(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Li Taohua and nine other practitioners were picked up by police officers from the Lanzhou City National Security Division and taken to the Gongjiawan Brainwashing Center.
This occurred when they tried to visit their fellow practitioners detained in the Gongjiawan Brainwashing Center on June 11, 2012. Ms. Li's cell phone, her house keys, and other belongings were confiscated. Money was extorted from her family before she was finally released on September 3, 2012.
The other practitioners arrested at the same time were He Xiaolan, Niu Xiaoqing, Fu Julan, Li Ping, Wu Yuying, Xu Meixiang, Li Fubin, Sun Hong, and Zhou Wei.
The 10 practitioners were separately interrogated by police officers from their own districts. Ms. Li Taohua was interrogated in the Wuquan Police Station until 2 a.m. the next morning. She was sent to the Taoshuping Detention Center, refused to sign a guarantee to give up practicing Falun Gong, and was then sent to a brainwashing center.
Sun Hong was sent to the First Labor Camp of Ping'antai for 18 months; Niu Xiaoqing was kept in the Taoshuping Detention Center; Li Fubin, Li Ping, Fu Julan, He Xiaolan, Wu Yuying, and Xu Meixiang were transferred to the same detention center the next day; Li Fubin, Wu Yuying and He Xiaolan were eventually sent to labor camps after interrogations.
Employees in the Gongjiawan Brainwashing Center repeatedly “talked” to Ms. Li, attempting to try to force her to give up practicing Falun Gong.
The first barrage included Luo Xiufen, Mu Xiangyang, Qiao Xuerui, and two others. Mu asked Ms. Li, “Don't you know the central government has banned Falun Gong? Why do you continue to practice?” Ms. Li replied, “I used to have many diseases, including a brain tumor. Medicine and surgery didn't help. But I was cured by practicing Falun Gong. Why should I stop such a great practice?”
Ms. Li recounted her personal experience. Besides a brain tumor, she had cervical vertebrae disease, hyperplasia of her mammary glands, and other health problems. She was operated on in Tiantan Hospital in Beijing in 1997. Neither surgery nor drugs helped. She ended up being admitted to the hospital five times. Ms. Li and her whole family suffered. Her medical bills became a burden to her company. Her health began to improve when she started practicing Falun Gong in April 2003. Within a few months, all her diseases disappeared. Her family and friends witnessed this and were supportive of her cultivation practice.
The brainwashing center employees couldn't believe her story. They sent her for an MRI. To their surprise, Ms. Li's brain tumor was completely gone, just as she said. They told her, “Falun Gong is pretty good for your health. But don't do anything against the Party.”
Another bunch of employees talked to Ms. Li a couple of days later, accusing her of trying to overthrow the Communist Party. Ms. Li refused to give up. She told them calmly, “I don't want to overthrow any party. I benefit from practicing Falun Gong. I will continue to practice.”
The Political and Legal Affairs Committee of Gansu Province invited a team of “specialists" from the central government to Gongjiawan Brainwashing Center in July to try to get Falun Gong practitioners to give up their belief. Practitioners were forced to watch a series of videos that slandered Falun Gong and Master Li. They were also threatened and pressured to sign a guarantee to stop practicing Falun Gong.
One of the specialists, Gong Jianqiang from the Huanggang Labor Camp of Hubei Province, forced Ms. Li to watch slanderous videos and even tried to force her to curse Falun Dafa. Gong openly threatened her. Another specialist, Qian, gave her a draft guarantee filled with slanderous language. She ordered Ms. Li to copy it, but she refused.
Gao Lina, vice secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of the Chengguan District, established a contract for the brainwashing center to hire guards from a security company. All costs incurred at the brainwashing center would be paid for with practitioners' money. Every practitioner was monitored by two security guards day in and day out, including restroom use. Practitioners were forbidden to talk to each other or do the Falun Gong exercises. The only thing they were pressured to do was to give up practicing Falun Gong.
Ms. Li was imprisoned in the brainwashing center for more than 70 days. After one session was over, her family was told to pay an "education and conversion" fee as well as a security fee, before Ms. Li could be released. Her family was forced to pay a total of 16,000 yuan. Ms. Li was eventually released on September 3, 2012.
Ms. Li and her family demanded their money back from the Political and Legal Affairs Committee. The vice secretary of the committee, Gao Lina, passed on responsibility to Ms. Li's company, claiming that the Falun Gong issue was controlled by higher levels of the government. Eventually, 7,000 yuan was returned as an “assistance fund.” The remaining 9,000 yuan hasn't been returned.