(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners were recently arrested by the Chinese Communist regime's 610 Office, from early July to August 10, 2013. The practitioners were arrested and sent to brainwashing centers run by the 610 Office, where they are not only subjected to brainwashing, but also various physical tortures. The number of practitioners who were sent to brainwashing centers greatly increased compared with the first half of 2013, however this may only be the tip of the iceberg of the actual number of practitioners arrested.
All of these arrests were dictated by the 610 Office. The county governments and neighborhood community committees assisted in planning the persecution, and police officers carried out the arrest plan.
The 610 Office recently opened approximately 45 brainwashing centers. They use despicable methods, such as arrest, torture, and deception to force Falun Gong practitioners to give up their practice.
For example, during July, 432 practitioners were arrested, and 79 practitioners were taken to 40 different brainwashing centers for persecution. The total number of practitioners arrested is up 18%.
610 Offices in 19 provinces opened 82 brainwashing centers at various levels in 2013, including provincial, municipal, county-wide, township, and even at some practitioners' workplaces.
http://www.minghui.org/mh/article_images/2013-8-11-minghui-statistics-xinao.jpg (Chinese)
http://en.minghui.org/emh/article_images/FLG_Brainwashing_by_Month_2013.png (English) Number of Brainwashing Center Detentions
At least 186 practitioners were sent to these brainwashing centers and persecuted there: January (20), February (5), March (22), April (41), May (55), and June (43). (Detailed report available at http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2013/7/22/141176.html )
The brainwashing centers are located across China in 16 different provinces and cities, including Heilongjiang, Jilin, Shandong, Beijing, Hebei, Hubei, Sichuan, Guangdong, Hunan, Shaanxi, Chongqing, Henan, Jiangsu, Guizhou, Xinjiang, and Gansu.
Between August 1 and August 10, 2013, 29 practitioners were sent to 11 brainwashing centers.
Persecuted to Death in Brainwashing Centers
Holding absolute power over each administrative level in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems, the 610 Office can deprive a Falun Gong practitioner of any legal rights and freedom at any time and anywhere. Practitioners may be persecuted at brainwashing centers from days to years.
The persecution methods used by the 610 Office are similar to those used by labor camps and prisons. The only difference is that they are usually kept secret, so the general public has no idea what sinister crimes are taking place in these underground black jails. Even though the regime began closing its labor camps, it continues carrying out the persecution in these “invisible” brainwashing centers.
Except for a few “legal education centers” that have a fixed location, most of the brainwashing centers can be located anywhere, including hotels, restaurants, and even resorts.
People can't possibly imagine that under the banner of “legal education,” hotels and even restaurants have become the regime's black jails where Falun Gong practitioners are being atrociously persecuted.
Several practitioners were directly persecuted to death in the first half of 2013 at these brainwashing centers, including Ms. Zhang Junru from Hefei City, Ms. Zhang Yan from Bengbu City, and Ms. Zhang Fuying from Shenzhen City. The number of practitioners who passed away after being persecuted at the brainwashing centers is so large that it is simply uncountable.
Persecution Methods Used at Brainwashing Centers
(1) Restriction of Personal Freedom
It was recently reported that Huyu Brainwashing Center in Beijing rented hotel rooms to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. Every practitioner is held in a room, with two people from their workplace assigned to be the “minders.”
All the hotel rooms were remodeled. Reinforced iron bars were installed on the windows, and the restroom door locks were removed. There were two or three beds in each room, with the minder sleeping near the door. If a practitioner hasn't been "transformed", they aren't allowed to leave the room.
(2) Practitioners' Incomes Stolen to Pay for the Operation Fees
At many brainwashing centers, practitioners and their workplaces are forced to pay the operation fees. If a practitioner is unemployed, valuables are taken from their homes to cover the fee.
In the “Chengdu City Law Education Center,” which is actually the Chengdu Brainwashing Center, each Falun Gong practitioner is forced to pay for three people's living expenses, including salaries for the two minders, who were assigned to monitor them around the clock.
The agency that arrested the practitioner usually pays the money first, and then demands that the practitioner or their families reimburse them. They sometimes charge the practitioner 250 yuan per day. If the practitioner can't afford to pay this amount, their salaries are taken and their personal belongings are confiscated.
In the Banqiao Brainwashing Center in Hubei Province, the funds to maintain the center comes from two sources. The regime agency and through extorting practitioners. It was reported that the regime gives the center 3 million yuan each year. The “tuition” for each practitioner is 20,000 yuan, which only covers one session (about 40 days). If a practitioner doesn't renounce their practice, they might be detained there indefinitely, and bills from the brainwashing centers will continue to mount.
The 610 Office extorts money from not only the practitioners themselves, but also from their workplaces, residential or neighborhood community committees, and even their family members. In addition, their workplaces and residential or neighborhood community committees have to pay double costs, including the 20,000 yuan in tuition, plus the salaries of the minders. The minder's salary is 80 yuan per day, based on how many days they stay there.
About 18 to 20 rooms are used to detain Falun Gong practitioners at the Banqiao Brainwashing Center. The center earns 400,000 yuan during each session. There are eight or nine sessions each year, so their annual “income” is at least 3 million yuan. If a practitioner is "transformed," the 610 Office pays the center an extra bonus.
(3) Brainwashing Centers Can be Held Anywhere and for Extensive Periods
The 610 Offices at any level, including provincial, municipal, and even the practitioner's workplace, can hold brainwashing sessions, anywhere. For example, Falun Gong practitioner Liu Hui was detained by Chengdu Brainwashing Center for three years.
(4) Physical and Mental Torture
Similar to prisons and labor camps, many practitioners were persecuted to disability, mental collapses, or death as a result of the physical and mental torture at the brainwashing centers.
For example, practitioners detained at the Langfang Brainwashing Center and “Langfang Legal Center” were mentally tortured, injected with unknown drugs, and subjected to long-term sleep deprivation, as well as many other persecution methods.
It has been reported that many practitioners were persecuted to death or suffered mental collapses, including Hou Jiming, Jin Litao, Gao Jimin, Sun Guangjuan, Ma Zhenting, and others.
Inside the “Chengdu Law Education Center,” practitioners were force-fed, extorted, harassed, and threatened. Many were detained there for a very long time.
As a result of the long-term persecution, many practitioners suffered mental collapses, including Zhu Xia, Liu Ying, Tan Shaolan, and others. Some developed serious diseases.
Some were even persecuted to death, including Deng Shufen, Li Xiaowen, Xie Deqing, Liu Shengle, and others. However, protected by the Chinese Communist regime, the center's staff are not held responsible nor are they legally liable.
