Ms. Tang Haihua Dies in Custody in the Aohan Prefecture Detention Centre, Body Immediately Cremated

Name: Tang Haihua
Gender: Female
Age: 53
Address: Xinhui Town, Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region
Occupation: Medical PhD Student at Jilin University
Date of Death: Before October 9th, 2009
Date of Most Recent Arrest: July 5th, 2009
Most Recent Place of Detention: Aohan Prefecture Detention Centre
City: Chifeng
Province: Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region
Persecution Suffered: Imprisonment, Torture, Home Ransacked, Detention

On July 1st, 2007, Public Security agent Gong Chuanxing of Aohan Prefecture and several others set out to follow Falun Gong practitioners. They ransacked Ms. Tang Haihua's home and lied to her son so that they could take their Falun Gong materials. On July 6th, 2007, they arrested Ms. Tang and other practitioners, detained them in the Aohan Prefecture Detention Centre, and did not allow their families to visit.

At the beginning of January 2008, Ms. Tang and three other practitioners were each sentenced to three years in prison. They were taken to the Hohhot City Women's Prison in March 2008. There is no information on when or why Ms. Tang was taken back to the detention centre or if she was ever accepted by the prison.

At 8:00 p.m. on October 9th, 2009, her family received a notice saying that she was dying. They rushed to the Aohan Prefecture Detention Centre. Upon entering the women's cell, they saw Ms. Tang's body, which was frozen hard in the freezer.

The detention centre officials did not allow her family to inquire about the cause of her death, and they even threatened them, saying, "There is no discussion. Her body must be cremated!" Her family was not allowed to go near her body. The centre called for transport from the crematory to take her body away and told her family that they had to pay for it.

Ms. Tang's family had to stand three feet away as the detention centre personnel put clothes on her. Although they could not examine her closely, they still saw that her head, back, and chest were covered with purple bruises. Her wrist seemed to be fractured, and she had no shoes on.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/10/26/211111.html