이 글은 중국의 인권 변호사 가오즈성이 중국 정부의 박해를 받는 집단을 변호한 이유로 겪은 고문과 투옥에 대해 고발한 회고록입니다. 그는 극심한 고문 속에서 기독교 신앙을 갖게 되었으며, 미국과 같은 국제 사회의 위선적인 인권 접근 방식과 중국 공산당의 폭압적인 실체를 낱낱이 폭로하고 있습니다. 억압된 상황 속에서도 원칙을 굽히지 않고 악의 세력에 맞서겠다는 그의 결연한 의지를 담고 있습니다.
번역된 본문
신을 향한 투쟁
가오즈성
2017년 4월 1일
기사 공유
중국 정부의 박해를 받는 집단을 변호하는 법률 업무를 수행한 이유로, 나는 2007년 9월 21일 이후 세 차례나 고문을 받았다. 나는 장기간 비밀 구금이나 정식 투옥을 겪었다. 현재 나는 중국 북부의 한 마을 경계 내에서는 자유롭게 이동할 수 있지만, 여전히 감옥에 있는 셈이다. 그저 내 감방이 더 커졌을 뿐이다. 공산당과의 협상에서 나는 항상 기술적인 문제에는 타협할 의향이 있었지만, 원칙에 관해서는 한 치도 물러서지 않았다. 나의 육체가 나의 정신을 지탱할 수 있는 한, 나는 악의 세력에 맞서 싸울 것이다.
내가 겪은 고문은 나에게 경이로운 선물을 주었다. 바로 하나님에 대한 믿음이다. 나는 태어날 때부터 신자가 아니었다. 2004년 성경을 소지했다는 이유로 '불법 영리 활동' 혐의를 받은 차이줘화(Cai Zhuohua) 목사의 변호를 맡으면서 처음으로 성경을 읽었다. 당시에는 그것이 내게 아무런 감흥을 주지 못했다. 내 태도가 바뀐 것은 베이징 당국이 나를 탄압하기 시작하면서부터였다. 그후 나는 하나님을 알게 되었고 기독교인의 형제애에 합류했다. 그 이후로 하나님은 어려운 시기 동안 나에게 큰 힘을 주셨다. 그분은 또한 나에게 환상을 보여주셨는데, 첫 번째 환상은 2006년 8월 내가 납치된 이후에 나타났다.
2009년 4월 28일 종일 내 오른쪽 눈꺼풀이 계속 떨렸다. 나는 곧 또 다른 고문이 시작될 것임을 알았다. 나는 어떤 건물 안으로 끌려가 긴 계단을 내려간 뒤 바닥으로 밀쳐졌다. 누군가가 다가오는 발소리가 들린 뒤 "후드를 벗겨!"라는 소리가 들렸다. 한 손이 내 머리에서 후드를 낚아채자, 내 앞에 세 켤레의 발이 보였다. 그들은 예전에 나를 고문했던 바로 그 무리였다. 우두머리는 약 60센티미터 길이의 전기 지팡이를 들고 있었고, 다른 한 손으로는 입술에 담배를 가져다 대고 있었다. 그는 전기 지팡이에서 웅웅거리는 소리가 나게 한 채 내 어깨를 밟았다. 그리고는 지팡이를 내 턱 밑에 들이밀었다. 나는 눈을 꽉 감았고 기이한 소리를 들었다. 의심할 여지 없이 그 소리는 나에게서 나오는 것이었다. 그 소리는 웅웅거리는 소리와 함께 복도를 가득 울렸지만, 도저히 통제할 수 없는 소리였다. 나는 내 근육이 뼈에서 분리되는 것을 느꼈다.
"공산당은 예전 같지 않단다," 수없이 많은 심문 중 하나에서 내 포로 감시관 중 한 명이 말했다. "우리는 당신에게 당에 특별한 공로를 세운 사람들조차 꿈도 꾸지 못할 조건을 제공할 의향이 있소. 결국 이건 이익의 문제이고, 궁극적으로 돈의 문제야. 글로벌 영역에서도 공산당이 처리하지 못할 일은 없소. 미국은 어때? 우리가 그들도 처리했잖소? 힐러리가 이번에 왔을 때, 그녀가 원한 게 뭐였소? 만나자마자 인권을 운운하고 당신의 문제를 논의하지만, 그들 역시 10억 달러를 원하오. 우리가 손가락 까딱 한 번으로 그녀에게 8,000억 달러를 주었고, 그 여자가 돈을 쥐자마자 인권이나 가오즈성에 대한 언급은 더 이상 없어졌소!"
