On October 10, 2002, four days prior to the visit to the United States of Jiang Zemin, who is the prime culprit in the persecution of Falun Gong, Falun Gong practitioners took legal action against him and his " 610 Office" for "torture, crimes against humanity and genocide" at the United States District Court of the Northern District of Illinois. This lawsuit generated intense reverberations around the globe and attracted close and extensive interest by the news media and various circles. In accordance with the usual practice of the American legal system, every step in the process can require a considerable amount of time. According to the original plan, the court was expected to proceed with the trial of the defendant by the end of June this year. Due to the intense scrutiny of various circles in the United States, the court decided to spend more time in examining the documents of the lawsuit filed against Jiang. At the same time, overseas Falun Gong practitioners have taken the opportunity to clarify the facts on a large scale, helping the people of the world to understand the cover-up of the persecution and the violence, built solely upon lies, and to comprehend the sphere of the persecution and the effect it has on the Chinese society, the general public and the international community. Global and systematic clarification of the facts will enable more people to thoroughly understand the actual intensity of the persecution, and subsequently more understanding and support from them will be gained.
The Executive President of the World Organization Against Torture, American Branch Discusses the Lawsuit Filed Against Jiang
Mr. Morton Sklar is a famous American human rights lawyer, a law professor and American branch executive president of the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT). He has assisted Falun Gong practitioners, enabling them to successfully sue the Mayor of Beijing, Liu Qi, and the Deputy Provincial Head of Liaoning Province, Xia De Wen.
Professor Sklar expresses that the lawsuit filed against Jiang can be viewed as a part of the action of world human rights organizations. The significance of the lawsuit is that a foundation is being built worldwide to mandate that officials who severely violate human rights through committing acts of torture and genocide be held accountable in both criminal and civil actions taken against them.
Professor Sklar said: "There have been precedents set by American courts and the international court, for example, in the cases of the former Philippines President Marcos, the former Yugoslavia President Milosevic and so on, the courts had maintained that during their terms in office, they had committed crimes against human rights and were therefore deprived of head of state immunity."
In connection with the refusal of the Chinese government to recognize the lawsuit filed against Jiang, and its attempt to exert pressure on the American government to request the court to cancel the action, Professor Sklar indicated that the case against Jiang is not exempt through the United States Congress' proposed law of immunity of foreign sovereigns. He said: "In that proposed law that was passed in 1976, foreign governments cannot resort to foreign relations measures, but must liaise directly with the court to deal with, and participate in the lawsuit."
Professor Sklar specifically indicated that the crimes of torture and genocide committed by Jiang Zemin not only violated United States laws, but also basic international laws, as well as the laws of the Chinese government. Because of this, the lawsuit filed against Jiang is directed at the crimes committed by the individual himself.
Overseas Falun Gong Practitioners Deeply Involved With the Exposure of the Facts of the Persecution
In the past few years, the combined effort of Dafa practitioners globally has conveyed to the governments of the world the fact that Falun Gong is the innocent victim of the persecution, and that the common people have not sufficiently realized the critical degree of the persecution. The high level American officials in the legislative branch, the justice department and the administrative department have paid close attention to the lawsuit filed against Jiang, assisting Falun Gong practitioners to more extensively progress in the lawsuit filed against Jiang, thereby clarifying the facts to a much broader sector of American society. Recently, Falun Gong practitioners focused on the lawsuit filed against Jiang in the state of Illinois, and contributed to even more concrete exposure of the persecution. This step revealed the principal responsibility of Jiang and the 610 Office in the persecution.
More and more high-level officials have become aware of the facts of the persecution and are now steadfastly supporting Falun Gong. For example, in the district in the state of Illinois where the lawsuit is filed against Jiang, 80 legislative members joined in writing a letter, resolutely supporting Falun Gong practitioners filing the lawsuit against Jiang. Amongst them, the president of the legal administrative committee indicated that, "bringing Jiang Zemin to the court of law is the best way of curbing the persecution of Falun Gong". 38 members of the US Congress co-signed a brief, as friends of the court, also known as amicus curiae, urging the judge and the court to accept the lawsuit, indicating that they will have "major and lasting concern" regarding the development of the case. The brief explicitly and clearly stated that the American courts cannot be affected by foreign pressure, and at the same time pointed out that the immunity of the heads of state cannot be applied to the defendant, making a reference that "the international law clearly states that any individual committing severe infringements of human rights is liable to be prosecuted, even when the crime had been committed while the defendant was the head of state." In the annual report on human rights issued by the State Department of the United States in March of this year, there were 80 occasions where questions about the persecution of Falun Gong were raised and the persecution was deemed to be "systematic and savage infringements of human rights".
