(Minghui.org) Ms. Chen Hongzhou, a Falun Gong practitioner from Baozang Township, Qifeng Town of Luzhou City in Sichuan Province, was arrested and sent to the Er'ehu Brainwashing Center by local authorities on her 70th birthday on April 26, 2012. The Er'ehu Brainwashing Center is known for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. According to a recent Minghui article, two practitioners were poisoned to death at the center in 2012.
1. Premeditated Arrest
On April 25 of 2012, Ms. Chen Hongzhou called her daughter in Gaoba Town to tell her that she would be visiting the next day. However, when Ms. Chen didn't show up, the daughter called her mother to ask why. Ms. Chen said, “I've been arrested and I am in Fuji Town.” The call was then dropped. When the daughter called again, a man answered, “Don't worry. We just want to talk with her and we did not take any of her things.” The arrest was clearly premeditated. Ms. Chen Hongzhou was arrested right after she got off the bus at Gaoba Town Bus Station. Most likely, Ms. Chen's phone was being monitored. In March, CCP officials from Fuji Town and Qifeng Town harassed her daughter while she was at work. They asked the whereabouts of her mother and searched her drawers without any legal search documents.
On the afternoon of April 26, Ms. Chen's daughter received a phone call saying, “We are sending your mother to a re-education center in Ziyang City.” Ziyang City is far from Luzhou City, and the daughter could do nothing but call an official at the Lu County 610 Office. She spoke with Wang Zhiqiang, asking him, “Where are you taking my mother in such hot weather? What did my mother do?” Wang Zhiqiang hemmed and hawed, “I don't know. You can ask the Qifeng Town Comprehensive Management Office.” Wang Zhiqiang, in his 30's, once worked at the Baozang Township 610 Office. He received a promotion to the Lu County 610 Office because he had actively participated in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. On November 12 of 2010, Ms. Chen Hongzhou was arrested and taken to the Qifeng Town Police Station. Wang Zhiqiang, who was a police officer at the time, interrogated her. Ms. Chen told him, “Don't persecute Falun Gong. Falun Gong is righteous and teaches people to be good. We don't violate the law, and there is no law forbidding people to practice Falun Gong. Our Constitution permits freedom of speech and religious freedom. We are not criminals just because we clarify the truth.” Wang Zhiqiang tried to force her to sign a statement and give her fingerprints, both of which she refused to do.
Zhang Zhengcai, head of Baozang Street, was also responsible for the persecution of Ms. Chen. He employed two women from the Baozang Township to monitor Ms. Chen in the Ziyang Brainwashing Center. They were supposedly taking care of her. Zhang Zhengcai has taken an active part in persecuting Falun Gong and monitoring and harassing practitioners. When Ms. Chen was out of town, he used to frequently ask her relatives where she was.
2. Requesting the Release of Ms. Chen
On May 4, 2012, Ms. Chen's daughter and some relatives went to the related government organizations to request her release. One local official, Ms. Deng, was angry with Ms. Chen's family for not leaving contact information when they went to visit her and said, “It's your community that doesn't cooperate with us. Your community dodged the responsibility and transferred her to us, which has caused a lot of trouble for us.”
One of Ms. Chen's relatives asked her, “Have you provided her with basic living costs, and have you give her any subsistence allowances?” Deng replied, “It's right that she can't get the subsistence allowance because she practices Falun Gong.” The relative asked, “Since you haven't given her any allowances, where does her income come from? From her children. She is just a good lady, and just how is she interfering with you?” Deng said, “She distributes flyers here and there, and talks to people about Falun Gong everywhere.” The relative then said, “She benefits from Falun Gong and thinks it is good, and wants more people to know about it. She is thinking of others' best interest and trying to be a selfless person. Where are you taking her? What do you plan to do to her? What kind of person will she become as a result of the re-education?
Not daring to answer this question, Deng said, “The country and the law don't allow her to do this.” The relative told her, “There isn't any law or official documents in China that forbid people from practicing Falun Gong. Isn't a person a good person when he or she conducts him or herself according to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance?” Unable to come up with a retort, Deng said, “I didn't participate in arresting her. It's the Qifeng Town Comprehensive Management Office and Fuji Town of Lu County that are to blame. You can ask Tian Ye for more information.”
When Ms. Chen's family went to ask Tian Ye of the Qifeng Town Comprehensive Management Office, he was not there. They told another official, named Tao, of Ms. Chen's experience of benefiting from Falun Gong. Before practicing, she suffered from many diseases, hyperthyroidism, cervical spondylosis, gastritis, pelvic inflammation, and pyelonephritis, along with many other illnesses. Her limbs had also been severely injured. She lived in pain and didn't have the strength to do any farm work. But after she began practicing Falun Gong in 1997, everything changed. After she finished reading the first chapter of Zhuan Falun, she felt relaxed and didn't feel tired after a long journey. She no longer needs medication and can do some farm work. She has a strong constitution, and her face glows with health. Ms. Chen's daughter explained that she is saving a lot of money in medical costs because her mother became healthy by practicing Falun Gong and no longer takes medication.
