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Detention Centres – 610 Office

Detention Centres – 610 Office

Refugee Review Tribunal AUSTRALIA

RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE

Research Response Number: CHN31183 Country: Date: 9 January 2007

Keywords: China – CHN31183 – , – – Centres – 610 Office

This response was prepared by the Country Research Section of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RRT within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Questions 1. Question deleted 2. Can you provide information on Falun Gong activities in Zhaoqing for the period 1995-2005? 3. Can you provide information on Duanzhou Detention Centre, Tielu Detention Centre and Zhaoqing Detention Centre? 4. Can you provide information on the activities of 610 office? 5. Any other relevant information would be most appreciated.

RESPONSE

1. Question deleted.

2. Can you provide information on Falun Gong activities in Zhaoqing for the period 1995-2005?

Very little information is available on the period before the Falun Gong was banned in 1999 and no information was found on their activities in Zhaoqing in the sources consulted previous to that date.

Falun Gong sources provided information showing Falun Gong activity within Zhaoqing from 1999-2005. Several reports were found on the Falun Dafa Clearwisdom website on the detention of Falun Gong practitioners by the authorities within that time.

Below is selection of reports from Falun Gong sources reporting incidents in Zhaoqing between 1999-2005:

July 1999 Deng Shaosong was detained in July 1999, and his home was ransacked. All electronic appliances were confiscated. In September 1999, he was detained again. After his release, he was then forced to transfer to Zhaoqing for work, under the supervision of a special guard. He went to to appeal in October 1999 and was arrested and sent back. When the police took him away by force, he fell and injured his head, causing a concussion, and fainted. Instead of rescuing him immediately, the police arrested the practitioners who came to rescue Deng Shaosong. Because of his straitened financial circumstances, he had to leave the hospital while he had not yet recovered from the injury. But against all humane compassion, the police took him away again for 15 days of detention. The guards silently agreed to the cruel beatings against him by the common and forced him to do hard labor (‘A Serial Report Regarding the Arbitrary Detention Against the Falun Gong Practitioners in The People’s Republic of China 2001: Serial Number: 040’, Falun Dafa Information Centre, 11 January – Attachment 2).

May 2000 Message Received: 5/17/00 Victims: 1. Li Ruqin, female 2. Hu Liya, female Location of Incident: Sanshui, Guangdong Province Description: Li Ruqin and Hu Liya from Gaoyao or Zhaoqing, Guangdong Province, were both sentenced to 2 years of forced labor in Sanshui, Guangdong Province. (Zhou, Shiyu et al. August 2000, A report on the extensive and severe human rights violations in the suppression of Falun Gong in the People’s Republic of China , Golden Lotus Press, sec. 6.74 ‘Practioners from Guandong Province Sent to Labour Camp’, p.174 – Attachment 1).

Nov 2000 Zhaoqing City Police sentenced university graduate and Dafa practitioner Huang Songtian from Zhaoqing City/Guangdong Province to two years of forced labor because he went to Beijing to appeal for Dafa in November, 2000. He is currently unlawfully detained in the Guangdong Sanshui . … According to incomplete statistics, over ten Dafa practitioners have been illegally sent to labor camps in Zhaoqing City alone. (‘Dafa Practitioner, a University Graduate of Guangdong Province, Sentenced to an Illegal Two Year Forced Labor Sentence for Appealing in Beijing’ 2001, Clearwisdom.net, 30 October http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/11/8/15524.html – Accessed 4 January 2007 – Attachment 3).

2001-2002 Mr. Lin Fengchi is from the Duanzhou of Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province. He was detained and tortured at the Sanshui Forced Labor Camp in Guangdong Province because he practiced Falun Gong. On September 13, 2003, the torture facility was again removed from Sanshui Forced Labor Camp after existing there for over half a year. Mr. Lin was again transferred to a different location. (‘Burning with Boiling Water, Salt Applied to Wounds, Wounds Scrubbed with a Toothbrush’2007, Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group http://www.flghrwg.net/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=844&Itemid=0zx zx – Accessed 4 January 2007 – Attachment 4).

