(Clearwisdom.net) Lawless officials from the "610 Office" [a bureau specifically created by the Chinese government to persecute Falun Gong. It has absolute power over each level of administration in the Party, as well as over the political and judiciary branches], the public security bureau, and the communist party committee of Xiantao City, Hubei Province, have illegally arrested more than 20 Dafa practitioners after secretly following their movements. Some were arrested by a group of policemen while practicing at the riverside. Some were arrested at midnight by police who broke into their homes while they were asleep, and some were arrested after having delivered only a few pages of Dafa truth materials. Some were released after being detained for a few days, others are still in jail. Nine of them were sentenced to a forced labor camp. Several of them were so weak after being abused by the policemen that the forced labor camp refused to accept them, so they were released. At least four have been sent to the Shayang Forced Labor Camp.

Police in the national security brigade fabricated evidence to send Dafa practitioners to forced labor camps. The basic human rights of appealing and meeting with family members were also deprived. Policemen acted secretly. The sentences were made known to the Dafa practitioners just one day before they were escorted to the forced labor camp. Official procedures state that sending someone to a forced labor camp should be reported to the provincial government. That procedure is now ignored. The local officials decide what to do. Some lawless local officials abuse this right to mistreat and abuse Dafa practitioners. Some Dafa practitioners' terms in the forced labor camps were extended indefinitely because they continue to refuse to give up their belief in Dafa.

In mid-September, a new brainwashing class was started to cruelly persecute Dafa practitioners. To hide the officials' illegal acts and to abuse Dafa practitioners secretly, they chose Magang as the base, which is a remote town. Many Dafa practitioners have been detained there. Dafa practitioner Zhang Aijiao was tortured to death in last year's brainwashing class around the same time of year.

Those officials also cheated ordinary people by spreading lies. They make use of TV, and newspapers to slander Dafa. They also force school students and employees to watch films that slander Dafa in order to prevent people from knowing the truth of Dafa. Under pressure from the government, some business managers and township leaders also help in the persecution against Dafa practitioners. This is a really worrisome issue because persecuting Dafa is against goodness itself, and therefore quite detrimental to the persecutor's future in terms of karmic retribution.

November 6,2002