이쯤 되자, 내 감시관은 너무 흥분해서 허벅지를 치며 벌떡 일어나 왔다 갔다 하기 시작했다. "포기해, 가오. 그 인권 운운하는 개소리가 뭐가 좋다고 그러오? 우리는 미국인들이 원하는 게 뭔지 알고, 미국인들도 우리가 원하는 게 뭔지 아오. 당신은 그 방정식에 끼지도 못하오. 미국이 정말로 중국의 인권을 신경 쓴다 해도 그래서 어쩔 셈이오? 우리가 당신을 짓밟아버리면, 그들이 당신을 위해 뭘 할 수 있겠소?"
나를 겪은 고문은 확실히 중국적인 특징을 띠고 있었다. 의식적이든 무의식적이든, 모든 사람이 아무도 빠져나올 수 없는, 심지어 악의 세력 자신들조차 벗어날 수 없는 어둡고 쓰디쓴 늪에서 허우적거리고 있었다.
어느 날 그들 중 두 명이 나를 보러 왔고, 자리에 앉지도 않은 채 질문을 시작했다.
"라오 가오(Old Gao), 어떻게 지내시오?"
"당신들이 모든 대답을 가지고 있다고," 내가 말했다. "그러니 물어볼 필요도 없지."
"정부에 대한 당신의 생각을 말해보지 않겠소?" 그들이 물었다.
"내 생각에 정부라는 건 존재하지 않소," 내가 대답했다. "거기엔 오직 지옥의 개발자이자 관리자들만이 있을 뿐이오. 법과 규정을 인정하고 존중하는 것은 모든 정부의 가장 기본적인 특징이오. 법은 국가가 통제권을 행사하기 위한 보장이자 기반이며, 법야말로 정부를 갱
Struggle Against the Gods Gao Zhisheng April 1, 2017 Share Article B ecause of my legal work on behalf of groups persecuted by the Chinese government, I have been tortured three times since September 21, 2007. I have been subject to long periods of secret detention or formal imprisonment. At present, I can move freely within the bounds of a village in northern China, but I’m still in prison—it’s just that my cell has become larger. In negotiating with the Communist party, I have always been willing to compromise on technicalities, but on principle I have been immovable. As long as my physical shell can support my spirit, I will stand against the forces of evil. The torture I suffered gave me a wonderful gift: faith in God. I was not born a believer. While handling the legal defense of Pastor Cai Zhuohua, who was charged with “illegal business practices” in 2004 for possessing Bibles, I first read Scripture. At the time, it left me cold. My attitude changed when the Beijing authorities began to persecute me. In time, I came to know God and join the brotherhood of Christians. Since then, God has given me great strength through difficult times. He has also given me visions, the first coming after I was abducted in August 2006. All day on April 28, 2009, my right eye kept twitching. I knew another round of torture would begin soon. I was propelled into a building and down a long staircase, then shoved onto the ground. I heard several people approach before someone said, “Pull the hood off!” A hand snatched the hood off my head, and I saw three pairs of feet in front of me. It was the same group that had tortured me before. The leader was holding an electric cattle prod about two feet long; his other hand lifted a cigarette to his lips. He stepped on my shoulder as his electric cattle prod emitted a buzzing sound. He stuck the prod under my chin. I shut my eyes tight and heard another strange sound, which undoubtedly came from me. That sound rang through the corridor along with the buzzing, but there was no way to control it. I felt my muscles separate from my bones. “The Communist party isn’t like before,” one of my captors said during one of my countless interrogations. We’re willing to give you conditions that even those who have rendered extraordinary service to the party wouldn’t dream of. It’s always a question of interests, and ultimately of money. Even in the global sphere, the Communist party doesn’t have anything it can’t handle. How about America? Haven’t we taken care of them, too? When Hillary came this time, what did she want? As soon as we meet they want human rights and discuss your problem, but they also want a billion. With a flick of the hand we give her $800 billion, and once that woman has the money in her hand, there’s no more mention of human rights or Gao Zhisheng! At this point, my captor became so agitated that he slapped his thigh, leaped to his feet, and began pacing. “Give up, Gao—what good is that human rights bullshit? We know what the Americans want, and they know what we want, and you don’t even enter into it. Even if America really cared about China’s human rights, so what? If we stomp on you, what can they do about it?” My torture displayed definite Chinese characteristics. Consciously or not, everybody was splashing around in a dark, bitter swamp from which no one could escape, not even the forces of evil themselves. One day, two of them came to see me, and without even sitting down, they began to ask me questions. “Lao Gao, how are you?” “You have all the answers,” I said, “so there’s no need to ask.” “Why don’t you tell us your thoughts on the government?” they asked. “I don’t feel there