(Minghui.org) I live in a city in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. As far as I know, Falun Gong practitioners have been illegally arrested and sent to local “Re-education Camps” since the second half of 2017.
Among the arrested are couples, mothers and daughters, and seniors in their 70s and 80s. It’s been said that everyone who was released had to sign a guarantee, promising not say anything about the camps.
Some Falun Gong practitioners were detained in the camps and released later, but they did not expose this persecution after their release. Some were arrested and detained again soon after being released.
The detained Falun Gong practitioners were mostly those who had been illegally sentenced or blacklisted by the local police. There were also non-Falun Gong practitioners arrested and detained for a variety of reasons.
Among the non-practitioners, some were held due to attending a rally; some after they traveled abroad; some for selling second-hand mobile phones that contained information deemed sensitive by the government.
Several couples were arrested because they talked about issues on WeChat that are prohibited by the government. Others used software to access websites blocked by the internet censorship in China, and there were frequent petitioners as well.
There were also religious ethnic minorities who hid their scriptures underground. However, the police used special instruments to detect them.
Some families had several family members arrested and detained for as long as two years. It was said there was no time limit for how long people could be held in the camps, and as of now, more people are being arrested and sent to the camps.
Brainwashing
The content of intensive brainwashing in the camps consisted of forcing “three identity acceptance”: recognition of the motherland, recognition of the Chinese nation, and recognition of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Detainees are forced to watch TV programs related to politics, legal education, and history, etc. They are also forced to sing songs praising the CCP, the People's Liberation Army, and socialism. They are also forced to write weekly "personal reflections."
The camps use the same methods for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. Everyone who enters the camps has to write three guarantee statements.
Every corner is monitored like a prison, including the dormitories, corridors, recreation grounds, bathing halls, and even the toilets. A dozen people sleep in a ten-square-meter dormitory room, and sometimes people had to sleep on the floor.
It’s been said that the re-education camp is funded by certain provinces and cities in China to support the fight against the so-called three forces of separatism, extremism, and terrorism. The re-education camps exist in various areas of Xinjiang, and the number of detainees is large. This camp has not been exposed before for multiple reasons.
Ongoing Harassment
Very few people get released, and they don’t dare to expose the camps after their release. Those released are still harassed after returning home by personnel from the local community and officers from local police stations.
As long as the officials know that someone is a Falun Gong practitioner, people from the community and the police station will show up at their home to harass them. The practitioners are constantly ordered to fill out forms slandering Falun Gong.
They also have to report to the community authorities every day and write “thought reflections" once a week. If practitioners do not comply even in the slightest, they will be sent to the re-education camp immediately.
