The Persecution of Female Practitioners in the Re-education Deployment Department of Beijing

The Eleventh Division of the Beijing Labour Camp Dispatch Centre, also known as the "Assaulting-the-Fortified-Position Division," was founded in late 2006. This division was created specifically for detaining and persecuting female Falun Gong practitioners. The "transformation¹" process is in fact a destruction of human conscience.

Endless "Conversations"

When Falun Gong practitioners were transferred from detention centres to the Eleventh Division, they were isolated in small cells and monitored by one or more instructors in the division. The captain of the division then immediately comes to "talk" to these practitioners. The contents of their conversations were defamation of Falun Gong by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). If practitioners show disagreement, the conversations go on endlessly. Their goal is to force practitioners to go against their wills and sign the so-called three statements, promising to give up the practice and betraying their conscience. If a junior captain does not achieve this goal, a senior captain takes her place. These people use great pressure to persecute practitioners. If practitioners sign the three statements², the squad leader takes them back to the session. Practitioners are forced to watch videos or read books designed to defame Falun Gong. After they finish, they have to write their "understandings" of Falun Gong. Their "understandings" must meet the requirements set by the captain. At the end of the two-month session, practitioners are forced to make speeches which are over ten pages long to "expose and criticize" Falun Gong.

Depriving Practitioners of a Normal Life

Those practitioners who show steadfastness in their beliefs and refuse to sign the three statements are continuously isolated in small cells. The Tenth Session uses double-teams that are specially designed for persecuting practitioners. It is located at the end of a hallway. Once practitioners enter that session, they won't see anyone else inside, nor would they know what happens outside. They only meet with four double-team instructors. These "instructors" are mostly drug addicts, and some have been in and out of the session repeatedly over the years. Because of this, they are used by the captain as helpers. They commit crimes against practitioners and attempt to destroy their belief. Their acts are no less evil than the captain's. Under the captain's instruction, they monitor the practitioners' behaviour, restrict their freedom, and attack Falun Gong, and they sometimes resort to violence.

Practitioners who are sent to the Tenth Session are normally surrounded by four double-team instructors. They sit on a small bench, with their faces toward the window, and they are not allowed to move. They must have permission from the captain in order to eat, use the toilet or sleep. At mealtime, the captain doesn't tell the practitioners and lets them go hungry. She comes over only when the food is already cold. When practitioners need to use the bathroom, the captain forces them to do it in their wash basins. They can't even use the bathroom if the captain doesn't show up. During night time, the captain comes to give "lectures," trying to deprive practitioners of sleep and force them give up the practice. Moreover, the captain doesn't allow practitioners to contact their families, take showers, or buy personal necessities.

Forced to Take Medicine

When older practitioners are sent to the division, they are forced to have a physical check up. Some practitioners show symptoms of high blood pressure because they just came out of the forced brainwashing "transformation" session and they still feel the psychological pressure and tension. The captain then forces these practitioners to take medicine, deliberately creating more pressure for them. Some practitioners are forced to take four to five kinds of medicine. They have petitioned to the captain because of some side effects resulting from the medicines, but in the end, they are forced to take even more medicines instead of less. If they object, the captain knows they have not been "transformed." Even when practitioners' blood pressures return to normal, the captain still forces them to take medicine and has said, "Patients with high blood pressures need to take long-term medication."

"Ideological Transformation"

Threats and intimidations are used throughout the period of detention. Some captains indoctrinate practitioners with the "eight glories and eight shames." The content is filled with materials meant to defame Falun Gong.

Endlessly writing "understandings" and CCP culture brainwashings are the main focus of this ideological persecution during the "transformation" process. This place was created to transform practitioners, good citizens who are constantly trying to perfect themselves through cultivation, by exploiting their weaknesses. If a practitioner doesn't cooperate with the captain, shows resentment, or tries to safeguard Falun Gong, the captain talks to the practitioner individually and slanders Falun Gong even more viciously, and asks her to write another "understanding" or self-examination. When the captain believes a practitioner's attitude has relapsed, she sends her to the double-team session, where she is cruelly tortured until she finally yields to persecution.

The system inside the labour camp is also part of the persecution. Before mealtime, everyone is forced to recite "Order 23", which includes loyalty to the party, socialism, admitting one's wrongdoings, and complying with the disciplines of the labour camp, etc. Practitioners are forced to take non-stop standardized written examinations, and memorize the terms and provisions. If they don't pass the exam, they must retake it until they pass. Term reductions are linked to their study performance.

Covering Up the Truth

Zhang Dongmei, senior captain at Eleventh Division, is the main force of the persecution. She was known as the expert of "transformation" in the Deployment Department. The Minghui/ Clearwisdom website has exposed her persecution of practitioner Zhang Lianying. She uses increasingly devious approaches to continue the persecution.

Zhang Dongmei and other captains know the persecution is wrong, and they try to cover up the facts. Although there is a "complaint box" at the hallway, it is there only in name. Zhang Dongmei has ordered the security guards who are on-duty to keep a close eye on the "complaint box." If someone drops in a complaint report, she removes it from the box. When people come to inspect the facility, the captain tells the squad leader not to tell the truth and lets them know they will solve any problems internally. Of course, they won't solve any real problems, they just want to cover up the truth while continuing to persecute practitioners.

Team leaders of the Eleventh Division:
Senior captains: Zhang Dongmei, Wang Junli, Li Xiaoxin, Zhang Lili
Junior captains: Zhou Juan, Gao Fang, Sun Ying, Si, Xiaoxu, Zhao Ranran, Lin Jing, Wang Yan, Wang Huan, and Gao Lifang

Note

1. "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")

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.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/11/21/190199.html