08 Jul 2008
NEW YORK (FDI) -- The Falun Dafa Information Center has learned that a 55-year-old schoolteacher from Hunan province died on May 13, 2008 following eight months of unlawful imprisonment and torture.
Mr. Tang Cibao was the 107th Falun Gong adherent to die from persecution in Hunan province since 1999. The total number of confirmed deaths from the persecution in China is 3,163.
Mr. Tang was a teacher with the 7319 Military Factory Family School who lived in Lengshuitan district, Yongzhou city. According to sources familiar with his case, agents of the Yongzhou City Domestic Security Division searched his home in May 2006, taking his computer, printer, TV and cash. Mr. Tang was not detained at the time; however, he was forced to leave his home to avoid arrest.
Sources revealed that in January 2007, Mr. Tang returned to his home. A local police officer named Feng Defu was reportedly awaiting Mr. Tang outside of his home, and unlawfully arrested him on February 2, 2007.
Mr. Tang was taken to the Xinkaipu "Re-education Through Labor" Camp to serve a two-year term. Eyewitnesses reported that Mr. Tang lost 70 pounds from the torture he suffered while in the labor camp. He was observed as having "no energy to talk," and later, he developed a serious liver disease (hydrocephaly).
His family was ordered by the Camp Administration to pick him up in October 2007. Mr Tang never fully recovered from his maltreatment, and he died on May 13, 2008 from the prolonged effects of his abuse.
"This innocent teacher is the third person to die in the past year from abuse incurred at this particular labor camp," says Falun Dafa Information Center spokeswoman Ms. Gail Rachlin. "Practitioners and other detainees at this camp -- all sentenced without a trial -- are clearly in immediate danger for their lives."
The Center is calling upon foreign media and other independent bodies to investigate the circumstances surrounding Mr. Tang's death and other deaths at this labor camp with necessary diligence. This is particularly important given the lack of available legal representation for the adherents.
Background
Founded in 1999, the Falun Dafa Information Center is a New York-based organization that documents the rights violations of adherents of Falun Gong (or "Falun Dafa") taking place in the People's Republic of China. In July of 1999 China's autocratic Communist Party launched an unlawful campaign of arrests, violence, and propaganda with the intent of "eradicating" the apolitical practice; it is believed certain leaders feared the influence of the practice' 100 million adherents. The campaign has since grown in violence and scope, with millions having been detained or sent to forced labor camps. The Center has verified details of over 3,000 deaths and over 63,000 cases of torture in custody (reports / sources). Falun Gong is a traditional-style Buddhist "qigong" practice, with roots in the Chinese heritage of cultivating the mind/body for health and spiritual growth.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE FALUN DAFA INFORMATION CENTER
Contacts: Gail Rachlin (+1 917-757-9780), Levi Browde (+1 646-415-0998), Erping Zhang (+1 646-533-6147), or Joel Chipkar (+1 416-709-8678)
Fax: 646-792-3916 Email: contact@faluninfo.net, Website: http://www.faluninfo.net/
