Ms. Xu Xiu of Zhouzhi County, Shaanxi Province Tortured in a Brainwashing Centre

On May 8th, 2008, Ms. Xu Xiu, a farmer from Zhouzhi County, Shaanxi Province, was arrested at her home by police officers from Xi'an City and Zhouzhi County Domestic Security Division, as well as by agents from Zhouzhi County Political and Judiciary Committee. Four days later, we heard that she was taken to a brainwashing centre inside the Shaanxi Province Workers Sanatorium and was tortured there.

Shaanxi Province Workers Sanatorium is located in Shangtapo Village, Shaanxi Province. It was previously a peaceful health resort that people would visit for relaxation and health improvement. But since the Xi'an City 610 Office¹ took over, it was converted into a brainwashing centre, and it has been stained by the torture of Falun Gong practitioners. More than a dozen practitioners are currently imprisoned there.

In the brainwashing centre, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members coerce practitioners to watch videos and read materials which slander Falun Gong, and coerce practitioners to write statements of "transformation²." They torture steadfast practitioners using psychological means, by isolating them in small cells, depriving them of sleep by non-stop interrogation, exposing them to bright lights, and poisoning their food to make them lose concentration and become dizzy. One example is the torture a practitioner is in his twenties received. The CCP members tied him to an iron chair³, shined bright lights on him, then interrogated him non-stop to deliberately deprived him of sleep. After the long hours of torture, the young practitioner lost his ability to walk. Shamelessly, CCP members extort money from their victims to support their torture expenses. Some practitioners' families paid substantial sums of money get their relatives out of the brainwashing centre.

A while ago, the Xi'an City Police Department ordered its subordinate police departments and stations to send arrested practitioners to the brainwashing centre for interrogation instead of interrogating them locally. The brainwashing centre is not only used for brainwashing, but also for vicious torture and interrogation.

The Xi'an City 610 Office drafted a "blacklist" containing dozens of practitioners' names. They plan to arrest the practitioners and detain them until the Olympic Games are over in October. They claim that the plan is orchestrated by the CCP Central Committee.

Liu Shulin (male), director of the Zhouzhi County Police Department: 86-29-87156001

Han Heping (male), political commissar, Zhouzhi County Police Department: 86-29-87156002
Liu Taikang (male), deputy director, Zhouzhi County Police Department: 86-29-87156006

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. "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.

3. The iron chair is made of iron pipes. Victims are restrained on the iron chairs with both arms and legs tied for a long period of time. See illustration at http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2002/1/9/17577.html

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/6/4/179689.html