Ms. Tan Pingyun from Shandong Province Tortured to Death (Photo)

Tan Pingyun and her daughter Yu Feng

On May 18th, 2006, practitioner Ms. Tan Pingyun from Weifang City, Shandong Province, was tortured to death by the Second Women's Labour Camp in Shandong Province. She was only 56.

At around 11:40 on the morning of May 18th, 2006, Ms. Tan's family received a phone call from the labour camp, informing them that she was dying and telling them to go to the 148 Hospital to see her for the last time. They also said that if the family missed the chance, it wasn't the labour camp's problem.

Ms. Tan's family arrived at the hospital at 2:30 in the afternoon. By that time, her body was cold and her breathing and heartbeat could barely be detected. There were no apparent wounds on her body. When asked about the cause of her death, the labour camp officials did not give a direct answer. Instead, they claimed that she drank some toilet bowl cleaner when asked to clean the toilet at 7:00 that morning. The police said they had sent her to a hospital after finding out what happened. The hospital treated her symptoms as high blood pressure. After the treatment failed, they transferred her to the 148 Hospital.

During the conversation, the police learned that Ms. Tan's second brother, Tan Weiming, did not practise Falun Gong, so they only talked to him, not allowing other family members to be present. The police threatened the family by telling them that they knew Ms. Tan's elder sister, Ms. Tan Aiyun, participated in many Falun Gong activities including going online to download Falun Gong materials and that the family was in trouble. As a matter of fact, Ms. Tan Aiyun is in her 70s and was once persecuted in a labour camp for three years. She is very weak after being persecuted and does not know how to use a computer, let alone go online to download material.

Under police coercion, when asked what requests the family had, Mr. Tan Weiming said their only request was to get Ms. Tan's body back home, but the police were very afraid of the request. They emphasised that it was absolutely not allowed for the family to take Ms. Tan's body home and that her body had to be cremated in the labour camp area.

On the night of May 19th, Zhong from the local Kuiwen District 610 Office¹, Liang Bin from the Kuiwen District police department, and Guan from Ms. Tan's work unit were ordered to go to the labour camp, where they, along with personnel from the provincial justice department, provincial labour camp bureau, and the labour camp, tried to persuade Mr. Tan Weiming to drop the family's request to have the body sent home. They said that any other requests would be considered. Mr. Tan Weiming had no other choice but agree to accept a compensation of 3,000 yuan² and then have the body cremated in the labour camp area.

There are some suspicious circumstances surrounding Ms. Tan Pingyun's death.

1) Why were the authorities so afraid to have the body returned to Weifang, where the family resides, to be cremated?

2) In detention centres and labour camps, there is usually no toilet bowl cleaner because it is a prohibited item. Laundry detergent is usually used to clean toilets.

3) Ms. Tan Pingyun, who was supposed to have drunk toilet bowl cleaner, still had rosy lips and an intact tongue and teeth. According to experts, anyone who drinks toilet bowl cleaner will have his or her mouth and tongue burned.

4) Ms. Tan was treated for high blood pressure when it was claimed that she drank toilet bowl cleaner.

5) The authorities are usually vicious and confrontational after torturing innocent people to death. This time, however, they repeatedly asked Ms. Tan's family to make requests (other than the to take her body home) and promised to pay all medical expenses for her hospitalisation. They also gave the family 3,000 yuan for funeral expenses.

6) After Ms. Tan Pingyun was dead, the authorities used her sister, Ms. Tan Aiyun, as an excuse to threaten the whole family.

7) Not long ago when Mr. Tan Weiming went to the forced labour camp to visit his sister Ms. Tan Pingyun, she was in very good spirits. Why would such a person suddenly "commit suicide?" Was this a suicide or murder?

8) Why was the person that called the family on the morning of May 18th so sure that the family's visit to Ms. Tan would be their last chance to see her?

Parties responsible for Ms. Tan Pingyun's death:

Second Women's Forced Labour Camp in Shandong Province

610 Office in Weifang City
Weifang City Police Department
610 Office in Kuiwen District
Kuiwen District Police Department
Beiyuan Police Station
Former Weifang Cardboard Factory

Note

1. "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

2. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2006/5/28/129011.html