"At night all of us slept on one big wooden platform, with one blanket for two people and no pillows. It was very crowded. In the entire time I was there, we weren't allowed to take any showers. None of the practitioners were allowed any contact with the outside, nor were family members or relatives allowed to visit. And the families usually also faced huge fines," she claimed.

In her statement Zhao also said, "So far, 11 people are known to have died while in police custody, while countless others remain unaccounted for."

The testimony, which was riddled with lies, had the negative impact desired by the congressional committee and participants, the Xinhua article said.

It was reported that after the hearing, the head of the congressional committee posed for pictures with Falun Gong members.

At noon the following day, Zhang Erping, an assistant to Li Hongzhi, the founder of the Falun Gong cult, attended a luncheon for more than 60 US politicians, academicians, businesspeople and the press, briefing them on Falun Gong and its "repression" in China. Zhang also quoted Zhao's testimony before congress.

Tracy Zhao, with a Chinese name Zhao Yanhong, was born on July 22, 1969, in Beijing, and lived at 12 Liulisi, Andingmen, in the Dongcheng District. She attended the Beijing Civil Aviation Technical School from 1985 to 1986.

Without completing her studies there, she left for a vocational school specializing in training for the service industry. After finishing her courses there, she became a hotel waitress.

On January 23, 1990, Zhao resigned and applied for leaving for the United States. She became a US citizen in 1996. Later, she was employed by Northwest Airlines because of her skills from the Beijing technical school.

In her first 20 years, Zhao, like her Chinese peers, grew up in peace and received a compulsory education. She also benefited from China's reform and opening up when she chose to emigrate to the United States.

Zhao said she first heard of Falun Gong in 1997 and became a follower two years later. And yet Falun Gong, which claimed to cultivate the spirituality of its practitioners, only left Zhao confused and unable to distinguish right from wrong.