(Clearwisdom.net) On Saturday March the 6, Falun Gong practitioners in Karlsruhe and the surrounding cities held a rally at the Market Square in Karlsruhe to inform people of the latest progress in the criminal indictment filed with the German Federal Prosecutor in Karlsruhe against former China President, Jiang Zemin and his accomplices. The practitioners also collected signatures to support this lawsuit. Many NGOs gave speeches to express their support. The following is the speech made by a representative of the human rights organization, "The Society for Threatened People":
Dear ladies and gentlemen! Dear friends!
Freedom of belief for all citizens is granted in Article 36 of the Chinese constitution. Furthermore, numerous Chinese laws affirm that no one may be disadvantaged because of his or her spiritual orientation. Unfortunately the reality bears witness to just the opposite. It is widely known that Tibetan Buddhists, Muslim Uighurs, Catholics and Protestants suffer from relentless suppression. The Society of Threatened Peoples is deeply alarmed with the continued escalating suppression of the spiritual practice Falun Gong. No other denomination suffers such severe attacks as Falun Gong.
Over the four years of repression, at least 880 adherents of this spiritual group have died in prisons, labor camps or police stations from torture. One is informed weekly of an increased number of deaths. Torture is a daily ritual in Chinese police stations and prisons. Please believe us that these are not abuses attributable to a few individuals, but a systematic suppression of Falun Gong by the Chinese Communist Party and the country's leadership. This is no secret, as the country and party's leadership stressed repeatedly that Falun Gong had to be eliminated.
The German Republic and other European states have been active over the past few years in the establishment of an international court of law, which addresses gross abuses, that is, to assure that continued and grave human rights violations receive punishment. With respect to China, this international court of law could not be affected, as the People's Republic of China does not recognize the edicts of this court of law. Therefore, it is even more important today that present and former Chinese dignitaries are held accountable worldwide, with respect to human rights violations in China, through legal channels.
During the April 2002 visit of the former Chinese President, Jiang Zemin, in Germany, we filed a complaint with the Chief Federal Prosecutor against this state visitor for violations of anti-torture conventions. Although China has ratified human rights conventions under international law, which state clearly that it won't tolerate torture on its land, torture is a daily occurrence in Chinese prisons and police stations. Our complaint was at that time denied on grounds of Jiang being a state visitor. For this reason he was deemed untouchable by Germany's courts of law. We are certain that Jiang Zemin and other prominent dignitaries of the Chinese leadership are responsible for the inordinate amount of deaths of Falun Gong practitioners. Therefore, we are especially pleased that a coalition of international human rights organizations has set in motion the means to bring the guilty to justice.