(Minghui.org) Six residents of Zhucheng City, Shandong Province were tortured in a brainwashing centre for a month, following their arrests for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Li Yeshu, her husband Mr. Luo Wenxin, Ms. Li Mingxia, Ms. Xu Huancui, Ms. Li Hongmei, and Ms. Zheng Zhimei were arrested on March 4, 2022, and taken to the Zhucheng City Brainwashing Centre, also known to the outside as the “Care Centre.”
Officers Song Wei, Hao Xiaojun, and Su Lei hit Ms. Li Yeshu’s head, hands and body with a bamboo stick and also stomped on her. They then wrapped her hands with a wire connected to an electrical box, ordered her to sit on the ground, and turned on the switch to shock her. Her body was bounced up and down by the electric shock. Before she completely lost consciousness, she remembered someone stepping on her back against the ground.
Ms. Li Mingxia was slapped in the face by guard Song. Her face became swollen, her gums were bleeding, and she had a toothache for over a week. The police kept her restrained in a metal chair and interrogated her around the clock on two occasions, the first time for 23 days in a row and the second time for seven straight days without any breaks. During each marathon interrogation session, she had to sit in the chair day and night. The long-term sitting caused Ms. Li’s legs and feet to become extremely swollen.
The other arrested practitioners, except Ms. Li Yeshu, were also tied in metal chairs, handcuffed and shackled.
All six practitioners were released on bail on April 19, 2022. They are now facing prosecution after the Zhucheng City Procuratorate ordered them to sign some paperwork on March 20, 2023.
The Zhucheng Brainwashing Centre
In order to force the practitioners to renounce Falun Gong, the communist authorities established brainwashing centres across the country, where the practitioners are tortured and forced to watch propaganda videos and materials. The Zhucheng Brainwashing Centre is one such facility.
The Zhucheng Brainwashing Centre is located on a re-purposed elementary school campus. There is no sign on the outside metal gate. A sign on the inside gate says, “Legal Training Centre.” The classrooms are divided into cubicles that hold each practitioner separately. Vicious dogs roam the campus, and video cameras on walls outside and in the rooms monitor all activities.
Practitioners face all kinds of torture, including sleep deprivation and denial of restroom use, insufficient food, being slapped in the face, threats, and electric shocks (having their fingers or arms wrapped with metal wires connected to an electrical box and then shocked with electricity). The electric shock torture often causes the victims to become incontinent, and their clothing is soiled with excrement as a result. Despite the cold weather, the guards forced the practitioners to take off their clothes, rinse them under running water, and then wear the wet clothes immediately.
In addition to Ms. Li Yeshu, practitioners Wang Cheng, Ren Bingyu, Li Wensheng, and others were also subjected to electric shock torture. Their screams could be heard several rooms away.
Ms. Sui Hongju was shocked directly with an electric-shocking device similar to a flashlight. She was not allowed to sleep for nine days, and whenever she closed her eyes the guards poured cold water on her face. They also placed a metal bucket over her head and then hit it.
Female practitioners were often handcuffed to a window frame for days on end. The window height was adjusted so that they had to stand on their toes. After several days their feet and legs were so swollen that their shoes no longer fit. Ms. Lu Guijuan, Ms. Ma Hongying, and others were tortured like this. The guards once ordered Ms. Sun Qimei to sit on the cold concrete ground with her hands handcuffed to a bed leg. They then continually poured cold water onto the ground and opened the door and window to allow cold air in.
Mr. Li Wensheng was beaten and became incontinent 12 days after he was taken to the brainwashing centre. Mr. Li Liang was slapped in the face and not allowed to sleep for four days.
Perpetrators’ contact information:
Wang Shoufeng (王首峰),director of Zhucheng City Domestic Security Office: +86-13583688938, +86-18366313766
Hao Xiaojun (郝晓军), deputy director of Zhucheng City Domestic Security Office: +86-13176362101, +86-18678085908
(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)
Chinese version available
(Clearwisdom)
