Outstanding Teacher and Falun Dafa Practitioner Mr. Tang Jian Was Tortured to Death at the Shuangkou Forced Labour Camp

Dafa practitioner Tang Jian was 39 years old and had graduated from the Physics Department at Nankai University. He was working at the Jialingdao Middle School in Nankai District before his abduction. Tang Jian was sent to the Shuangkou Forced Labour Camp in 2001 for practising Falun Gong and held for one year, during which time he was tortured and his sentence was extended. He was released in July 2002 when he was on the brink of death. He was arrested again in September 2002 and tortured to death on July 7, 2004. His body was covered with bruises and scars at the time of his death.

Before he practised Falun Gong, Tang Jian smoked and gambled. He completely changed him into a selfless person. He worked very hard and was awarded with the distinction "outstanding teacher" for many years in a row. At home he took on household chores, and took care of his parents and wife.

Mr. Tang was a Dafa practice site assistant. He never took any time off during his holidays and weekends and used these times to buy Dafa books and other Dafa materials for new practitioners. People often saw him going among practitioners, carrying a large bag. He had many cultivation stories. One morning in the summer of 1998 when a group of practitioners were practising the Falun Dafa exercises, a rainstorm hit and many practitioners went under an overhang to avoid getting wet. Tang Jian didn't move and continued the second exercise. Strangely, the rain didn't fall on the area where he was standing until he finished practising the exercises. Other practitioners saw this and were surprised. Tang Jian conducted himself according to the standard of a Falun Dafa practitioner and had organized the practice site along with other assistants. Many practitioners from his work unit also went there to learn the Falun Dafa exercises. Other practitioners often spoke with Tang Jian to discuss issues with him, and he never tried to show off his status as an assistant.

After the persecution began on July 20, 1999, the authorities went to his home when he was not there and confiscated his Falun Dafa books and materials as well as his personal savings. Tang Jian said, "I don't care about the money, but those books are the law of the cosmos given by our Teacher. They are too precious and the loss is too great!" At that time his son had just been born. Mr. Tang went to Tiananmen Square many times to appeal for Falun Dafa and always returned safely. He said, "It's not wrong to go to Beijing to appeal."

In order to let the public know the facts about Falun Dafa, he practised the Falun Dafa exercises outside alone in the morning and was not afraid of other people's sarcastic or defamatory comments. Whenever he saw posters or articles that attacked Dafa, he would tear them down and replace them with signs reading, "Falun Dafa is good;" when he heard people attacking Dafa in public, he stood up and defended Falun Dafa without any hesitation.

At a school meeting in July 2001, someone attacked Dafa and Tang Jian stood up and refuted that person. The authorities immediately took him to the Jialingdao Police Station. He was later transferred to the Xuefu Police Station where his household registration was located. His whole family was forced to attend a brainwashing programme together with him. His young son who was less than one-year-old was even required to attend the brainwashing programme with him!

Mr. Tang was sentenced to one year of forced labour in violation of the Chinese constitution and was held at the Shuangkou Forced Labour Camp. When his wife saw him for the first time, she saw a person whose face was covered with scars and with long hair and a beard. His wife cried and could not go back to visit him. When his mother visited him the next time, Tang Jian had a haircut and shaved his face, but cigarette burns, scars and blood-shot eyes gave away the tortures he was subjected to. Tang Jian told his mother, "Here they beat people." His mother cried. Tang Jian's father and brother went to the authorities and protested, "My son didn't commit any crimes. Even if he did you are not supposed to beat inmates. You are violating human rights and you are committing a crime." The guards said, "Go reason with Jiang! We are only following policies from above."

In 2001 on a visitation day, Tang Jian's mother bought some food and went to the Shuangkou Forced Labour Camp. Other families were let in, except the families of Falun Dafa practitioners whom the guards refused to allow their visitation rights. When Tang Jian's mother asked for permission to visit her son, division head Zhang said, "Tang Jian is the most stubborn one! There is no way we'll let you see him." Tang Jian's mother said, "Don't beat him or torture him anymore." Division head Zhang said, "Go sue us!" Tang Jian's mother had no choice but go home.

After Tang Jian's second arrest, all information channels about his status in the facility were blocked and the details of his persecution from that point on are unclear. We hope people who have that information can share it with us as we are investigating his case.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/8/9/81353.html