Jilin City Party Secretary Launches Mass Arrests; An Inside Look at the Shahezi Brainwashing Centre

More than 30 Falun Gong practitioners were arrested the night of October 17th, 2013. Some of the them were taken to the Shahezi Brainwashing Centre.

This latest campaign was initiated and executed by Jilin City Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Secretary Zhang Xiaopei, City 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) head Bai Yan, and Chuanying District 610 Office personnel Zhang Qingshan, Zhang Peng, and Niu.

Officers from the Jilin City Police Department and the Jilin Domestic Security Division and police departments in the Chuanying, Changyi, Fengman, and Longtan Districts participated in the mass arrest.

Persecuting Falun Gong to Gain Career Advancement

Since becoming the CCP secretary, Zhang Xiaopei has been mercilessly persecuting Falun Gong as a means of gaining political favour for further promotion.

During a visit to the Shahezi Brainwashing Centre on October 20th, Zhang reviewed a display of items confiscated from practitioners, including Falun Gong books, computers, printers, disc burners and paper money (some with messages exposing the persecution written on them).

The following practitioners were arrested: Zhu Yujun, Li Bing, Deng Xiaobo, Gao Yuqing, Wang Ge, Che Pingping, Gao Chunxiang, Sui Xiuying, Fu Junjuan, Qi Yuzhi, Chen (last name), Zhan (last name), Sun (last name), Fei (last name), Li Wenhua, Liu Li, Jiang Wei, Xi Xiuyun, Qian Lijun, Wang Jianhua, Wang Wenquang, Ma Chi, Xiao Wu, Wang Shouxin, Su Lirong, Li Yanfen, Sun Changsheng, Li Dequan, Li Dexiang, Aunt Wang, Hu Shuzhen, and two others whose names were not known.

In addition to the above-mentioned practitioners, a number of practitioners and their family members were briefly detained and then released. They include: Zhu Yujun’s father, wife and five-year-old daughter; Fu Junli; Li Hailong; Aunt Jin; Gao Qingzhen; Li Yaru; and Ms. Feng Fengyun and her daughter-in-law.

Of those detained, two are being held in a detention facililty, 17 in a temporary detention centre, and 11 were taken to the Shahezi Brainwashing Centre.

Shahezi Brainwashing Centre

The notorious Shahezi Brainwashing Centre is located in a three-story building within a social welfare institute. The institute is located in Xiaoguang Village in the Chuanying District.

According to insiders, the third floor of the building was sold to Jilin City 610 Office. Its official name is “Jilin City Legal Education Base.” In reality, the facility is a 610 Office-run jail dedicated to persecuting Falun Gong practitioners.

There are more than 10 rooms on the third floor, and one practitioner is isolated in each room. Now that the third floor is full, additional practitioners are being detained on the first floor.

Participants in the persecution belong to three groups: agents from low-level 610 Offices in Jilin City, "transformed" [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] practitioners, and personnel from local communities. Two people are assigned to watch each practitioner.

Every day from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., propaganda that slanders Falun Gong is broadcast into the rooms. From 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., they focus on personally abusing practitioners in an effort to break their spirits and force them to renounce their belief.

Families Demand the Release of Their Relatives

Every day, family members show up at the brainwashing centre to ask for the release of these practitioners. They loudly call out the names of their loved ones and ask them to continue their efforts to resist and to return home soon.

At 9 a.m. on October 19th, three members of practitioner Liu Bing’s family arrived and were intercepted by officer Zhang from the city police department. He asked nervously, “How do you know about this place?” The relatives replied, “What you have done is no secret.” Officer Zhang detained them for several hours, but they eventually escaped.

After 60-year-old Ms. Jin from the Chuanying District was arrested by officers from the Huangqituan Police Department, her son went to the police station. He told them that if his mother was not released, he would wreck the station. They were so intimidated that they released Ms. Jin immediately. The next day, several community members went to Ms. Jin’s home to harass her. A few minutes later, Ms. Jin’s son yelled at them and booted them out. Nowadays the communist regime is so unpopular that some people are no longer afraid of the police.