(Minghui.org) Since the forced labor camps in China were abolished in 2013, brainwashing centers have become one of the main places were Falun Gong practitioners are persecuted.
There are many brainwashing centers in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province. The Hebei Province Brainwashing Center used to be called a “Legal Education Center.” It was first located in the Third Section of the Shijiazhuang Forced Labor Camp but was later moved to 486 Taihua Street in Shijiazhuang City.
At least 600 practitioners were illegally detained and persecuted there between 2001 and April 2014. The names of 353 practitioners have been confirmed. At least one was tortured to death and three were diagnosed with a mental disorder because of how they were treated in the center.
The Xinhua District Brainwashing Center in Shijiazhuang detained Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Yuan Pingjun, who died 10 days after she was admitted. Those responsible for her death have not been brought to justice.
Several brainwashing centers have moved to 1 Taibao Road near Zhonghua North Street. The names used for these centers include “Shijiazhuang City Education and Correction Clinic,” “Shijiazhuang City Community Correction Center,” and “Shijiazhuang City Forced Isolation Drug Treatment Clinic.”
Ms. Li Huixin Detained for 12 Days
Ms. Li Huixin from Shijiazhung was on her way to visit a friend in the Hebei Second Hospital on March 19, 2015, when officers from the Ning'an Road Police Station arrested her for talking to people about the persecution of Falun Gong.
Song Junwei, director of the Chang'an District Political and Legal Affairs Committee 610 Office, ordered the Changfeng Street Office to take her to the Shijiazhuang Brainwashing Center the next day.
Yuan Shuqian, a brainwashing center officer, said, “I know we can't make you give up practicing Falun Gong, and we don't want to. But you have to stay here for a few days." She was released 12 days later when her son agreed to write and sign a statement that she would no longer practice Falun Gong.
When Mr. Zhao Xiaogang from Shijiazhuang was distributing informational materials about Falun Gong on April 13, Lianmeng Road Police Station officers in the Xinhua District arrested him.
He was held for 14 days in the Shijiazhuang City Detention Center and was supposed to be released at 9 a.m. on April 28. Instead, the police took him to the Shijiazhuang Brainwashing Center on April 27.
Mr. Zhang Shuangpai, in his 70s, from Wuji County was harassed at home by officials from the Beisu Township and police station on June 11, 2015. They ransacked his home and confiscated Falun Gong books, photos of the founder of Falun Gong, and MP3 players. They also asked him for information about suing Jiang Zemin.
Yuan Shuqian, head of the Shijiazhuang Brainwashing Center; Li Xinkai, deputy mayor of Beisu Township; and a dozen others arrested Mr. Zhang at 6 a.m. on July 17, 2015.
He was taken to the Shijiazhuang Brainwashing Center, where three brainwashing center staff members and and several police officers took turns trying to force him give up practicing Falun Gong. He was released on August 8, 2015.
Ms. Geng Jingxiao from Wuji County works in the Hebei Province Pharmaceutical Factory and lives near Zhaotuo Park. She wore something with “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance Is Good” printed on it when she went to the police station to talk about Falun Gong. She was arrested and taken to the brainwashing center.
Her husband, Yuan Shuqian, was not allowed to visit her.
Ms. Gong's father-in-law is ill at home, and her son just started middle school. Her entire family is dependant on her income. She was detained until September 14, 2015.
Ms. Xin Suchen from Mingzhisi Village, Beisu Town, Wuji County, visited her son's home to babysit her grandson on Friday, August 21, 2015.
The family walked through an intersection in Beijing that required a residential identity card (IC) check. Her ID had a chip that identified her as a Falun Gong practitioner. She was taken directly to the Shijiazhuang Brainwashing Center.
Her family went to the brainwashing center the next day to ask for her release. They were told that this was a sensitive time and they had to wait until after the military parade.
In the brainwashing center, three staff members and four police officers took turns pressuring her. They demanded she write a statement guaranteeing that she would give up Falun Gong. She was released on September 14, 2015.
Ms. Cui Sukun, 63, from Nanguo Village, Qiaoxi District, Shijiazhuang City was arrested on August 16, 2015, for talking to people about the persecution of Falun Gong.
She was first detained for 14 days in the Shijiazhuang Detention Center and then taken to the Shijiazhuang Brainwashing Center on August 21 by the Dongjiao Police Station.
They forced her husband Mr. Li Shouzhen to accompany her. Ms. Cui benefited a lot from practicing Falun Gong and often talks to people about it. But the brainwashing center staff exerted so much pressure on her that she gave in and wrote a statement promising not to practice any more. She was released on September 14, 2015.