Jiang Zemin Systematically Intensifies Diplomatic and Special Agent Activities
At this juncture, amongst the 38 members of Congress who co-signed the letter to the United States Chicago District Court expressing their support of the Falun Gong lawsuit filed against Jiang, quite a large number of them indicated that they had received letters and telephone calls from Yang Jiechi, the Chinese Ambassador to the United States, requesting them to withdraw their support of the lawsuit filed against Jiang. It is reported that the lawsuit filed against Jiang Zemin in the United States is his greatest irritant. Jiang Zemin has systematically sent out numerous specially appointed foreign affairs personnel, and, through the embassy in the United States, has requested the American government to immediately terminate the lawsuit filed against Jiang through the district court in Chicago. Some news sources indicate that American citizen Dr Charles Li and American academic Dr. Yang Jianli have been mistreated as hostages by the Chinese government in order to coerce the United States to terminate the lawsuit filed against Jiang in Chicago.
On August 4, the Beijing court conducted the trial of American academic Yang Jianli behind closed doors for three hours, disallowing any American officials to attend the trial. Yang was charged with "conducting spying activities" for Taiwan. At the same time, Charles Li was being tortured at the Nanjing jail in China. He was compelled to go on a hunger strike. Jiang Zemin and the special 610 Office system, set up by him to suppress Falun Gong, rejected the American government's request to improve the treatment and living conditions of Dr Charles Li.
After the American government's request to the Chinese government to release Dr. Yang Jianli and Dr. Charles Li was not granted, the Communist Chinese scandal of "die hai" (great espionage scandal) was exposed internationally. Both the United States and Taiwan, one after the other uncovered numerous cases of Communist Chinese agents' involvement in penetrating into the national military plans of other countries. This scandal is a reflection of the scale of espionage conducted by the Chinese regime.
Society Understands More and More About Jiang's Crimes
Besides the high level officials of the United States government, in the wake of the great efforts of the Dafa practitioners clarifying the facts, people in society are understanding more and more about Jiang's crimes. In June, during a weekend rally in Chicago, more than one hundred thousand truth-clarifying pamphlets were distributed; in July, during a weekend rally, the practitioners distributed more than two hundred thousand pamphlets. Much of the populace, after learning the facts, have taken the initiative to tell other people about what they know. At the same time, street puppet shows throughout the world have been organized for all to witness, depicting the trial of Jiang in relation to the true circumstances of the persecution, with vivid descriptions of Jiang's crimes against humanity in this ruthless persecution. On June 22, a rally at Capitol Hill in Washington DC, drawing support from the "People's Court" in simulated form, Falun Gong practitioners systematically exposed the inside story of the violation of the will of the Chinese government by Jiang, who forced his way into initiating the suppression of Falun Gong through the 610 Office, committing genocide in the persecution that is ruthless and extensive, thereby damaging the entire population of China. This large-scale rally was directly supported by thirty-nine non-government organizations, as well as numerous members of Congress who made speeches opposing the persecution of human rights and the right to beliefs.
Falun Gong Practitioners Recognize the Responsibility of Providing the Government and the Public With Correct Information
Targeting the criminal Jiang and his 610 Office, which had been systematically spreading lies and false information during the past four years to the international community extensively, Falun Gong practitioners have recognized that they have a responsibility toward their country of residence, their district government officials, members of parliament or government, and the legal community, and have provided them with factual information, in order to ensure a correct understanding of the persecution. Falun Gong practitioners from many districts have forwarded documents in relation to the lawsuit filed against Jiang to various embassies and consulates, in the hope that the governments of the world will understand the crimes committed by Jiang. Some officials of embassies have indicated that they have been paying close attention to the development of the lawsuit filed against Jiang.
The Evil Attitude of the Jiang System Provokes More Lawsuits Filed Against Him
Falun Gong practitioners from Australia, Europe, Asia have expressed that they have contacted solicitors to prepare lawsuits against the chief perpetrator of the persecution, Jiang Zemin, and the criminal 610 Office that has been specifically established to suppress Falun Gong.
The Significance of the Lawsuit Filed Against Jiang Is Not Only Limited to Courts of Law
Confronted with the crimes against humanity and genocide by Jiang and the 610 Office, if the American court will not cave to political pressure, and does not succumb to temptation in making a deal with the defendant, and conducts the case by listening righteously to arrive at a just judgment, it will establish its support of righteousness. The significance of the lawsuit filed against Jiang is not confined within the court. In the process of the lawsuit filed against Jiang, the Dafa practitioners have helped many people to clearly recognize the nature of evil, have awakened the righteousness and knowledge of the public, thus extensively saving sentient beings, which is the deeper meaning and significance of the litigation.
As Jiang is time and again tried and pronounced guilty in the court of people's hearts and public opinion, this will also eliminate the evil influence at different and various places. It is an unprecedented occasion in history, when sentient beings turn away from the persecution of righteousness and compassion, and step into a new era.
