Supplementary Information on the Death of Mr. Pan Hongdong from Heilongjiang Province

On November 4th, 2001, Dafa practitioner Mr. Pan Hongdong from Heilongjiang was arrested by officers from Xingongdi Police Department in Tiefeng District, Qiqihar. In detention he was tortured on a Tiger Bench¹ and was shocked in the genitals with electric batons. Pan Hongdong went on a hunger strike for 3 days. He was then sent to the Second Detention Centre in Qiqihar City and detained unconstitutionally. At the end of 2002, Pan was sentenced to 10 years in prison. After the Chinese New Year in 2003, he was sent to Tailai Prison, Qiqihar, Heilongjiang Province. As a result of the torture, he died at 8:18 a.m. on May 15th, 2005.

Pan Hongdong

On August 26th, 2004, Tailai Prison was trying to force Pan Hongdong to write a "guarantee statement" to give up practising Falun Gong when deputy prison instructor Cao Minjiang ordered to have Pan Hongdong tied to a stand. Both of Pan's hands and legs were tied to an "I"-shaped bracket attached to a stand, with a metal bar locked across his chest. He was forced to sit on a cement floor from day to night. Sometimes during the day, they took him outside and paraded him around in public.

Three days later, Pan Hongdong went on a hunger strike. On September 1st, 2004, while under extreme persecution, Pan wrote a guarantee statement to give up Falun Gong against his will. At that time he was so severely tortured that the other prisoners couldn't bear to look at him. A prisoner secretly gave Pan Hongdong a cushion to sit on. When the vicious prison guards found out about the cushion, the guards punished the prisoner for the kind gesture.

On the night of May 14th, 2005, Pan Hongdong suddenly felt great discomfort. At 7 a.m. he started to throw up. He was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with a brain hemorrhage. Pan Hongdong passed away at 8:18 a.m. on May 15th, 2005.

Those who participated in the persecution include the Second Team Instructor He Hongqing and Chang Ansheng of the "Transformation²" Team.

After Pan passed away, his family members raised an appeal about his case. An investigator from the Procuratorate's Office went to Tailai to investigate his death. The guards ordered inmates Gao Ming and Zhong Shixiang, both serving terms on criminal charges, to falsify evidence and deny all allegations of persecution.

Note

1. "Tiger Bench": Prisoners are forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead without movement for long periods of time.

2. "Reform or Transform" Implementation of brainwashing and torture in order to force a practitioner to renounce Falun Gong. (Variations: "reform", "transform", "reformed", "reforming", "transformed", "transforming", and "transformation")

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2006/5/17/128042.html