(Minghui.org)
Name: Han ChanggenChinese Name: 韩长根Gender: FemaleAge: 65City: TangshanProvince: HebeiOccupation: Former cement machinery factory employeeDate of Death: June 9, 2024Date of Most Recent Arrest: March 31, 2016Most Recent Place of Detention: Tangshan First Detention Center
After enduring two decades of persecution for her faith in Falun Gong, a Tangshan City, Hebei Province, woman passed away on June 9, 2024. She was 65.
Ms. Han Changgen, a former employee of the Tangshan Cement Machinery Factory, became disabled after she suffered a broken leg during the 7.5-magnitude Tangshan earthquake in 1976. The physical suffering left her in a bad mood all the time, and she would get upset over little noises and often fight with others. After she took up Falun Gong, she stopped fighting with her husband and apologized to her neighbors for losing temper with them before.
Shortly after the Chinese communist regime began to persecute Falun Gong in July 1999, Ms. Han travelled to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice and was arrested. Although she was soon released, in August, Sun Mingliang, the deputy general manager of the cement machinery factory, deceived her into going to the factory, where she arrested and detained again. The police interrogated her several times, demanding to know who else went with her to Beijing to appeal. They also ordered her to write statements to renounce Falun Gong.
Because Ms. Han refused to give up her faith, Lubei Police Station officers transferred her to the Tangshan City First Detention Center a month later. She was shocked with electric batons, forced to watch propaganda materials slandering Falun Gong, and was handcuffed and shackled for a long time. She had a persistent fever and heavy bleeding due to the abuse. She quickly lost 20 kg (44 lbs) and her hair turned gray. Despite her condition, the police detained for ten months, not releasing her until June 6, 2000.
Ms. Han was arrested again sometime in 2003 and held in the brainwashing center located in the Huaxin Textile Technical School, known to the outside as a “Legal Education Center.” All the windows in the building had metal guards and there was a steel security door on every floor. All the practitioners detained here were forced to study propaganda materials and do hard labor without pay.
Ms. Han was arrested another time on March 31, 2016, for talking to people about Falun Gong. Lubei District Domestic Security Division officers raided her home that same day. She was taken to the Tangshan City First Detention Center the next day. Her arrest was approved by the Lubei District Procuratorate on May 6.
In the detention center, the guards ordered the inmates to torture Ms. Han. She was forced to cover night patrol shifts and work during the day for long hours without pay. Her health declined quickly. When she appeared in the Lubei District Court on March 23, 2017, she was so weak that two bailiffs had to carry her into to the courtroom. The judge sentenced her to over a year.
After Ms. Han was released in 2017, the authorities continued to harass her on a regular basis. They also installed a surveillance camera outside of her home, which wasn’t removed until she passed away on June 9, 2024.
Practitioner Han Changgen Arrested in Tangshan, In Poor Health Due to Detention