The Crimes of the Gongjiawan Brainwashing Centre in Lanzhou City

Gongjiawan Brainwashing Centre in Lanzhou City is known to the outside world as "Lanzhou City Law Education School." Since November 2001, this school has been turned into a dedicated detention centre to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. The Gansu Province Political and Legal Committee and "610 Office," and The Lanzhou City Political and Legal Committee and "610 Office" carried out a systematic persecution based on a list of Falun Gong practitioners. Falun Gong practitioners detained here come from four different sources: arrested at their workplace or home, sent from forced labour camps after serving their sentences, transferred from other detention centres, arrested in other provinces.

Indefinitely Abolish People's Freedom

People being held here are given no terms for their detention. No paper work is filed. No one is released until he/she gives in to the pressure and signs the "Three-Statements" [to denounce Falun Gong]. Brainwashing director Shan Yongsheng claimed that no one can walk out without agreeing to stop practising Falun Gong. According to Shan, if the brainwashing class fails to reform someone, the person will be sent to a forced labour camp. If forced labour fails, then they are sent back to the brainwashing class again. This cycle goes on until everyone is "reformed." The majority of the people detained here have been held for more than three months. Some have been held for more than six months, and some for over a year.

Mental Abuse and Physical Torture

Authorities routinely force practitioners to watch video presentations slandering Falun Gong. They threaten practitioners with being sent to forced labour camps and political persecution. They also use family members and all kinds of hypocritical tricks to mislead practitioners. In late July 2003, Shan Yongsheng and his staff put Zhang Zhenming and several other practitioners into a dark cell and deprived them of sleep.

Arbitrary Fines

If a practitioner's employer is profitable, the company and the individual practitioner are charged 4000 Yuan [the average monthly income for an urban worker in China is 500 Yuan] per person each month. The heavy fine is intended to burden practitioners and their employers. The rest of the cost comes from the government budget. It is a complete waste of taxpayers' money.

The above mentioned is only a small part of the situation. The brainwashing class is totally against the law, as it is designed to deny practitioners' freedom indefinitely.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.cc/mh/articles/2003/10/26/59525.html