Dec 2004 Ms. Feng Yuqiong, from Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province, was arrested on December 16, 2004. Only after she was arrested, did the police issue the warrant for her arrest. She faces a possible term and is being held at the Duanzhou Detention Center. Ms. Liang Shiqiong was arrested on December 7, 2004. She was sent the Gaoyao Detention Center where she went on a hunger strike that lasted nine days. She was released from the detention center with the help of righteous thoughts. Since then the police have been harassing her at her home. (‘Latest News from China – February 9, 2005’ 2005, Clearwisdom.net, 9 February, No 4, http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2005/4/2/59123.html – Accessed 4 January 2007 – Attachment 5).

2005 Brainwashing Centers in Guangdong include: Sanshui, Chatou, , Fumin, , , Zhaoqing… Some practitioners have been held there for several years. In 2005, policemen and unlawful people from all over Guangdong carried out a few large-scale raids to find Falun Gong practitioners. So far, several hundred practitioners are still being held in brainwashing centers, detention centers, and forced labor camps where they are suffering inhumane torture and persecution… (‘Evil Places in Guangdong that Persecute Falun Gong Practitioners (Photos) (Part 2)’ 2005, Clearwisdom.net, 12 December http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2006/1/3/68120.html – Accessed 4 January 2007 Attachment 6).

June 2005 Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province, set up a brainwashing center at Beiling Party School on June 6, 2005. Five practitioners, including Ms. Wang Lizhen, were arrested and persecuted there. (‘Latest News from China – June 14, 2005’ Clearwisdom.net, 14 June, No 5 http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2005/6/29/62361.html – Accessed 4 January 2007 Attachment 7).

Dec 2005 [Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province] Ms. He Meiting Arrested In December 2005, practitioner Ms. He Meiting was arrested when she was clarifying the truth on the street. She is being held in the Sanshui Forced Labor Camp, where she is being tortured. (‘Additional Persecution News from China – January 7, 2006’ Clearwisdom.net, 7 January,No5. http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2006/1/15/69009.html – Accessed 4 January 2007 Attachment 8).

The following Falun Gong report details arrests of Falun Gong practitioners within a Zhaoqing College between 1999-2004:

Practitioners from Zhaoqing College in Guangdong Province (formerly Zhaoqing Xijiang University) were sentenced to forced labor by the 610 Office of Zhaoqing City because they appealed to the government for justice for Falun Gong and clarified the truth about the persecution. They are being detained and persecuted in the Guangdong Sanshui Forced Labor Camp. Below are some facts about this persecution:

Ms. Fang Yi, in her mid-40’s, was an outstanding physics teacher. Since 1999, the police have harassed, persecuted, and followed her. She has been detained and sent to brainwashing centers many times. Around June or July of 2003, the college officials, in cooperation with local 610 officials, fired her and sent her to the Guangdong Sanshui Forced Labor Camp. Ms. Fang’s current situation is unknown.

Mr. Huang Songdian is a 29-year-old from City, Guangdong Province. He graduated from the Chemistry Department of Zhaoqing Xijiang University in July 1999. Mr. Huang was sentenced to forced labor because he appealed for the right to practice Falun Gong. He was released from Guangdong Sanshui Forced Labor Camp in 2002. On December 30, 2004, Mr. Huang and Mr. Tang Zhiheng were arrested by the police in his neighborhood. On December 31, the police handcuffed him and took him in to the police station to book him. Mr. Huang was sentenced to three years of forced labor.

Mr. Tang Zhiheng, 29, also graduated from the Zhaoqing Xijiang University Chemistry Department. Mr. Tang was sentenced to forced labor because he, too, appealed for the right to practice Falun Gong. He was released from the First Forced Labor Camp of Guangzhou City in January 2003. In 2004, Mr. Tang, Mr. Lin Yanguang, and Mr. Huang Songdian started a leather product business in a market close to the Guangzhou City Train Station. They later set up a supply center for truth-clarification materials that operated for some time. On December 30, 2004, the police arrested them. Mr. Tang was sentenced to four years of forced labor and is currently detained in Guangdong Sanshui Forced Labor Camp.

