Brainwashing in Beijing

Editor’s note: The following is a first-person account by a Falun Gong practitioner in Beijing obtained recently by the Falun Dafa Information Center. The practitioner recounts her experience being abducted from her home and taken for nearly three weeks to an illegal detention center for forced conversion in Haidian district, at a building disguised as a normal residence. The witness’s name has been withheld for security reasons.

Taken from home

On July 7, 2010, I was taken into custody by the director of the 610 Office in Haidian, a policeman, and someone from our community [Communist Party] committee. When they first arrived at my home, they were very rude. I was doing the sitting meditation on a bed. The policeman tried to pull me away, but I did not move. They then talked to my husband, saying that they were going to take me to a class, and the environment and living conditions would be very good. They would send me back after a week, and then it would be done.

My husband said that I had to be returned by the middle of July since my brother would be visiting and I could not be absent. He asked them to write a statement to guarantee to release me after a week, or else he would not let me go. The director of the 610 Office then wrote a note, as my husband requested, to guarantee my release after a week, so I went to the brainwashing center with the hope of explaining the truth about Falun Dafa to those there.

On the sixth day, my husband called them to release me, but they stalled and would not honor their signed guarantee. I was not released until 20 days had passed.

Brainwashing center disguised as an ordinary residence

The brainwashing center looked like an ordinary house. There was a road in front of the house, with more houses along the road. All the houses along the road looked alike, and the “Law Education Center” was not distinct at all. From the outside, one could see that the building had a third level.  The house looked like a warehouse with high walls and metal doors. There were no signs on the outside, which made the house look like a private residence. Entering the yard, one could see a three-story building, about 32 feet long, 16 feet wide, with three bungalows, and a gate house. There were also storage rooms, a kitchen, and dining rooms. The house was new, with a small sign hanging on the right side of the building that said “Beijing Haidian District Law Education Center.” When I saw the sign, I knew it was a place for brainwashing practitioners. This “Law Education Center” was not known to the public.

Relentless Brainwashing

I was brought to a room on the first floor. There were two bunk beds on one side of the room, and a three-drawer desk on the other side. A TV was broadcasting Chinese Communist Party (CCP) lies 24 hours a day. Three guards watched us day and night. At mealtime, one of them would bring me food. While I was in the room, they would monitor me. Was this legal education? They just treated me like a criminal, limited my personal freedoms, and violated my rights.

Three women brainwashed me together, and used deceitful methods to fool me. They would not give their full names, only a surname, and insisted I call them “teacher.” One was called Gao, about 40 years old, and another called herself Wang, about 30 years old. Both said they had been doing this work for ten years. Another woman named Zhou, about 50 years old, would sit by me and argue with me. Seeing their expressions and listening to their voices, I could see how they were being used by the CCP to achieve its evil purpose.

Brainwashing methods included playing videos attacking Dafa such as ones about the staged “Tiananmen Self-Immolation.” One person would talk with me, another constantly stared at me, and the third sat to the side, watching.

The director of the center (who was also a secretary of the CCP) would smile at me, and spoke nicely, but his purpose was to make me listen to the CCP lies. Four practitioners were detained there, separated into four rooms with each watched over by three guards. Practitioners were separated and could not contact each other. Studying the Fa or doing the exercises was forbidden.

We cultivate [Falun] Dafa and Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, which is perfectly legal. Explaining the facts about Falun Dafa to others is also exercising free speech as allowed by our constitution. We are upholding a person’s right to know the truth. This should be protected by law. Article 35 of the Constitution states: “Chinese citizens have freedom of speech, and the freedom of publishing, gathering, forming parties, marching and protesting.” Article 36 states: “Chinese citizens have freedom of religion.” Article 37 states: “Chinese citizens’ personal freedom cannot be violated. Citizens cannot be arrested without the consent of the Procuratorate and discharge by the Public Security Bureau. It is forbidden to illegally detain or deprive citizens’ personal freedom by any means. It is forbidden to search citizens’ bodies.” In Article 39, it states: “Citizens’ homes should not be broken into. It is forbidden to illegally search or break into citizens’ homes.”