An Elderly Mother's Journey in Search of Her Daughter

I am over 70 years old. My daughter's name is Chen Man. In March of this year, my son-in-law, Zhang Weijie, disappeared on his way to work. My anxious daughter searched high and low for news of her husband. Only after two months of searching did she find out that he has been imprisoned by the local 610 Office¹ in the Shenjiaji Brainwashing Centre in the Jiangan District, Wuhan City.

My daughter visited the brainwashing centre on several occasions to ask about her husband. On June 8th, when she went there again, she was imprisoned in the same Shenjiaji Brainwashing Centre by henchmen working under Hu Shaobin, chief of the Jiangan District 610 Office.

My health is not too good and I cannot walk very well. My daughter had come to stay with me this February in order to take care of me. Now that she has been detained there is no one to take care of me anymore. In order to find my daughter and bring her home, I had no choice but to travel with some family members to the brainwashing centre on June 9th. My daughter had been sitting up all night in the lower floor waiting for her husband. As someone who had come to the Centre to ask for her husband, the authorities had no reason to imprison her.

By the time my family and I arrived at Shenjiaji, it was already past 5:00 p.m. There were two cars parked at the front door that drove away after seeing us. Later, four police cars arrived, as well as several tall, muscle-bound men. It turned out that they were trying to arrest my daughter, Chen Man, as well as another, younger, daughter of mine that was visiting Chen Man. When my family went up to reason with them and asked for legal documents, we were told to obtain them from the Shenjiaji Police Station. After we went there, however, the Station Chief told us that he could not give it to us. It could only be given to "direct relatives," which included only my daughter's husband and not her mother. When we got out of the police station and returned to the Shenjiaji Brainwashing Centre, my two daughters had already been taken away. Chen Man was taken to the First Detention Centre (also known as the Women's Education Centre) of Wuhan City for 15 days of detention. The other daughter was taken to Yangyuan Brainwashing Centre in the Wuchang District for further persecution and it is not known when she will return. There were no signatures from anyone in our family on either of their detention letters. Then, the authorities made up another lie to deceive us and made us leave.

I lived the next 15 days in mental turmoil. On June 24th, I travelled to the First Detention Centre in Wuhan to fetch my daughter and bring her home. Incredibly, they made up another big lie. From 9:30 in the morning, my family and I waited for two hours and didn't see a single soul. At 11:00 a.m., Hu Shaobin from the 610 Office came again with several police cars behind. He shouted loudly as he grabbed Zhang Weijie's sister and another young girl, forced them into the police car, and left. We had come to take our family member home, and look what happened!

Now, it has been more than two months. I have made numerous calls to Hu Shaobin to ask for my daughter's whereabouts. He refused to pick up the phone on many occasions, and when he finally picked it up once, he blurted out, "She is in the education class right now!" When I probed further, he hung up. Later on, he changed his mobile phone number and I could not get through anymore.

These few days have been really warm. Without summer clothes or money, how is my daughter going to survive? No one even knows if she's still alive. Why is the 610 Office persecuting her for wanting to look for her husband, for cultivating Falun Gong, and for living according to the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" to be a good person?

On August 13th, I travelled all over and finally found location of the 610 Office in the Jiangan District government building. However, I was told that they were having a meeting and they refused to receive me. I spent a long time reasoning with the guard, I told him that I could not walk well, that my daughter was taken away simply because she wanted to find her arrested husband. Yet she was detained for no reason for almost two months. I had no news of her, and she had neither clothes nor money. I only wanted my daughter. What reason did they have to prohibit me from seeing my daughter? I spent a very long time discussing with the guard, but still failed to be received. I was sent on another wild goose chase to a very distant Appeals Office. Three people from the 610 Office received us--one surnamed He, another surnamed Zhang, and the third surnamed Wang (female). I asked, "You've taken my daughter away for almost two months. Where is she? She does not have a change of clothes, could you pass on these clothes that I've brought to her? Please?" The person surnamed He replied, "We don't know anything, and we can't pass on these clothes either." Zhang stopped me from talking after seeing that I could speak very clearly.

I also tried to call the Mayor's hot-line and asked them what kind of organisation the 610 Office is. The reply was, "It's dedicated to persecuting Falun Gong."

The 610 Office abducted my daughter, yet they do not know where she is! Are they saying that she simply disappeared into thin air? According to my family members, Hu Shaobin from the 610 Office had called him and said that he could either send Chen Man to re-education in a labour camp or "transform²" her to force her to give up her beliefs. Why did that other person (surnamed He) from the 610 Office say that he did not know a thing? Isn't that a contradiction? Isn't this a deliberate lie to deceive me, the old mother?

My daughter, Chen Man, is a defenceless girl. Even though she is perfectly harmless and was only trying to find her husband who practises the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance," she was arrested and imprisoned. She has broken not a single law in the country. Why wouldn't they allow her to meet with me or other family members? Even murderers have the right to see their family members. Why does she not have that right?

I am an old, frail mother who really needs my daughter to take care of me now. I call upon all kind, compassionate people to provide your support and concern. Please help me to retrieve my daughter!

Thank you!

Chen Man's mother

Note

1. "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.

2. "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://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2007/9/9/162375.html