In addition, Ms. Li Ruqin, a practitioner from Zhaoqing, who used to be the volunteer director of the Zhaoqing Falun Dafa Assistance Center and the Principal of Baihua Elementary School in Zhaoqing City, was arrested in April 2004. She was later transferred to Guangdong Sanshui Forced Labor Camp. It is known that Ms. Li has been thrown into male prisoners’ cells during her detention. (‘The Facts about the Persecution of Practitioners from Zhaoqing College in Guangdong Province’, 3 September 2006, Clearwisdom.net, 3 September http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2006/3/9/70639.html – Accessed 4 January 2007 - Attachment 9).

3. Can you provide information on Duanzhou Detention Centre, Tielu Detention Centre and Zhaoqing Detention Centre?

Duanzhou Detention Centre

Duanzhou is the name of a district of Zhaoqing city and appears to be largely urban. (See for information – ‘An Introduction to Zhaoqing: ’ 2004, Zhaoqing Government website, http://www.zhaoqing.gov.cn/english/introduction/t20040727_6272.htm – Accessed 8 January 2007 – Attachment 10).

Falun Gong reports confirm that there is a Duanzhou detention centre in Zhaoqing city and that a number of practitioners have been held in this detention centre. (‘The Facts of the Persecution of Falun Gong – September 17, 2005’ Clearwisdom net, http://ww.clearwisdom.net/emh/emhweekly/2005/9/18/2005-09-17-persecution.html – Accessed 8 January 2007 – Attachment 11; ‘Latest News from China – February 9, 2005’ Clearwisdom.net, http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2005/4/2/59123.html – Accessed 4 January 2007 Attachment 12).

Apart from telephone details no other information is given about the detention centre or its location. The detention centre is not listed in the Handbook.

Tielu Detention Centre

There is a Tielu detention centre in province in North China according to the Laogai handbook. It gives these details:

Location: City Tel: 0452-2925318 The only railway RTL in the nation. Responsible for hundreds of Laojiao inmates sent by the Railway Bureau and the Railway Bureau. (Laogai Research Foundation 2006, Laogai Handbook 2005-2006 , p.372 http://www.laogai.org/news2/book/handbook05-06.pdf – Accessed 8 January 2007 – Attachment 13).

No other reference was found to Tielu detention centre in the sources consulted.

Zhaoqing Detention Centre

The Laogai Handbook lists ‘Zhaoqing RTL’ (re-education through labour) as a prison within the Guandong Province. However it is stated in the handbook that further details are ‘unknown’. (Laogai Research Foundation 2006, Laogai Handbook 2005-2006 , p.64, also p.42 http://www.laogai.org/news2/book/handbook05-06.pdf – Accessed 8 January 2007 – Attachment 13).

The following Falun Gong reference mentions the Zhaoqing detention centre.

At the beginning of April 2004, Zhaoqing police arrested Guangdong Province Zhaoqing Dafa practitioners Yu Jinqing and Li Ruqin. They are now conducting a hunger strike to protest the persecution at Zhaoqing Detention Center. (‘Latest News from China – April 25, 2004’ Clearwisdom.net, http://ww.w.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2004/5/8/zip.html Accessed 4 January 2007 – Attachment 14)

Telephone details were located but no other detailed information was found for the detention centre in the sources consulted. (Latest News from China – February 9, 2005’ Clearwisdom.net, http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2005/4/2/59123.html – Accessed 4 January 2007 – Attachment 12).

4. Can you provide information on the activities of 610 office?

The ‘610 Office’ or ‘Bureau 610’ is an organisation which was established by the (CCP) Central Committee to suppress the practice of Falun Gong. The ‘610 Office’ was named after the date of its formation on 10 June 1999. It is reported to have its central office in Beijing and is headed by , the Secretary General of the Political and Judiciary Committee of the CCP.

The World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong have produced a lengthy report examining the role and activities of the 610 office including propaganda planning, the 610 network and branches abroad. According to the report:

On June 10, 1999, bypassing procedures required by the Chinese constitution and other laws, and under direct orders from the then leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), , the CCP Central Committee formed the “610 Office,” an organization with the sole mission of cracking down on Falun Gong. Besides its central office in Beijing, the “610 Office” has branches in all the Chinese cities, villages, governmental agencies, institutions, and schools. World Organisation to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong 2004, Investigation Reports on the Persecution of Falun Gong, 12 June Attachment 15).

