(Minghui.org)
Chinese Name: 谭凤鸣Gender: MaleAge: 82City: HarbinProvince: HeilongjiangOccupation: Deli shop ownerDate of Death: November 9, 2021Date of Most Recent Arrest: 2001Most Recent Place of Detention: Bin County No.2 Detention Center
Having endured more than two decades of mental distress as a result of the persecution of his faith in Falun Gong, an 82-year-old man in Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province passed away on November 9, 2021. Just days before his death, the police and residential committee staff members were still harassing him and his wife.
Mr. Tan Fengming’s death dealt another heavy blow to his wife, 77-year-old Ms. Li Xingjie. The couple’s son went missing in 2004 after he went out to distribute Falun Gong materials, and their daughter was sentenced to four years in 2019, also for her faith in Falun Gong. With Mr. Tan deceased now, Ms. Li, who had become blind in her left eye after her daughter’s latest arrest, struggles to fend for herself.
Mr. Tan took up Falun Gong in January 1998 and was soon able to quit many bad habits, including smoking and drinking. After seeing his changes, his wife, son and daughter also began to practice Falun Gong. As both the son and daughter were laid off by their workplaces, the family relied on Mr. Tan’s deli shop, which he ran for over ten years.
After the Chinese communist regime ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999, the family’s peaceful and harmonious life was shattered. All four members were arrested and detained one after another. Due to constant police harassment, Mr. Tan had to close his deli shop. His son and daughter were also forced to live away from home to hide from the police.
Mr. Tan was first arrested on July 20, 1999, when he went to the provincial government to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong. He was held at the local police station for over ten hours and was forced to report to the police every day after he was released.
Ms. Li was also arrested in 1999 for going to the provincial government to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong. She was put on the police’s blacklist for harassment after she was released.
Ms. Li was arrested again around the 2000 New Year and held at the Bin County No. 2 Detention Center for 18 days after the police found a Falun Gong book at her home. She was also forced to report to the police station every day after she was released. The police threatened to detain her if she didn’t comply.
A few months later, Mr. Tan was arrested again in 2001 for distributing Falun Gong informational materials. He was held at the Bin County No. 2 Detention Center for 40 days and his family was extorted 4,000 yuan by the police.
To avoid constant harassment, Mr. Tan and his wife moved to a different district. But the police still found and harassed them, especially during politically sensitive dates or when the city was hosting major conferences.
After their daughter, Ms. Tan Guangmei, was arrested in 2018 for practicing Falun Gong, Ms. Li cried so hard that she lost vision in her left eye, which made their lives even harder.
Son Went Missing in 2004
The couple’s son, Mr. Tan Guangfeng, had only been practicing Falun Gong for two months when the persecution started in July 1999. He also went to the provincial government to appeal and was held at the police station for five hours.
Mr. Tan traveled to Beijing in October 1999 to appeal for Falun Gong and returned days later. He went to Beijing again in February 2000 but was arrested on the train. The police kept him at the Bin County No.1 Detention Center for nearly seven months and had extorted 1,000 yuan from his family. Since then, just like his parents, he was constantly harassed and ordered to report to the police every day, or he would be detained again.
In December 2000, Mr. Tan was arrested again at home and held at the Bin County No. 2 Detention Center for five months. He was beaten for not renouncing Falun Gong or wearing the inmate uniform. His family was extorted 2,000 yuan by the police.
He went to distribute Falun Gong informational materials near the Harbin Train Station on May 2, 2004, and never returned home. He was 37 that year.
Daughter’s Arrests and Incarceration
Ms. Tan Guangmei, 52, was arrested in October 1999 when she went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. She was detained for a month and extorted 4,000 yuan by the police, who continued to harass her after she was released.
Ms. Tan was ordered to go to the police station in June 2000 when she was doing laundry at home. She was immediately arrested when she went there and taken to the Bin County No.1 Detention Center on charges of “disrupting social order.” She held a hunger strike two months into the detention. The guards slapped her in the face, tied her to a chair with her arms tied up behind her back and force-fed her. Her nose and mouth bled heavily. She was force-fed once every day for nine days. The police frequently harassed her and ordered her to report to them every day after she was released in September that year. She was forced to live away from home to avoid the persecution.
Ms. Tan went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong again in December 2000 and was arrested. Because she refused to tell the Beijing police her name, they poured ice-cold water into her clothes, starved her and deprived her of sleep for two days. She was released five days later.
Ms. Tan was arrested one more time in November 2002 after she was noticed by the police when she returned home to get some clothes. She held a hunger strike and was released six days later. She didn’t dare to return home and had to stay out of town.
While walking on the street in Harbin when she came back to visit her parents in June 2003, Ms. Tan was arrested again. She held a hunger strike in the local lockup and was force-fed. She was released two days later. For the next decade, she mostly stayed out of town to hide from the police.
Ms. Tan’s latest arrest was during a police sweep on November 9, 2018. After she was sentenced to four years by the Yilan Court on May 23, 2019, she was allowed to briefly talk to her parents. Her mother held her hands and didn’t want to let go.
Still serving time at the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison, Ms. Tan didn’t expect that her court date was the last time she would talk to her father.
Related reports:Mass Arrest Victim Tried for Her Faith in Falun Gong
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