(Minghui.org) All female practitioners in Henan Province who were sentenced for practicing Falun Gong have been imprisoned in the Xinxiang City Women’s Prison since the Chinese communist regime began the persecuting Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline, in July 1999.
In recent years, all jailed practitioners were sent to Division 9. The prison launched a new round of persecution in the second half of 2021. Instead of forcing practitioners to do hard labor without pay, the prison turned to a three-stage intensified brainwashing process: the first 3-7 days of admission, followed by “Small Class” and “Big Class” are described below.
The prison guards utilize collaborators (former practitioners who turned against Falun Gong under pressure) and monitors (felons) to help them carry out their persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.
Before each group of newly admitted practitioners arrive, the prison guards order all cell doors closed and they have the monitors line up by the entrance. As soon as the practitioners arrive, the monitors bring them inside to change into the inmates’ uniform. Each practitioner is then led into a different room, and three or four inmates “work on” her.
The prison deems the first three to seven days of a practitioner’s admission as the critical time window to pressure her to renounce Falun Gong. To that end, the guards, the head cellmate, and the collaborators take turns brainwashing the practitioners around the clock. The practitioners are not allowed to sleep or wash themselves. They must stay in their rooms and food is delivered to them.
Most practitioners almost collapse mentally due to this intense pressure and some wrote statements to renounce Falun Gong after being bombarded with anti-Falun Gong propaganda day and night.
Those who refuse to comply have their hands grabbed and made to have their fingerprints pressed on pre-prepared statements. They are next assigned to “Small Class” cells.
“Small class” is a brainwashing stage and one or two monitors and/or collaborators work on each practitioner. The practitioner is forced to read books attacking Falun Gong and its founder, as well as watching DVDs that slander Falun Gong. Some of the contents include articles written by a so-called engineer who claimed that he began to doubt the teachings of Falun Gong after practicing it for just a few days.
The goal of the propaganda is to have the practitioner doubt the founder of Falun Gong and quit the practice.
There are eight assignments in “Small Class” that require the practitioner to write reflection papers given certain topics. The practitioner must resolutely renounce and denounce Falun Gong and its founder in each paper to meet the “standard.” Even illiterate practitioners are ordered to do the assignments, with the monitors writing down the papers and having the practitioners trace each word.
The practitioners deemed to have met the requirements then “graduate” and “advance” to the “Big Class.”
In the “Big Class,” the practitioners are usually gathered together to study DVDs and four books produced by Wang Zhigang, a person who made a career of attacking Falun Gong. The monitors make sure the practitioners read the books together and share their thoughts and understandings afterwards.
The “studying” starts early in the morning and continues until 9:30 p.m., even during holidays. The only breaks the practitioners get are meal times and sleep.
There are 11 assignments in the “Big Class,” similar to the ones in the “Small Class.” The practitioners must each read out aloud their papers to share with others. They are then ordered to discuss each other’s papers. The “satisfactory” standard is the same as the papers required to “graduate” the “Small Class.”
Regardless of what stage of brainwashing process a practitioner is in, she must join an all-hands meeting almost every night to further study and discuss various anti-Falun Gong materials.
Except for those in the “Small Class,” all other practitioners must write a monthly thought report based on a special topic. The reports are included in the practitioners’ files.
All jailed practitioners must also attend the flag-raising ceremony held during the first week of each month. They are ordered to “repent” their “crimes” of practicing Falun Gong. A collaborator reads aloud an article that smears Falun Gong during the ceremony. The practitioners are then ordered to raise their right fists to show their gratitude to the prison, renounce Falun Gong, and to pledge allegiance to the communist regime.
Whoever refuses to renounce Falun Gong is subjected to strict management, and they are not allowed to communicate with their families. No phone calls or visits are allowed. They also cannot purchase daily necessities or have others get things for them. Some practitioners run out of toilet paper as a result. The practitioners must also follow a strict schedule: getting up at 4 a.m. and going to bed at midnight.
The monitors follow the practitioners everywhere, including when they use the bathroom. They are not allowed to talk to anyone. While non-practitioner inmates can watch TV during holidays, practitioners cannot and must watch anti-Falun Gong videos.
Despite the brutal persecution of practitioners, the prison presents itself as a civilized facility that cares about its inmates’ well-beings. In June 2023, it was announced that prisons from six other provinces were to visit. The prison renovated Division 9 with posters promoting traditional culture on the walls. Several cells were selected to receive the visitors, with practitioners deemed to have completely “transformed” (meaning giving up their belief) put in those cells. The aforementioned four books were hidden out of sight. The visitors then saw a prison that “successfully rehabilitated Falun Gong practitioners with kindness and traditional culture.”
The Brainwashing of Falun Gong Practitioners in Xinxiang City Women’s Prison in Henan Province
Xinxiang Women’s Prison in Henan Province: A Place That Destroys Humanity