The Human Rights Watch report of 2002, Dangerous Meditation: China’s Campaign Against Falungong, notes the development of the ‘610 office’:

The most significant changes came after a Central Work Conference (a meeting of high Party officials from all over China called by the Party Central Committee) in mid-February 2001, when President Jiang told provincial and municipal Party officials to strengthen local control over Falungong practitioners. The plan called for the immediate formation of local “anti-cult task forces” and similar units in universities, state enterprises, and social organizations to augment the “610 office” (named for the date of its founding), which reportedly had been directing the crackdown since June 10, 1999, and the “propaganda work office, which was in charge of the media campaign.” It ordered local officials to detain active practitioners and to make certain that families and employers guaranteed the isolation of those unwilling to formally recant. There were reports that the central government had ordered local officials to use systematic and stepped up psychological coercion, the latter conducted by former adherents, against hard-core practitioners. Estimates at the time suggested that 10,000 practitioners were in custody, 5,000 were refusing to renounce their beliefs, and 1,000 known activists were at large. (Human Rights Watch 2002, ‘Section III – Defiance and Response: A Chronology’, Dangerous Meditation: China’s Campaign Against Falungong, January – Attachment 16)

The following UN document provides additional information on the activity of the 610 Office:

‘Further reports indicate that in February 2001, the Central Committee of the Communist Party called for a Central Work Conference of high- level party officials. The purpose of this meeting was reportedly to adopt a plan calling for the formation of local “anticult task forces” in all universities, state enterprises and social organizations, to reinforce the “6-10 Office” and strengthen local control over the Falun Gong. An analysis of reports received by the Special Rapporteurs indicates that the alleged human rights violations against Falun Gong practitioners, including systematic arrest and detention, are part of a pattern of repression against members of this group. Most of those arrested are reportedly heavily fined and released, but many are detained and ill- treated in order to force them to formally renounce Falun Gong. Those who refuse are sent to “re-education through labour” camps, where reportedly torture is used routinely resulting in many deaths. The Special Rapporteurs are further concerned by reports that few Falun Gong practitioners are prosecuted. When charges are laid they reportedly include allegations such as “disturbing social order”, “assembling to disrupt public order”, “stealing or leaking state secrets” or “using a heretical organization to undermine the implementation of the law”. According to the information received, those prosecuted have been unfairly tried and many have received lengthy prison sentences. In this respect it is reported that on 5 November 1999, a Notice issued by the Supreme People’s Court instructed all local courts to do their “‘political duty”‘ in bringing to trial and punishing “severely” those charged with “heretical organizations ”, “particularly Falun Gong”, and to handle these cases “under the leadership of the Party committees”. (United Nations, Economic and Social Council; Commission on Human Rights 2005, Civil and Political Rights, Including the Questions of Torture and Detention: Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or : Report of the Special Rapporteur, 30 March, p.53-54 – Attachment 17).

A 2003 Falun Dafa report provides an overview of the organisation and its powers (World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong 2003, Investigation Report on the 610 Office http://www.upholdjustice.org/english.2/investigation_of_610.htm – Accessed 8 January 2007, Attachment 18). It states:

On the issue of dealing with Falun Gong, the “610 Office” is completely above the power that a normal agency has at its level. Other than reporting to the local Communist Party branches, it has higher power than normal government agencies and the Chinese legal, law and judicial system. For example, the “610 Office” at the Zhuanglang County, Gansu Province has the following responsibilities: 1) “Directing, coordinating and checking the entire county’s struggle with Falun Gong and other cults” and 2) “Directing the police and the public security bureau to prevent Falun Gong and its cult organization from using the power within and outside China to overthrow the government as well as to ensure the stability of the society.” (16) Other than directly persecuting Falun Gong (17)(Fig.2), the “610 Offices” also are involved with holding cultural activities (18), education (19), cable TV (20), holding exhibitions (21), Qigong (22), the women’s association (12, 23), the Chinese Communist Youth League (24) as well as other organizations. It has the power to check and decide which TV programs get broadcasted outside of China (25). It can also interfere with lawyers on legal cases related with Falun Gong (26). At District, Daqing City, a document clearly states that in order for an official to receive an assignment or a promotion, he must receive the blessings from the Department of Interior Affairs, the Political and Judiciary Committee, the “610 Office,” and others. Otherwise, no further progress will be considered.”(27)

5. Any other relevant information would be most appreciated.

No other information relating to the claims was found.