is a government,” I replied. “There are only the developers and managers of hell. Acknowledging and respecting laws and regulations are the most basic features of all governments. The law is the guarantee and foundation for a state to exercise control, and it’s the law that distinguishes a government from a gang.” My first experience of going to the bathroom with my head covered, feet shackled, and hands cuffed occurred on December 16, 2011, during my transfer by rail from secret to official confinement. It was hopeless. Two guards crowded into the train bathroom to monitor me and direct my actions. After I was guided to the “right position,” one of my hands was uncuffed and the handcuff was immediately locked onto another man’s wrist. When I squatted down, each of my knees pushed against their legs. I could also sense that the bathroom’s door was open; there was probably a video camera outside as well as other policemen standing guard. “Forward a bit . . . bit more . . . okay, okay, let ’er rip.” I’m sure that no esteemed personage urinates with as much pomp and ceremony as I did. Apart from the final biological act, which remained mine, all other arrangements were handled by my guards in peaked caps. One of the headings on the official list of breaches of prison discipline is “Illegal Religions.” In fact, prison is where it becomes obvious that the party does not oppose “illegal religions,” but all religion. Prohibited religious acts include “carrying out, or covertly carrying out, the namaz ” (the namaz is an Islamic prayer), “inciting others to carry out the namaz ,” “praying or covertly praying,” “inciting others to pray,” “washing in the Muslim fashion,” and “touching the face in the Muslim fashion before or after meals.” Each of these prohibitions is aimed not at “illegal religion,” but at religion itself. I once asked several of the guards, one of whom was responsible for education on religious matters, what exactly an illegal religion was. None of them was able to answer. I asked what legal religious acts they sought to protect, and they said there were no legal religious acts in prison. “Then why ban ‘illegal religion’ and not all religion?” They couldn’t answer. China has made little progress since the time of the palace eunuch Zhao Gao, who forced others to call a deer a horse. Zhao was contemplating treason and wanted to test his support among other officials, so he presented a deer to the emperor and called it a horse. The emperor, thinking this strange, asked those around him what the animal was. Some were silent, others said it was a deer, and others, apparently wanting to curry favor with Zhao, said it was a horse. Zhao later secretly arranged for those who said it was a deer to be executed. From then on, all the officials lived in fear of him. Once a guard of mine described an experience he’d had as a new recruit. He went to an “inaugural meeting,” a ritual that was an old Communist Army practice. After roll call, the squad leader pointed to a soldier next to the classroom’s shiny white wall and asked, “What color is that wall?” When the soldier answered that it was white, he was thrashed. After five soldiers in a row were beaten for giving the same answer, the sixth one replied, “It’s whatever color the squad leader says it is.” The squad leader praised the soldier and once again asked the soldiers who had been beaten what color the wall was. They all replied, “It’s whatever color the squad leader says it is.” Under the Prison Law, prisoners are entitled to read books. Chen, the deputy block chief, laughed as he handed me a heavy tome titled A Compilation of the Theoretical Work of Jiang Zemin (arguably humanity’s most egregious waste of paper). After bureau approval, the prison gave me a copy of Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching , which I read for the next five or six months. And even that came with conditions: The bureau wanted me to write weekly reports that expressed my remorse, my change in thinking, my willingness to break with the past, and my determination to make amends. These requirements were imposed on all political prisoners and “cultists.” I did write the reports—a single sentence for each. In my report on my remorsefulness, I said that I regretted not doing a better job of exposing the dark forces at work in C