Non-Practitioner Witnessing Six Days of Brainwashing Sessions

Two years ago, I heard from a friend, a policeman involved in the persecution of Falun Gong, about how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) persecutes Falun Gong practitioners. Before that, I had only heard about Falun Gong and the crackdown from the CCP-controlled television media, but I did not know any details. After listening to my friend, however, I understood how brutally the persecution was conducted and how the CCP and its followers had done such a thing to destroy people's humanity.

He told me how Falun Gong practitioners were arrested and forced to attend brainwashing "classes" and to pay fines. For those practitioners who went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, the police would not only extort money from them, but also extort money from their family members and relatives. Referring to mental persecution, he talked about how in a brainwashing class, the police would use enticements to break down the practitioners. The practitioners were forced to watch propaganda videos, and to read and study material that slandered Falun Dafa. They were also forced to write three statements¹ to break from Falun Gong. Brainwashing centres have become another form of forced labour camps in China.

The police used an isolation approach to question Falun Gong practitioners. They would book a room in a hotel and torture the practitioner without letting any other people know. The persecution was carried out in secret and took place at anytime. My friend told me of an incident where a Falun Gong material-production site was destroyed in 2002 and described how those arrested were tortured. I felt very sad after listening to this story and had tears in my eyes. I said to him, "You have to control yourself in this kind of environment. Be a person with humanity and conscience. Don't be a dog in your job. You have to hold onto your dignity." My friend was reluctant and said, "Yes, I hate my dirty job. What we did was not what normal people would do. We've already become hatchet men and tools. The CCP uses the Chinese law as a veneer to cover itself in front of foreign countries. We are serving the law, but at the same time, carrying out things against the law. I think we'll have bad luck soon by doing these inhuman things."

This year, I obtained some inside information that several Falun Gong practitioners had been arrested and forced into a brainwashing centre around the time of the third CCP Chenzhou Conference. Confirming the location and time, I took six days of vacation and observed the brainwashing myself.

On October 23rd, the first day of the conference, four Falun Dafa practitioners, two males and two females, were arrested and forced to stay at the Party Academy located at Beihu Region of Chezhou City. Persons in charge of the event were officials from Su Xian and Beihu regions and the county 610 office², police from the National Security Bureau, and four security guards. They told the Falun Gong practitioners, "You are coming here for study and it is free of charge, unlike the $30 (£15) fee per day of the previous class." I heard the practitioners interrupting them immediately and shouting, "Stop it! You are a bunch of liars!"

The 610 officials then asked for the practitioners' names, but none said a word. They sought their names by asking other practitioners and had a response of "I don't know him/her." This brainwashing "class" was formed by using taxpayers' money, tens of thousands of Yuan³ in room, board and equipment. After the class ended, the 610 officials took the leftover stuff home, such as thermos bottles. They arranged for one practitioner per room with one or two guards. The doors would not be closed at night during sleep hours. No visits were allowed for the practitioners. Anti-Falun Gong posters were posted in the hallway with a lock blocking the entrance; this was no different from jail. During the daytime, the 610 officials and security guards tried to brainwash the practitioners and forced them to write the "three statements." However, the practitioners did not cooperate with them at all. They practised the exercises, silently read Teacher Li's [Teacher Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa] articles, and sang songs composed by other practitioners.

From my observations over several days, I saw that the practitioners firmly held onto their faith. They were kind and dignified. They were different than regular people. From conversing with the 610 officials, I learned that the four practitioners were either arrested or deceived by the police from the National Security Bureau. They arrested several practitioners from their workplaces. For the ones who were not working, the police had the residential committee head knock the door and break into the practitioners' homes. The 610 officials treated the practitioners very badly. They told the security guards, "Don't be too nice to them. Handcuff, beat or torture them if they do not give up Falun Gong." However, the practitioners were not moved at all. I really respect their determination.

On October 25th, I heard some 610 officials saying, "The provincial 610 officials will come tomorrow for an inspection. You (practitioners) should not practise and sing. If you do, you'll be sent to the labour camp." In the hallway, I saw there was a "transformation⁴" list. It said that they had achieved their goal two weeks ahead of schedule. Actually, four practitioners were arrested, but their report said five. One had signed the three statements and went home, indicating progress they could report to their higher-ups. The provincial 610 officials only stayed for 10 minutes. After they left, the brainwashing session was quickly ended on October 29th.

Later, I met with my police friend and told him about my experience. He said to me, "More and more countries are coming out and supporting Falun Gong, and the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong will hardly remain. According to a secret document, the persecution has to be conducted underground. However, from inside information, it's said that there were different opinions within the CCP. It would be impossible to have such a large scale persecution as was conducted a couple years ago. They keep the persecution secret, because they fear the exposure of their evil acts. Some of them, who used to mistreat Falun Gong, went onto the Internet to write an apology for their wrongdoings after they learned the truth."

This conversation made me think. I realized that I had spent the most significant six days of my life. It could be the turning point of my life. I do not even know why I did it and what made me do it, but one thing is for sure: I understand more about Falun Gong and have witnessed history. I now want to become a Falun Gong practitioner.

Note

1. "Three Statements": Practitioners are coerced under brainwashing and torture to write "Repentance Statement," "Guarantee Statement" or 'Dissociation Statement" as proof that they have given up their belief. In the statement, the practitioner is forced to admit remorse for practising Falun Gong, promise to give up Falun Gong, and never again associate with other practitioners or go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong.

2. "The 610 office" is 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.

3. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

4. "Reform or Transform" Implementation of brainwashing and torture in order to force a practitioner to renounce Falun Gong. (Variations: "reform", "transform", "reformed", "reforming", "transformed", "transforming", and "transformation")

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2006/12/3/143743.html