List of Sources Consulted

Internet Sources: http://www.clearwisdom.net/ Clear Wisdom Falun Gong reports on persecution Google search engine http://www.google.com.au/

Databases:

FACTIVA (news database) BACIS (DIMA Country Information database) REFINFO (IRBDC (Canada) Country Information database) ISYS (RRT Country Research database, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, US Department of State Reports) RRT Library Catalogue

List of Attachments

1. Attachment deleted.

2. ‘A Serial Report Regarding the Arbitrary Detention Against the Falun Gong Practitioners in The People’s Republic of China 2001: Serial Number: 040’, Falun Dafa Information Centre, 11 January

3. ‘Dafa Practitioner, a University Graduate of Guangdong Province, Sentenced to an Illegal Two Year Forced Labor Sentence for Appealing in Beijing’ 2001, Clearwisdom.net, 30 October http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/11/8/15524.html – Accessed 4 January 2007

4. ‘Burning with Boiling Water, Salt Applied to Wounds, Wounds Scrubbed with a Toothbrush’2007, Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group http://www.flghrwg.net/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=844&Itemid=0zxzx – Accessed 4 January 2007

5. ‘Latest News from China – February 9, 2005: Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province Ms. Feng Yuqiong Arrested; Ms. Liang Shiqiong Persecuted’ 2005, Clearwisdom.net, 9 February http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2005/4/2/59123.html – Accessed 4 January 2007 6. ‘Evil Places in Guangdong that Persecute Falun Gong Practitioners (Photos) (Part 2)’ 2005, Clearwisdom.net, 12 December http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2006/1/3/68120.html – Accessed 4 January 2007

7. ‘Latest News from China – June 14, 2005’ Clearwisdom.net, 14 June, No 5 http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2005/6/29/62361.html – Accessed 4 January 2007

8. ‘Additional Persecution News from China – January 7, 2006’ Clearwisdom.net, 7 January, http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2006/1/15/69009.html – Accessed 4 January 2007

9. ‘The Facts about the Persecution of Practitioners from Zhaoqing College in Guangdong Province’, 3 September 2006, Clearwisdom.net, 3 September http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2006/3/9/70639.html – Accessed 4 January 2007

10. ‘An Introduction to Zhaoqing: Duanzhou District’ 2004, Zhaoqing Government website, http://www.zhaoqing.gov.cn/english/introduction/t20040727_6272.htm – Accessed 8 January 2007

11. ‘The Facts of the Persecution of Falun Gong – September 17, 2005’ Clearwisdom net, http://ww.clearwisdom.net/emh/emhweekly/2005/9/18/2005-09-17-persecution.html – Accessed 8 January 2007

12. ‘Latest News from China – February 9, 2005’ Clearwisdom.net, http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2005/4/2/59123.html – Accessed 4 January 2007

13. Laogai Research Foundation 2006, Laogai Handbook 2005-2006, p.372. http://www.laogai.org/news2/book/handbook05-06.pdf – Accessed 8 January 2007 –

14. ‘Latest News from China – April 25, 2004’ Clearwisdom.net. http://ww.w.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2004/5/8/zip.html Accessed 4 January 2007

15. World Organisation to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong 2004, Investigation Reports on the Persecution of Falun Gong, 12 June

16. Human Rights Watch 2002, ‘Section III – Defiance and Response: A Chronology’, Dangerous Meditation: China’s Campaign Against Falungong, January

17. United Nations, Economic and Social Council; Commission on Human Rights 2005, Civil and Political Rights, Including the Questions of Torture and Detention: Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment: Report of the Special Rapporteur, 30 March, p.53-54

18. World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong 2003, Investigation Report on the 610 Office http://www.upholdjustice.org/english.2/investigation_of_610.htm – Accessed 8 January 2007

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