(Minghui.org) The Political and Legal Affairs Committee (PLAC) in Shanxi Province recently started a campaign to harass Falun Gong practitioners.
Since the Chinese Communist Party launched a nationwide campaign against Falun Gong, an ancient spiritual discipline, the PLAC has played a central role in orchestrating the persecution policies.
The authorities in Fenxi County, Shanxi Province set up a brainwashing center aimed to force local practitioners to renounce their faith. Those involved include officials from the PLAC, police departments and police stations of various townships, and some leaders from other government agencies, as well as psychologists and inmates.
It was reported that those involved would receive 10,000 yuan as a reward if they could transform a practitioner, and this has been ongoing for several months with practitioners from the local areas being arrested. A handful of practitioners arrested from nearby cities and countries were also sent to Fenxi County to be persecuted.
At the time of writing, six to seven rounds of brainwashing sessions have been held. The officers would use deceit and threats against the practitioners and some of their family members. If the practitioners refused to cooperate, their children would not be allowed to apply for work or would be made to stop working; some had their studies and career affected.
The authorities also tried to deceive the practitioners by saying that they would be staying in a hotel and provided with good food and entertainment every day, when in fact they were forced to watch video propaganda slandering Falun Gong. The authorities promised to give each practitioner 1,000 yuan once they finished the program and submitted a guarantee statement to promise not to practice Falun Gong again. Another promise offered was to remove the practitioners from the government’s blacklist and not to pester them anymore.
Dianping Township was the most severely targeted in this persecution campaign. At least seven to eight practitioners were arrested and had their homes ransacked. Ms. Zhou Yunhua was arrested and taken to the brainwashing center by the director of her local police station and the village cadre. Her home was later ransacked. A dozen people in other villages were also harassed.
Ms. Li Mingzhu of Duizhu Township was taken to the brainwashing center by two directors from two different police stations. At the time of writing, over 10 practitioners in the township were harassed and threatened.
Three practitioners in Yongan Township were threatened with a fine of 500 yuan if they refused to write the guarantee statements. The authorities in the township also sent officers to look for practitioners who are working out of town and attempted to force them to return for the brainwashing sessions. One practitioner's husband almost divorced her as a result. So far, more than 10 practitioners in the township have been threatened and harassed.
Mr. Guo Jilong of Guobao Village was arrested by the officers of Tuanbai Township Police Station; many other practitioners were harassed.
One practitioner in Qianxiang Township was sent to the brainwashing center and several practitioners were harassed.
Many practitioners in Sengnian Township were harassed. Some leaders and staff from the Discipline Inspection Commission were also involved in the persecution. One staff member told an elderly practitioner that her daughter-in-law would not be allowed to work if she refused to write a guarantee statement. The practitioner was eventually taken to the brainwashing center, and she later fainted due to high blood pressure. She was resuscitated at a hospital.
Officials at Health and Sports Bureau and Education Bureau also actively cooperated with the Political and Legal Affairs Committee by using various methods to harass practitioners.
When the brainwashing sessions were held, the authorities at the Political and Legal Affairs Committee distributed booklets that slander Falun Gong.
Recently, the authorities also deployed more police to the brainwashing center to guard the entrance.
Parties Involved in the Persecution:Guo Feiyu (郭飞宇), director of Dianping Police Station: +86-18636773967Hu Wang (虎旺), head of Guojia Village: +86-18649379519
(More participants in the persecution contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)