During the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s National Day holiday, many people took the opportunity to protest on Tiananmen Square. Every day, after one group of protesters was arrested, another group soon followed. Sometimes, several protests could take place simultaneously. Dozens of arrests have been witnessed just in Tiananmen Square each day. During the holiday season, the Beijing government has arrested 30,000 to 40,000 people.
There have been more and more protesters, and more and more people are using the CCP’s national flagpole on the square as the focus of their protest. The Beijing government has increased the number of armed policemen guarding the flagpole from 5 to 13. On October 3, an Epoch Times reporter took a picture of an elderly lady being dragged away from the flagpole to a police vehicle by a gang of paramilitary police. CCP officials oversaw the arrest. This scene saddened the many bystanders. The petitioners said that they had witnessed too many similar incidents; the policemen often handle people callously, as if they were dead pigs.
Massive Arrests Before October 1 in Beijing; 30,000 to 40,000 Petitioners Have Been Arrested
A veteran petitioner, who has been making appeals for a long time and who has been arrested over 100 times, was taken to the Majialou Detention Center on September 27 and was released three days later. She revealed that from September 27 to 30, the courtyard and over 20 rooms of the Majialou Detention Center were all filled by detainees. People hardly had any space to stand. She estimated that at least 30,000 to 40,000 people had been detained at Majialou during those few days.
Another petitioner, who did not want to be identified, was also detained at Majialou for a few days. She said that she did not check the exact number of detainees, but as soon as regional officials took away detainees from their region, a new batch of people took their place. The petitioner estimated that the number of people being captured here was at least 10,000 each day. The fate that awaits the petitioners once arrested is even more miserable. Many petitioners were in tears in Majialou. They said, “We cry because we know we'll be severely punished after we are taken back home.” Once returned to their hometowns by their regional office in Beijing, these petitioners will face government monitoring, detention and even forced labor camp terms of up to three years. Many have died in labor camps.
“Many innocent people have been detained in labor camps. They are forced to write reports admitting their guilt every day. Whoever shows resistance is locked up in solitary confinement, with their mouths stuffed with socks and taped shut and are beaten while hanging on the wall…. It is not a place for humans to stay.”
