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From Orientation
for X.
III. Daily Routine - Daily Tribunal: This function holds prisoner accountable on a
daily basis for her conduct.
Inform
prisoner that she shall now be taken to the Tribunal. Throw water on her and generally clean her
up. Present her with her court
dress. This consists of one-piece grey
canvas dress that is sleeveless and hemmed just above knee. After you have pulled dress down over head,
make sure the dress’ straps are buttoned on top of shoulders. Place blindfold over her eyes.
March prisoner
to Administration Building. Two guards
shall stand on each side firmly holding her upper arms with both hands.
Once inside
the courtroom, remove blindfold. March
her to the concrete pad that is marked the defendant’s place. Lighting will be very dim so wait to adjust
your eyes. Allow prisoner to sit in wood
chair while waiting for judges. (Judges
will usually consist of prison administration staff.)
Bailiff
will turn lights on, announce arrival of judges, and command, “all rise.” Make prisoner stand. When the judges are seated make prisoner
kneel. Since prisoner will remain
kneeling throughout the Tribunal, strap her ankles together.
Judges will
take testimony from guards and question prisoner about her conduct during the
past 24 hours. Prisoner must look at
each Judge as he asks questions or makes comments. Guards shall beat prisoner for each failure
to do so, as well for the following infractions:
·
each
time she speaks when not directly answering a question put to her;
·
giving
a non-responsive answer to a direct question;
·
failure
to maintain erect posture;
·
non-respectful
demeanor;
·
emotional
behavior.
Administer
beating immediately upon each infraction.
Use heavy leather strap upon your choice of bottom of prisoner’s feet,
back of her legs, or arms as these areas of her body are bare and exposed. Do not beat face because we do not want face
marked when we exhibit her in public. If
the prisoner gets dizzy or starts to sway back and forth, dump a bucket of cold
water onto her head. Since she has
nothing to hold onto, guards may have to hold her up themselves. Be sure to keep her in the kneeling position
and turning her face to each speaker with eyes open.
Each
session the prisoner will be asked to recant her religious activities and
confess that she is a spy. As always the
prisoner must respond. She always
answers in the negative. This is an
incorrect response. Beat her again for
that.
Judges
shall then decide prisoner’s punishment for the day. These will range from mild to severe. Prisoner usually breaks down and cries around
the time judgment is pronounced. Allow
her to do that.
Remove
strap from ankles but leave chain on.
When Bailiff cries, “all rise!” order her to stand up and make her do
so. March her to courtroom
entrance. Blindfold her and march her to
the cage. Care must be taken to hold her
upper arms as per standard procedure as by this time prisoner is usually in a greatly
agitated state. She may also suffer from
a spell of depression. These mental
conditions may result in her not submitting to your orders. Taunt her for abandoning her belief system.
* * * *
We took X
to the courtroom. It was dark. Removing the blindfold from X’s eyes caused
little of the blinking that eyes normally do to adjust from darkness to
light. We marched her to her place. I pointed to the small wooden chair. She quietly sat with her head slightly bent
down, and waited. Her hands, with her
wrists crossed together by the tight bolts of the iron cuffs, rested on her
lap. The economy of her motions left her
chains no opportunity to make sound. The
quiet of the act compared to the usual rattling of her transport chains was
memorable to me. The expression on her
face was one of resignation to her fate.
When the
judges entered, she stood in that same quiet, resigned way. When they sat behind the large bench, she
kneeled on the concrete floor. I
strapped her ankles together. Her head
now had to look up at the judges but her face held that same impassive
poise. To me she looked like a young,
vulnerable girl, not the monster depicted by the state’s propaganda. The judges, the prosecutor, and the guards
regarded her with unconcealed hate. She
was alone. Everybody was together but
she was alone. The outline of the murder
began to focus in my mind.
When a
judge asked her a question, the veneer of her poise began to break. The jaw quivered, she hesitated. “Answer the question,” the judge snapped. She answered the question. The chief judge totaled up the infractions of
the previous day. There were five of
them. Five! The judges glared at her. X lowered her head. A guard grabbed her hair and raised her head
back up to the proper position.
Then the
court took up the results of last evening’s writing exercise. “You were specifically directed to write of
your sex life,” a judge thundered. “Yes, sir,” she answered.
“You told
us nothing at all.”
“I am a
virgin.”
“All you
talk of in here,” the judge waved X’s papers, “is about is your relationships
with boys.”
“I had
boyfriends.”
“Do you
mean to tell us that you’ve never had so much as a sexual fantasy with anybody,
ever?”
“No,
Sir. I mean yes, Sir I have.”
“Then with
who?”
“With him.”
She turned her face to me.
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