many of our beloved and our compatriots."

Wang placed a half-dozen photos on a table: his wife and his daughter smiling, himself as a handsome young man.

"I feel ashamed about believing in Falun Gong," Wang said. "It is Falun Gong and Li Hongzhi who have ruined me."

In Kaifeng, a bustling city northeast of the prison, Wang's wife and daughter - both former Falun Gong members - live with the daughter's husband and baby in a single room tucked in a maze of alleys. The room is filled with a bed, piles of comforters, suitcases and cupboards. A map of the world hangs on the wall.

"We feel so cheated to have our deep beliefs shattered after all these years," said Wang Juan, Wang's 26-year-old daughter. "My father's change is sincere. We are filled with hope for the future."

Minutes away, Hao Huijun, 51, and her daughter Chen Guo, 23, the most physically destroyed of the Tiananmen group, live in an airy welfare home.

Flames burned off their noses, lips, ears and hair, leaving their faces and skulls shiny with scars and grafted skin. Hao - a former music teacher - has only a patch of skin over her eye sockets, with a tiny slit allowing blurry vision out of her right eye. Her hands are stubs and she is partially deaf in her right ear.

"I realized that I made a lot of trouble for the government and society," Hao said, weeping as her daughter, ill with a fever, slept in the next room.

"We are thoroughly rehabilitated."

(AP, January 21, 2005)

Original text from: http://www.cesnur.org/2005/falun_01.htm