Then Ms. Chen's relative asked Tao, “Don't you think Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good? Isn't a person a good person when they conduct themselves according to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance? Where on earth have you taken her? I heard that you've employed two women at 100 yuan per day to 'take care of her'. Have you tortured her badly? If she has not been tortured, then why have you employed two women to 'take care of her'?”
Tao said, “Chen Hongzhou is in Ziyang City right now, being re-educated. The conditions there are very good.” Ms. Chen's family was surprised by the news and asked, “What is re-education and why are you re-educating her?” Tao said, “Re-education consists mainly of letting her watch some TV programs and keeping her from practicing Falun Gong.” Actually, re-education is brainwashing Falun Gong practitioners with the CCP's lies in order to force them to give up practicing, by pressuring them and depriving them of their freedom. Ms. Chen's family members were very angry and questioned him, “What will be the result of re-education? Do you want to transform her to be like Bo Xilai and Wang Lijun? People who go whoring and are greedy and cruel villains? If Ms. Chen Hongzhou were an official, she would never be like them. She conducts herself well as a practitioner. Why do you need to re-educate her?”
3. Ms. Chen Hongzhou Is in Danger
Ms. Chen's family questioned Deng of the Baozang Community about why the government paid 100 yuan per day to employ two women to “take care” of Ms. Chen. Deng answered, “It's not because of Ms. Chen's physical situation, but just to keep her from practicing Falun Gong and to make sure she doesn't have any problems there. The conditions there are very good.” The family was highly skeptical of the explanation.
The Er'ehu Brainwashing Center is notorious for bad conditions. In fact, the Ziyang City government has spent over one million yuan, which was collected from the local residents, to set up Er'ehu Brainwashing Center in Yingjie Town. This is a place used exclusively to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. It consists of a research group, security group, logistical group and medical group. Every practitioner is assigned to a room, with a monitor inside and two monitoring personnel accompanying them 24 hours a day. The monitoring personnel do not allow the practitioners to do the exercises or speak. If they do, they are punished and must stand still for several hours. Practitioners are forced to watch videos that slander Falun Gong every day. They have very limited personal freedom, are forbidden to have contact with the outside world, and are forced to write materials renouncing Falun Gong.
The persecution of Falun Gong practitioners at the Er'ehu Brainwashing Center is still going on, and two Falun Gong practitioners, Mr. Wu Yihua and Mr. Li Huabin, were poisoned. Mr. Li, 70, from Jianyang City, was released at the end of December 2011. At 9:00 p.m. on January 11, 2012, he lost consciousness and failed to respond to medical treatment. He passed away in the afternoon the next day. An insider revealed that Mr. Li Huabin's symptoms were very similar to that of physician Mr. Wu Yihua. Mr. Wu, a Falun Gong practitioner in his 40's from Ziyang City, died on December 12, 2011. It has been reported that forced drug administration at the brainwashing center most likely led to their deaths.
Ms. Chen Hongzhou is being held in the Er'ehu Brainwashing Center. The persecutors, including some CCP officials, who have participated in persecuting Ms. Chen, are likely to reason that the re-education is so cruel and painful that she may be unable to stand it. That is what is meant by “to make sure she doesn't have any problems.” This is the danger that Ms. Chen is facing.
4. Appealing for Ms. Chen's Rescue
Ms. Chen's daughter told officials at the Qifeng Town government, “My parents' previous house was removed by the government and they were forced to move to a new one that cost another 4,000 yuan. When they finally borrowed the 4,000 yuan, the house was already occupied. My father worked in the grain supply center for decades, but does not have a house to live in.” Ms. Chen's relative said, “Ms. Chen is 70 years old now and still doesn't have a residence. This is the problem you should take care of and settle for her. Thanks to Falun Gong, she is healthy, because I can't imagine how she would have been able to survive!”
On May 4, Wang Zhiqiang told Ms. Chen's family to go to Ziyang and see her. At the gate of the Er'ehu Brainwashing Center hung a banner that said “Legal Education”. Employees working there even said to Ms. Chen's daughter, “Your mother is so stubborn. If she would just agree not to practice, we would release her. Even if she continues to practice, we don't care.” They are forcing an elderly lady to go against her conscience and lie. We appeal to the world's people to take notice of Ms. Chen Hongzhou's current situation. Please help her gain freedom and be reunited with her family.
Personnel involved in the persecution of Ms. Chen:
Wang Zhiqiang, an official of Lu County 610 Office: +86-135080336677 (Cell)
Tian Ye, Director of Qifeng Town Comprehensive Management Office, +86-1380828287966 (Cell)
Zhang Zhengcai, head of the Baozang Street, Qifeng Town: +86-13118436547 (Cell)