(Clearwisdom.net) Hubei Province Brainwashing Center was formerly known as the Tangxunhu Brainwashing Center of Wuhan City, and was also called the Hubei Province Law Education Center. It is actually home to the Hubei Province 610 Office and a place for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. This brainwashing center moved from Tangxunhu to Banqiao Township in the spring of 2009, and is located between Mahu Anyi Garden, a place for storing the ashes of the deceased, and the Wuhan Women's Forced Labor Camp.
1. The Brainwashing Center and Its Staff
The brainwashing center has four floors. There are 60 rooms on the first floor, which are used to house the practitioners. The second floor has 27 rooms used for brainwashing sessions and bedrooms for the "teaching assistants." "Teaching assistants" are former practitioners who were forced to renounce their belief in Falun Gong, and are now used to help transform practitioners detained there. They are paid 35 yuan per day. The third floor has offices for the center officials and bedrooms for the guards. Bedrooms on the fourth floor are for the security guards and the dining hall staff. There is also a large meeting room on this floor.
The head of the brainwashing center has the last name of Zhou, and the deputy head has the last name Zhang. The section chief in charge of the "teaching assistants" and the guards is named Gong Jian. There are two other section chiefs, one with the last name Yu and the other Zong, and they are in charge of the "transformation companions." "Transformation companions" are appointed by work units or the neighborhood committee. They are trained to persuade practitioners to renounce their beliefs. Among them is Liu Qiong from Jiayu County, who has been trained in psychological manipulation. Liu Cheng has been trained in CCP politics and is very experienced in this role. A person with the last name of Jiang previously worked at Shaoyang Forced Labor Camp. There are over half a dozen security guards, and Peng Chunlan is one of them. There are also six personnel who work in the dining hall. The above-named individuals have been actively involved in persecuting practitioners since the brainwashing center was established.
Most of the "teaching assistants" come from Huangshi City, Xiaogan City, and Shiyan City. There are currently 19 "teaching assistants" registered there, with about 13 actively involved in the persecution. The "teaching assistants" include Ding Xinqiao and Bao Aihua (husband and wife), Li Hui, He Gaowei (male), Wu Yanmin, Feng Yanfang, Liu Zhengan (male), Zhang Fengqin, Yang, Ji, Chen, Liang Xiuyun, Yao, Ji Tongli, Yin Shuangping, Li Qingxia, Zhang, Mei Hengjun, and one other person.
Every detained practitioner is put in a room with three beds in it. The practitioner sleeps in the middle bed and "transformation companions" sleep on either side. There are two "teaching assistants" in the team and several guards on duty. Two guards, one male and one female, make rounds during the night.
2. Torture Methods
This brainwashing center previously held sessions that lasted for 45 days, and since 2009, it has operated on a rolling basis. If a practitioner does not renounce their belief after the first term, they are automatically enrolled in a second term. If they have not renounced their belief by the end of the third term, they are returned to wherever they were sent from.
Most practitioners taken to the brainwashing center were reported to the authorities by practitioners who had renounced their belief through torture. The practitioners are arrested in secret by agents from the local 610 Office and police officers. Other practitioners at the center were deceived by their work units and taken there for "training." Regardless of the circumstances under which practitioners end up at the brainwashing center, their families are not notified.
Each practitioner is assigned their own classroom, with two or more "teaching assistants" present. The "teaching assistants" help the practitioner by fetching water and food for them, and try to become close to the practitioner. They read Zhuan Falun and many of Master's articles together. When the "teaching assistants" read, they make disparaging comments or sometimes digress and start talking about other things. In this so-called "open sharing," and they do not allow the practitioner to question anything. If the practitioner tries to say something, they use their words and twist it around to use it against them, and also report to the guards. The guards then make the practitioner stand for long periods of time. If the practitioner doesn't apologize, they are forced to stand there for 24 hours, and are not permitted to sleep or use the bathroom. If the practitioner goes on a hunger strike, the guards make them sit on a tiger bench and force feed them. The forced feeding starts with one feeding per day, then progresses to twice per day. When they force feed, they insert and withdraw the feeding tube repeatedly several times before starting the feeding, to ensure the practitioner suffers intense pain.
Practitioners are constantly monitored from 8:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. The television and the lights in the room are left on all night. The practitioner's behavior is monitored and recorded by the "transformation companions" when they are in the room, and by the "teaching assistants" and guards when they are in the classroom.
If a practitioner tries to talk about the persecution or about Falun Dafa, they are forced to report everything they wanted to do, before they can do it. When the practitioner needs to use the bathroom, they are ordered to say, "Checking in, need to go to the CCP's bathroom." When they want to drink water, they have to say, "Checking in, need to drink the CCP's water." The practitioner also must say this before they eat and before they sleep.
Those practitioners who still refuse to renounce their belief after being tortured by sleep deprivation, denied the use of the bathroom, and being forced-fed and shocked with electric batons, would then be treated very kindly. They try to gain the practitioners' trust by doing favors for them. They try to help the practitioner eat and drink, and even cut fruit for them, help them to get their hair cut, wash their hair and face, soak their feet, or they might let them go for a walk. The ultimate goal is to gain the practitioner's confidence and try to lure them away from the practice by being nice to them.
When practitioners write a guarantee statement, promising to give up the practice and renounce their belief, the guards know that their will has been broken. They then force practitioners to watch many propaganda DVDs about Falun Gong, and the practitioner must take notes, write a report, and keep a journal entry. They also have to show their gratitude for having stopped the practice. When practitioners have successfully done these things, they are allowed to eat in the dining hall, take a nap, and go for walks after dinner. They are also made to join in group dancing and singing to glorify the CCP.
The guards then make practitioners inform them of their Dafa work, and give the names of their fellow practitioners. The practitioners are also required to become "teaching assistants." The details of the practitioners' confessions are faxed to the local Domestic Security Bureau. This information is then used to harm more practitioners.
At this time, the practitioner has to write an account of their thoughts before and after renouncing their belief. This includes 2,000 words of self criticism and a 3,000 word summary. They are videoed for use in future propaganda, and a public meeting is held for them. They then must testify to the Domestic Security Bureau, and be repeatedly reminded not to have contact with any practitioners or decide to take up the practice again. They are also be told to show their gratitude for renouncing their belief.
This is the process that these practitioners have been through at the Hubei Province Brainwashing Center, from July to October, 2010, as attempts were made to break their wills, and force them to renounce their beliefs.
