Mid January 2001, to assure that Falun Dafa practitioners would not travel to Beijing, the Shuangcheng City officials arrested all known Falun Dafa practitioners. During that time more than 70 people were sent to the Wanjia Forced Labour Camp, while others were either detained in detention centres or sent to brainwashing centres that were set up in different districts.
Practitioner Ms Wei Zongying was detained for 15 days because she travelled to Beijing to appeal. (She was released only after paying 1,000 Yuan. [The monthly salary for an average Chinese urban worker is about 500 Yuan]) This time she was taken to the brainwashing class held at Shuangcheng Township. Her family traveled there and demanded her release. The Party Secretary of the township Yu Zhanqi and the Party Secretary of the "610 Office" [An agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems] Liu Yuhua saw this as a golden opportunity to enrich themselves. They not only tried to extort 5,000 Yuan, but also demanded that the practitioner write the so called "Guarantee Statement" [A statement to declare that he or she is remorseful for practising Falun Gong and guarantees not to practise Falun Gong again, not to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and never again associate with any Falun Dafa practitioners]. They said that if their demands were not met no one would be released.
During the detention, no beds or blankets were provided. The practitioners had to sleep on the cement floor. The policemen also replaced the wooden door with an iron mesh gate and the practitioners were forced to sleep facing the gate. Everyone was forced to sleep in the drafty area, including the elderly people. Everyday the practitioners were provided little sustenance and kept hungry on purpose. The guards said, "It is much better here than at the detention centre." During the detention practitioners were frequently forced to stand upright for a long time as punishment and they had to take their shoes off. At times they had to remain standing until 11 o'clock in the evening. Sometimes, when these guards were drunk they asked every practitioner if he or she would continue to practise Falun Gong. If the answer was affirmative, the practitioners would be taken to the corridor and physically abused. Some practitioners' teeth broke due to the beatings. Some guards tied practitioners to a wooden bench for the entire cold winter night, in the unheated building.
There were three sisters, with the youngest a toddler. The guards made steadfast male and female Falun Dafa practitioners stay in the same room. All males and females had to share one toilet without a lid. The guards repeatedly abused them verbally. Some perverted guard's stood outside the iron gate to watch female practitioners use the toilet.
Female practitioner Ms Wang Benying was of old age. She became blind because of the long detention. The guards said, "There are no vegetables and the food is not nutritious, thus people will become blind. Hurry up and write a 'Guarantee Statement'. Only if you state that you give up with Falun Gong will you be released." Ms Wang Benying's family wasted no effort to get her released for medical treatment, but without positive results. The guards refused to release her. One of the guards named Wang Peng said, "We will not be held accountable if someone leaves the room on her last breath and died outside the door."
Ms Zhang Liyan went on a hunger strike to protest the illegal detention. During force-feeding, the guards beat and stomped on her. She immediately lost consciousness. Another female practitioner, Ms Dong Liying, lost her mind as a result of the torture.
At the end of March, the Shuangcheng City "610 Office" set up another brainwashing centre. Ms Wei Zhongying was once again sent there. Tight security was enforced. The security force consisted of employees from the public security bureau, procuratorial organs and people's courts. All male guards carried guns. Falun Dafa practitioners were required to attend military training, which is another kind of corporal punishment. They had to watch videos that slander Falun Dafa. Every day they were forced to write an essay with respect to the so-called "experience on what they had learned." In the evening when China's Central Television broadcasted lies and slandered Falun Dafa, practitioners were forced to watch and write down their thoughts. If they refused they were not allowed to go to bed. The guards predetermined the subject Wei's family could discuss, or they were not allowed to visit Wei Zhongying. Ms Zhao Shudi's mother did not adhere to the guards wishes, thus they called the armed policemen. They dragged her by her hair out of the visiting room.
In the brainwashing centre, they used methods that would wear practitioners mentally and physically down, in the hope that they would write the "Guarantee Statement." Before releasing the practitioner, the guards extorted money.
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2003/11/3/59991.html
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