Former Elementary School Principal Dies after Severe Persecution

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Tan Deyi lived in Xinhua Town, Acheng District, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province. As a result of gross abuse at a forced labour camp, he suffered from recurring abdominal pain and was unable to do heavy work. Mr. Tan He died at home on June 25th, 2009, at the age of 59.

Tan Deyi was employed at the Xinhua Town Forestry Station, and was the principal of the Xinhua Town Central Elementary School for a period of time. Mr. Tan started practising Falun Gong in January 1999. Six months later, on July 20th, 1999, the Chinese Communist Party launched an intense persecution of Falun Gong. During the 2001 Chinese New Year holidays, Mr. Tan was arrested and taken to the Acheng No. 2 Detention Centre, and later transferred to a brainwashing centre set up by the Acheng 610 Office¹ at the Heilongjiang Textile School. He was then transferred to the Acheng No. 1 Detention Centre and once again to the brainwashing centre several months later. He was released in October 2001.

In April 2002, local police ransacked Mr. Tan's home and confiscated his Falun Gong books. He went to the police station to ask for his books back, and was arrested and held in the Acheng Detention Centre for six months. When his family went to visit him, they saw that Mr. Tan had difficulty walking. Disregarding his condition, the 610 Office agents and police department officials sent Mr. Tan to the Changlinzi Forced Labour Camp in Harbin City, to be held for three years.

While at the forced labour camp, Mr. Tan was forced to labour making toothpicks. If he could not complete the daily work quota, he was not allowed to eat or sleep and had to work overtime. Mr. Tan resisted, so the guards tortured him by piercing his fingertips with sharp bamboo sticks, hanging him up, and other methods. When he lost consciousness during these torture sessions, the guards doused him with cold water to wake him up and continued torturing him.

When Mr. Tan's wife attempted to visit him, the guards turned her away because she refused to curse Falun Gong and did not fill in a required questionnaire. His son had to answer the questions according to the answer sheet in order to send Mr. Tan daily necessities.

Mr. Tan returned home in November 2004. The severe abuse at the forced labour camp resulted in recurring abdominal pain. He often had diarrhoea and was unable to do heavy work. Beginning in 2009, his condition rapidly deteriorated. He passed away on June 25th, 2009.

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.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/7/9/204164.html