(Minghui.org) Yuan Shuqian, a former guard at Shijiazhuang Forced Labor Camp, aggressively persecutes Falun Gong practitioners. In 2001, he was “promoted” by the local 610 Office and charged with setting up a brainwashing center, officially known as a “Legal Education Center,” in Shijiazhuang, the capital city of Hebei Province. He became the center's director.

This brainwashing center is located inside Shijiazhuang Forced Labor Camp. More than 600 Falun Gong practitioners have been detained there over the past ten years. At least one practitioner has died there. Three practitioners suffered mental collapse due to the torture.

As the director of the brainwashing center, Yuan Shujie not only organizes and instigates the violence against Falun Gong practitioners, he has also personally participated in carrying it out.

Arrest Quotas and Extortion

Yuan Shuqian started to arrest and detain practitioners in the brainwashing center in August 2001. All the guards in the center were transferred from the labor camp. A practitioner can be detained anywhere from a few days to three months or longer. Sometimes they are held for up to a year or until they renounce their belief in Falun Gong.

Yuan sends practitioners who do not give up their belief to the labor camp. To force them to stop practicing, he has brutally tortured them. He always assigns the local police station an arrest quota. In addition, he forces the practitioners or their companies to pay “tuition” for the time they are detained.

The practitioners he has arrested include laborers, farmers, university students, government staff, and researchers. Some of them were breastfeeding mothers. Most of them have been arrested at work. In the beginning, each practitioner had to pay 6000 yuan, then it increased to 10,000; 15,000; and 30,000 yuan.

In March 2002, Yuan Shuqian assigned a quota to all the counties in Hebei Province. Each county had to arrest a male Falun Gong practitioner. In addition, each county had to pay 30,000 yuan to the brainwashing center as the “training” fee. If the county did not arrest a male practitioner and send him to the brainwashing center, the county still had to pay 30,000. He emphasized that this was a mandatory political task.

At that time Zhao County had already paid 5,000 yuan. The local police station told Yuan Shuqian that there were few male practitioners in their county and that all of them had already been sent to the labor camp. But Yuan insisted they pay the 30,000 yuan anyway.

Yuan Brags about His "Effectiveness"

The practitioners detained in the brainwashing center have no freedom. They are held in an isolated room with two “educators” as company. They are closely monitored 24 hours a day, even when they use the washroom or take showers. Their meals are sent to the room, which they are not allowed to leave. They are not allowed any visitors until they give up their belief in Falun Gong.

Yuan Shuqian has absolute authority. All visitors must be personally approved by him. He is primarily responsible for the persecution in the brainwashing center.

Yuan Shuqian develops the brainwashing plan for each individual Falun Gong practitioner. He once bragged that he had “transformed” more than 1000 practitioners.

The police instruct the “educators” on how to "transform" practitioners. They use sleep deprivation, threats, beatings, and other forms of torture.

• Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Ding Lihong was deprived of sleep for 25 days. Guard Zhao Juyong pulled her ears until they bled.

• Guard Xing Xiao burned Mr. Jiang Fan's hands with a lighter. Ms. Liu Huie was not allowed to used the washroom. She had to soil her clothing.• Mr. Ding Liyan was deprived of sleep for 8 days and was not allowed to use the restroom. The guards also wrote words slandering Falun Gong on his face, arms, and hands.• Mr. Zhang Yun fainted because of excessive deprivation of sleep. When he collapsed from exhaustion, some of his teeth were knocked out and his mouth bled. The police told him, “Your death would be recorded as suicide.”

• Mr. Liu Lifeng was deprived of sleep for more than 10 days. The guards put mentholated balm on his eyelids. He was not allowed to use the restroom. He was also forced to sit cross legged for a long time. He refused to give up his belief and was sent to the labor camp in the end.

• Ms. Li Huiyun was a Ph.D. and an associate professor at Hebei University of Science and Technology. She was detained in the brainwashing center in February 2001. Two male guards always tied her arms behind her to the chair and beat her. They once dislocated her jaw. When they saw her face was twisted to one side, they punched the other side. The guards also force fed her psychiatric drugs. The drugs slowed her reactions and made her dizzy. After 5 months, she still refused to give up her belief. She was then sent to Shijiazhuang Forced Labor Camp. From there, she was sent to a mental hospital and force fed more psychiatric drugs until she suffered a mental breakdown.

• Ms. Xi Lili was a teacher at Xili Primary School in Shijiazhuang City. She was detained in the brainwashing center in April 2002. She was deprived of sleep for 12 days. Zhao Juyong pulled her ears and nose until they were swollen terribly. Zhao slapped her eyes with a towel until they were so swollen she could hardly open them. Yang Jie pinched Ms. Xi's arms until they were bruised. Once Yang pinched her arm for four hours. Xing Xiao pressed her acupuncture points. This method leaves no bruises but the whole body hurts afterwards. Ms. Xi was also force fed alcohol. After being tortured for a month, Ms. Xi gave up her belief in Falun Gong against her will. She said she almost collapsed from the pressure of having to renounce her belief.

Practitioners Tortured

Yuan Shuqian usually plans and directs the torture behind the scenes. Sometimes he tortures practitioners in person. He once wrote slanderous words on practitioners' bodies. He threatened to strip all their clothes off and write slanderous words all over them.

Yuan Shuqian knows Falun Gong practitioners do not smoke or drink, so he deliberately blows cigarette smoke in their faces and has force fed many practitioners alcohol. For example, on December 24, 2002, Yuan Shuqian, Kong Fanyun, and three guards force fed Mr. Zhang Yun alcohol. Mr. Zhang vomited for three days and could not eat. He was dizzy and nauseous for a long time afterwards.

Yuan Shuqian also came up with a way to force feed water. They hold the person so that he/she cannot move. Then they pinch the nose and pour water into the person's mouth. The person cannot breathe. Then they punch the person in the abdomen. Practitioners who were tortured this way would almost suffocate.

Torture re-enactment: Pouring water into the mouth

In May 2007, practitioner Ms. Hua Fengxiang was detained in the brainwashing center. Yuanshu Qian ordered the guard to give her an injection. After the injection, Ms. Hua reacted slowly, could not walk properly, her neck became stiff, and her head kept hanging forward.

Torture re-enactment: Injected with an unknown drug

Other methods of torture include: forcing practitioners to listen to slanderous materials 24 hours a day, depriving them of sleep, and rubbing oil and spicy water into their eyes.

Guard Liang Ziling claimed female practitioners were too chaste, so they had to be sexually assaulted.

Kong Fanyun said publicly that Falun Gong practitioners are only truly "transformed" when they started to beat or curse others.

Practitioners Harassed in Their Homes

After the persecution in this brainwashing center was exposed, Yuan Shuqian started to change his methods. He told them that they would be released as long as they wrote the guarantee statement to stop practicing Falun Gong. After they were released, Yan Shuqian went to their homes to harass and threaten them.

At least three practitioners are still detained in Hebei Brainwashing Center. They are Liang Fengxiu (梁凤秀), Li Shenghua (李胜花), and Zhao Pen (赵盆).

Please refer to the original Chinese article for the list of 357 Falun Gong practitioners that have been detained in this brainwashing center.

Brainwashing Center Personnel:

Yuan Shuqian (袁书谦),+86-13903115399Yang Yuekun (杨月坤), +86-13931985161Lu Huiying (鲁惠英), +86-13803346968, +86-311-87892908(H)