Falun Gong practitioner Tan Qiucheng from Yushu, Jilin Province Sentenced to Fifteen Years Imprisonment

Name: Tan Qiucheng
Gender: Male
Age: Unknown
Address: Xiushui Township, Yushu City, Jilin Province
Occupation: Unknown

Date of Most Recent Arrest: Summer, 2001
Most Recent Place of Detention: Jilin Prison
City: Jilin
Province: Jilin
Persecution Suffered: Imprisonment, solitary confinement, physical restraint, torture, forced-feedings with salt water.

Practitioner Tan Qiucheng was arrested in Changchun in the summer of 2001. He was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment at the Jilin Prison.

During his persecution at the prison, his family experienced many difficulties. His mother fell ill and became deaf after finding out that her son had been arrested. His father missed him greatly and often got sick, eventually becoming bedridden.

On June 29th, 2010, officer Wang Yuanchun from the Jilin Prison Education Department ordered all inmates to closely monitor Falun Gong practitioners around the clock. They were required to record the practitioners' activities every 30 minutes. The guards on duty signed the reports, and the head of each prison section signed them every week. Wang transferred Mr. Tan under his own control, with the intention of “transforming” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] him.

On October 20th, 2004, Mr. Tan wrote a statement asking for the return of his "repentance" statement to renounce practising Falun Gong that he previously wrote against his will after being tortured. Mr. Tan also demanded the release of his fellow practitioners in jail. Officer Li at the Education Department tried to force Mr. Tan to rewrite his repentance statement, but he refused. Mr. Tan was later placed in the “strictly monitored squad,” where he was tortured. He was fully restrained for three days, and was then tied to the “stretching bed.” Thirty-seven days later, he was placed in an isolated cell for ten more days. During that period of time, he suffered from incontinence. The skin on his wrist was stretched to the breaking point, and he became emaciated. His hands and feet suffered frostbite from the cold. He was taken out of isolation on December 10th.

Tan Qiucheng was persecuted prior to his imprisonment. He was arrested in October 2000 by Yushu Police Station officers when he was only 22 years old. While he was detained, Mr. Tan firmly negated the persecution. He refused to do the exercises required for inmates, or memorise the detention rules. He continued studying the Falun Gong teachings and practising the exercises. He requested a meeting with the mayor, and asked to be released unconditionally. In the beginning, detention centre head Wei Fucheng held a meeting and tried to threaten and cajole the practitioners into giving up Falun Gong cultivation. He said, “If you don't obey the rules here, we have plenty of other ways to deal with you.” Despite the threats and abuse, the practitioners continued to study the Falun Gong teachings and practise the exercises. Mr. Tan later began a hunger strike to protest the persecution.

The detention centre gathered several inmates to physically assault Wang Baogong, Han Yuzhu (who was later persecuted to death at the Weizigou Forced Labour Camp after being forcibly fed highly concentrated salt water), Wu Xiaoguang, Tan Qiucheng, and Zhang Liyou. Their tormentors whipped them with a “little white dragon,” which is a white plastic pipe. They beat them until they were covered with blood. The practitioners were then handcuffed, pushed, and kicked into police cars, and taken to the Jiutai Yinmahe Forced Labour Camp for another year of imprisonment.

Related article:

http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2010/5/22/117272.html

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/12/14/3622.html