(Clearwisdom.net) Hebei Province is a geographically important province with the two major cities of Beijing and Tianjin within its borders. Because the Chinese central government pays special attention to Hebei Province, the persecution of Falun Gong in Hebei Province is among the most severe in the county.

Shijiazhuang City is the capital of Hebei Province. It is known as a “Satellite City” of Beijing. The persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in Shijiazhuang City is also very brutal. All the labor camps, prisons, and brainwashing centers in Hebei Province have been used in the persecution of Falun Gong over the past 11 years.

Many practitioners have died as a result of the persecution, with many more suffering mental breakdowns, disability or disfigurement. The number of practitioners who have suffered arrest, detention, or harassment is incalculable. The brutal persecution has caused practitioners and their families mental and physical damage and huge financial losses.

As of March 3, 2011, we have received reports of 4017 arrests and detentions, 467 forced labor sentences, and 140 prison terms for Falun Gong practitioners in Hebei Province during the course of the eleven plus years of persecution.

155 practitioners were forced to leave home to avoid persecution, and the resultant financial losses for practitioners and their families in the province totaled over 3 million yuan (only from the reported cases). Since the persecution has been conducted out of the public eye and hidden to the greatest extent possible, it is believed that the actual numbers are much higher.

The persecution in Hebei Province is representative of the severity and brutality of the Falun Gong persecution across the country.

Below are some statistics:

1. Analysis of Arrests in Shijiazhuang City

The majority of the arrests were premeditated. (refer to Figure 1).

Premeditated arrests include cases such as practitioners who refused to renounce Falun Gong, practitioners who were taken to brainwashing centers, and those who were rounded up in mass arrests leading up to so-called “sensitive days.”

The majority of these arrests were ordered directly by the central, provincial, or city government.

One example: in April 2008, a meeting to plan the persecution of Falun Gong was held in the Shijiazhuang City government to prepare for the Olympic Games. More than 200 arrests were conducted in the Shijiazhuang City area during the Olympic Games. During annual NPC and CPPCC meetings, a large number of practitioners were arrested.

Falun Gong practitioners appealed to the government and told people the truth about Falun Gong because of the lies that the government had spread. Group study, group exercises and experience sharing gatherings are routine activities for Falun Gong practitioners, as is clarifying the truth. They bring no harm to anyone. Practitioners do these things freely in some 100 countries around the world; in China, however, they are arrested for doing them.

Practitioners were arrested in the following circumstances:

I) Appealing in Beijing
II) Clarifying the truth
III) For brainwashing “classes” or on “sensitive dates”
IV) Being reported to authorities
V) Participating in group study, sharing, or exercises
VI) During daily life
VII) At material production sites
VIII) For filing lawsuits
IX) Caught visiting forbidden websites (eg. Any site with positive information about Falun Gong)
X) No apparent reason

Caption for Figure 1 of 5: Categorization of Excuses for Illegal Arrests of Falun Gong Practitioners in the Shijiahuang Area

2. Timeline of Arrests in Shijiazhuang City

From 2002 to March 2011, there were more arrests in March, April, and July every year. The Shijiazhuang City government and its 610 Office held more meetings to plan for the persecution in March, April, and July. (Refer to Figure 2)

The annual NPC and CPPCC meetings are held in March (Editor's note: These two meetings are like an annual convention for the Chinese Communist Party). The persecution is always more acute around this time of year. In 2006, the Shijiazhuang City government ordered its agencies to conduct massive arrests and harass Falun Gong practitioners. This year is no different.

April 25, 1999, is the date that some 10,000 plus Falun Gong practitioners appealed to the central government for the right to practice, and July 20, 1999, was the official beginning of the persecution. The anniversaries of these two dates have become “sensitive days” for the Chinese government, and times of intensified persecution.

Caption for Figure 2 of 5: Total Arrests by Month, 2002-present

3. Analysis of Sentences in Shijiazhuang City

The highest number of sentences handed out were to practitioners involved with production Falun Gong materials. Second highest were practitioners who were publicly clarifying truth and posting Falun Gong materials (refer to Figure 3). The CCP is afraid of Chinese people learning the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution and thus severely punishes practitioners involved in the production and distribution of Falun Gong materials.

Practitioners were sentenced after being arrested under the following circumstances:

I) Appealing in Beijing
II) Clarifying the truth
III) For brainwashing “classes” or on “sensitive dates”
IV) Being reported to authorities
V) Participating in group study, sharing or exercise
VI) During daily life
VII) At material production sites
VIII) For filing lawsuits
IX) Caught visiting forbidden websites (eg. Any site with positive information about Falun Gong)
X) No apparent reason

Caption for Figure 3 of 5: Categorization of Excuses for Illegal Prison Sentencing of Falun Gong Practitioners in the Shijiahuang Area

4. Analysis of Data on Detained Falun Gong Practitioners

In the Shijiazhuang City area, more practitioners were sentenced to forced labor in 2000, 2001, and 2008 than other years (refer to Figure 4). In 2000 and 2001, many practitioners went to Beijing to appeal to the central government to plea for an end to the persecution. They were arrested and sentenced to forced labor. In 2008, the Chinese government arrested many practitioners in preparation for the Beijing Olympic Games.

Caption for Figure 4 of 5: Number of Falun Gong Practitioners Taken to Forced Labor Camps in Shijiazhuang Area

Caption for Figure 5 of 5: Number of Falun Gong Practitioners Held in Labor Camps (Shijiazhuang Forced Labor Camp and Hebei Women's Forced Labor Camp)

Figure 5 shows the number of detained Falun Gong practitioners in the Shijiazhuang City forced labor camps by year. Besides the practitioners from the Shijiazhuang City area, practitioners from other areas in Hebei Province have also been detained in the Shijiazhuang City Forced Labor Camp. The peak times for detaining practitioners were the Beijing appeal and the Bejing Olympic Games.

Since the Chinese central government is located in Beijing, the Chinese government has tightly protected Beijing. Although Falun Gong practitioners were peaceful when they went to Beijing to appeal, they were arrested. When the Beijing Olympic Games were held, Falun Gong practitioners were agressively persecuted as well.

Conclusion

The persecution of Falun Gong in China harms every Chinese citizen. The persecution promotes dishonesty, evilness, and violence and destroys basic standards of morality. During the past 11 years, the morality of Chinese society has sunk dramatically and tainted every aspect of society. Because of the lies and threats from the government, many people have gone against their consciences and done wrong, including the perpetrators. The Chinese government has built up an atmosphere of terror since it has taken power, and the Chinese people dare not say anything against this persecution, despite the fact that their silence in the face of this evil is a passive crime. Falun Gong practitioners across China have been clarifying truth to Chinese people despite the dangers they face. They would like people to know the truth, listen to their consciousnesses, recover from the poison of atheism, and discover the lost, divine Chinese culture. The crimes perpetrated by the Chinese government must be stopped and there should no longer be any “peaks” of persecution.

Appendices

Appendix 1: Statistics on the Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioner in the Shijiazhuang City Area

Appendix 2: The Statistics of the Circumstances Practitioners under for Their Arrests and Sentences (based on the reports of 3061 cases)

Appendix 3: Summary Data on Monthly Persecution of Falun Gong from 2002 to 2011

(From 1999 to 2001, large numbers of Falun Gong practitioners went to Beijing to appeal and the number of the arrests during that period was large. The statistics since 2002 reflect the pattern of the systematic persecution.)