Authorities in Two Chinese Provinces Hold Brainwashing Sessions Against Falun Gong Practitioners
(Minghui.org) In recent months, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched a nationwide campaign aimed to force every Falun Gong practitioner on the government's blacklist to renounce their faith. The authorities constantly harassed and threatened the practitioners in order to coerce them into signing the three statements.
Falun Gong is a mind and body meditation practice that follows the guidance of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. The CCP has carried out a brutal persecution against the practice since July 1999.
The following are two cases in the provinces of Hubei and Hebei, where authorities held brainwashing sessions after practitioners refused to renounce their faith. The agencies giving orders in this harassment campaign include the 610 Office and the Political and Legal Affairs Committee (PLAC), both of which have been tasked with carrying out the persecution of Falun Gong since 1999.
Yichang City, Hubei Province: Practitioners and Their Families Threatened
Since October 2020, the authorities in Yichang City, Hubei Province have been harassing and terrorizing local Falun Gong practitioners and their families. The authorities called or showed up at the practitioners’ homes trying to deceive or coerce them into signing the three statements. The practitioners were told that once they signed the statements, they would never be bothered again. The authorities also threatened to sabotage their children’s futures should the practitioners refuse to renounce their faith.
When the practitioners still refused to comply, they were taken to local brainwashing centers for further persecution.
Over the past 22 years, the authorities in Yichang have been actively persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. According to information collected by Minghui.org, the authorities in Yichang City have harassed and held brainwashing sessions against over 500 local practitioners since 1999. Over 100 practitioners were arrested and taken to forced labor camps and prisons.
Currently, three local practitioners remain incarcerated for their faith: Ms. Zhang Yonghong, Mr. Huang Miaosen, and Ms. Chen Facui.
Ms. Chen was sentenced to seven years in 2016 and is currently in the Wuhan Women’s Prison. Mr. Huang is in Shayang Prison serving a six-year sentence. Ms. Chen was sentenced to four years in 2016 and released from Wuhan Women’s Prison in 2019. The police from the Yiling Domestic Security and Xiaoxita Police Station arrested her again in August 2020. She was arrested again in August 2020 and is currently incarcerated in a detention center.
Civilian House Turned into New Brainwashing Center in Zhuozhou City, Hebei Province
Over 400,000 yuan was appropriated to the authorities in Hebei Province to build a secret brainwashing center in Zhuozhou City. The PLAC and 610 Offices in the cities of Baoding and Zhuozhou and the Domestic Security Office in Zhuozhou rented a house in Donghe Village and made it into a brainwashing center in November 2020.
There is not a sign at the entrance of the building. Inside the house, the walls are padded with thick foam material, which is covered by a layer of leather material. This is a security measure used to prevent victims from running into the walls and hurting themselves trying to escape the tortures. Bars were installed on all windows. There are iron bunk beds and projectors in the house, and surveillance cameras inside and out. There is also a dining hall.
Pictures of Donghe Village Brainwashing Center. The address is 20-3 Leyu Road, Donghe Village, Zhuozhou City, Hebei Province.
After building the center, the authorities began to harass and put steadfast local practitioners there. The center personnel force the practitioners to watch videos slandering Falun Gong and write statements to renounce their faith. They videotape the practitioners while doing this.
Four officers from the Shuangta Police Station broke into Mr. Li Zhanfeng’s home in Yongle Village. They took him to the new brainwashing center on the morning of December 8, 2020.
Practitioners Qu Zhuguo, Deng Xinying, and a third practitioner surnamed Qu have also been taken to the brainwashing center.