Father and Son Persecuted to Death Years Ago

Falun Gong practitioner Tan Yanjun passed away on February 27th, 2005, nine years ago, after being tortured by the police. He left behind two young children.

His father, Tan Guoyi, also died as a result of the persecution seven months earlier.

Also, Tan Yanjun's younger sister, Tan Yanwei, had her residence registration altered by the police in 2009 without her authorisation and the matter has yet to be resolved.

Torture Leads to Paralysis and Death

When Mr. Tan Yanjun was released from the Hegang First Detention Centre on November 15th, 2004, Li Yincheng, the director of Hegang First Detention Centre; Yang Zhanjun, the prison doctor; and Zhang Qiang, the driver, dumped Tan Yanjun in an alley about 100 meters from the home of his mother. He crawled to his mother's home with her help. He said to his elder sister, “I walked out this door upright and am now crawling back. It’s all the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) fault.”

Mr. Tan could neither sit nor lay down when he got home. He couldn’t eat or sleep, vomited blood, and had difficulty breathing. He passed away at the age of 40 on February 27th, 2005.

Mr. Tan’s family requested and paid for him to undergo a physical examination on September 14th, 2004. It was confirmed that Mr. Tan had perforated eardrums, ankylosing spondylitis, osteoarthritis in the hip, tuberculosis, sinus tachycardia, and rheumatism and was paralysed from the waist down. The doctor said that he should be hospitalized immediately, but the police refused to do anything for Mr. Tan.

Beaten and Tortured

The police arrested Mr. Tan Yanjun on January 9th, 2002, and took him to the Xinnan Police Station. Officers broke into his home and ransacked it twice. They confiscated many items, including Falun Gong books, bank books, cash and home electronics.

At the police station, Li Shujiang, the deputy chief of Gongnong Police Department, interrogated and tortured him. They put his fingerprint on a dozen blank documents.

He was taken to the Hegang First Detention Centre, where Li Shujiang tortured him almost daily. Li said, “Zhang Xingfu, the CCP party secretary of Hegang City, said we should treat Falun Gong practitioners as criminals. We have a quota, and it is OK if we beat you to death. Our superiors will bear the responsibility for everything that happens.”

Officer Zhang Zhipeng brought Mr. Tan’s two children to the Hegang First Detention Centre on April 18th, 2002. The children couldn’t recognise their father, whose face was black and blue and covered with festering blisters. Mr. Tan told them, “Go home and tell your grandma, grandpa, and aunt that Daddy now has heart problems, perforated eardrums, and damaged joints from police beatings. The doctor from the hospital confirmed it.” Hearing his voice, the children finally realized he was their father. They cried bitterly.

Prior Arrests and Detention

Mr. Tan Yanjun was a construction worker at the Construction and Installation Department of Hegang sub-division of Longmay Mining Holding Group Co., LTD. He had suffered from poor health and was often short of breath and frail. He regained his health after he started to practise Falun Gong in 1996.

Mr. Tan went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practise Falun Gong on July 19th, 1999. He was arrested and detained for three months on his return from Beijing. His home was also ransacked.

He was arrested and taken to the Hegang First Detention Centre on March 1st, 2000, and held for seven months. He was brutally tortured and could no longer take care of himself. When prison doctors could not detect his blood pressure and pulse, he was released.

Father Died as Result of Persecution

Mr. Tan Yanjun's father, Mr. Tan Guoyi, endured constant harassment by the police and died on July 3rd, 2004, at the age of 67.

Police went to his home and searched and ransacked the place on July 20th, 1999, the beginning of the persecution.

Officers from the Dongshan District Xinyi Police Station--Yang Maobiao, Wang Cai, and Xiao Chunquan--confiscated his personal property and took him to the Hegang City Second Prison on June 29th, 2002.

Mr. Tan Guoyi was tortured. He was given only one bun to eat a day. He came down with tuberculosis and was taken to the hospital. Because all his children were in prison for practising Falun Gong at the time, no one could pay his medical expenses, so he was taken home. However, he was still harassed daily by neighbourhood community director Chen Fenglian.

Due to the constant harassment, he often came down with fever and coughed up blood. He missed his children: his son Tan Yanjun had been sentenced to nine years in prison and his fourth daughter was sentenced to three years in a forced labour camp for practising Falun Gong. Additionally, the police were looking for his oldest and youngest daughters so they could arrest them for practising Falun Gong. His health kept deteriorating and he died on July 3rd, 2004.

He was retired from the Construction and Installation Department of Hegang sub-division of Longmay Mining Holding Group Co., LTD, and had worked at construction sites for 40 years. He had hyperplasia and ulcers and was in very poor health.

He started practising Falun Gong in 1997 and soon regained his health. People commented, “Mr. Tan is in good spirits, his back is straight, and he looks taller.” He would smile, “It is because I practise Falun Gong.”