(Clearwisdom.net) On November 12 and 15, more than 100 victims of the persecution of Falun Gong in China launched two lawsuits against Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan, Liu Jing and Zhou Yongkan in Vancouver and Toronto respectively. These lawsuits follow Professor Zhang Kunlun's lawsuit against Jiang and 21 other persecutors for torture.

On November 16, several hundred practitioners rallied in Toronto in support of the lawsuit launched in Toronto. Five Canadian MPs attended the rally and addressed the crowd: MP Stockwell Day (Vice chairman of Foreign Trade and Human Rights Committee), MP Scott Reid, MP Libby Davies (N.D.P House Leader), MP Pierre Poilievre, MP Gordon Brown. An assistant of MP Robert Anders also came to the rally to show the MP's support.

The Lawsuits Reveals the Wide Spread and Systematic Nature of the Persecution

In a statement announced today, citing a report in the Washington Post on November 11, 1999, the Canadian Falun Dafa Association said: "...Communist Party sources said that the standing committee of the Politburo did not unanimously endorse the crackdown and that President Jiang Zemin alone decided that Falun Gong must be eliminated." In the past five years, Jiang and his accomplices have been implementing "Defame their reputations, bankrupt them financially and eliminate them physically" policy against practitioners. Therefore, the association said that Jiang was responsible for the persecution and must be held accountable.

When interviewed by reporters, Li Xun, president of the Canadian Falun Dafa Association, said, "Professor Zhang Kunlun's lawsuit against Jiang and 21 other officials (from higher-ups to police officers) revealed the systematic nature of the persecution, and these two lawsuits tell us the wide spread nature of the persecution: To date, we know there are at least 100 direct or indirect victims of the persecution in Canada alone.

In a reply letter to the Chinese Ambassador, Mayor Andy Wells of St. John's wrote: "... Your persecution of this innocent group exemplifies your government's moral and ethical bankruptcy..."

The statement of the association pointed out that the persecution not only targets at Falun Gong practitioners, but also continuously conducts a hate campaign to manipulate the whole society into executing its persecution order. Consequently, Jiang has pushed the whole society close to moral bankruptcy. The persecution targets the most fundamental principles: Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

Reportedly, the two new lawsuits against Jiang Zemin involve more than 120 victims, including Canadian citizens, permanent residents and visitors. They have either been personally persecuted in China or have relatives who have been severely persecuted in China. The victims include engineers, a sculptor, entrepreneur, scholars, accountant, dancer, teacher and students. Some of them were illegally imprisoned, tortured and brainwashed in China for conducting appeals and practicing Falun Dafa; some were illegally monitored, tracked, abducted and brainwashed when they were visiting their families in China. There are also Caucasians who were beaten and imprisoned for conducting a peaceful appeal in Beijing. In China, hundreds of thousands of practitioners have been illegally detained in labor camps, detention centers, prisons and brainwashing centers. Practitioners have been persecuted to death in all the provinces and major cities. To date, it has been verified that 1122 practitioners have lost their lives in the persecution.

Everything Supports the Lawsuits Against Jiang Zemin: Legal base, Evidence and Public Will

During the rally, International human rights lawyer Matas said the following in his speech: "We have seen the Sierra Leone International Court trial of War Criminals, Human Rights Violators in Cambodia being brought to justice and torture victims launching lawsuits in the UK against officials of Saudi Arabia...Today we have seen Canada begin to use its civil laws to punish international criminals ....Canada's Justice system can send the world this message: The persecution must be ended, the bad people must be brought to justice. Our Justice System should make this contribution to the world justice system. We request the Canadian government to allow us to proceed with these lawsuits."

In a letter to the Minister of Justice, citing the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Article 7.1, Mr. Matas said that crimes against humanity include the crime of torture, as long as the crime was conducted "as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of attack."

Mr. Matas said that the tortures used against professor Zhang Kulun can be viewed as a typical example of the wide spread and systematic nature of the torture. The Canadian government can try those who tortured Zhang Kunlun for crimes against humanity. The reason Zhang sued them for crimes against humanity is that only such a charge can represent the scale and gravity of the persecution and more accurately describe the suffering of practitioners in China.

In a statement sent by MP Robert Anders, the MP said that charges against the Jiang regime submitted to the Attorney General include murder, genocide, imprison, enslavement, deportation, brainwashing, sexual abuse, persecution and physical and mental torture. Countless victims who fled from China have detailed these charges, which have been verified by the UN, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong.

Reportedly, since Zhang Kunlun submitted his lawsuit against Jiang Zemin for torture last March, 15,000 petition letters from Canadians have been mailed to the Ministry of Justice. Meanwhile, the lawsuit has also received wide support from Canadian officials and non-governmental organizations.

Mr. Matas said that the lawsuits against Jiang Zemin for torture, genocide and crimes against humanity all have abundant evidence, a solid legal base, and wide public support.

Canadians Support Human Rights

Former gold medal winner for outstanding engineering design Mr. He Lizhi was illegally sentenced to 3.5 years in prison 4 years ago for mailing his friends Falun Gong materials. He said, "Four years ago, I was detained only because I wrote to my friends to tell them the true situation of Falun Gong. I was sentenced to prison for three and a half years. Those 1,290 days and nights are beyond description. The physical and mental torture I suffered during the detention almost killed me," he said, "Laws should punish evil people and uphold good people. However, the Jiang regime used Chinese laws to persecute practitioners. Nevertheless, I believe the laws of civilized society [i.e. Canada] will uphold justice."

Li Tianqi was deprived of sleep for 7 days and 7 nights and was forced to run. He said: "The lawsuit against Jiang is very encouraging to all people with a sense of justice and also suffocates the evil force. It also helps more people to understand the crimes committed by Jiang Zemin and thus inspires people's sense of justice so that justice can prevail eventually. I believe that Jiang will soon be brought to trial in China."

MP Gordon Brown saw several Falun Gong practitioners clarifying the truth of the persecution in New York city last weekend. He said that practitioners' effort to let Canadians and people worldwide to know the truth is very important. MP Libby Davies said that MPs of all parties support Falun Gong.

MP Stockwell Day said that as long as we are willing to stand up, to appeal, to take action, we will overcome obstacles. We will see the day that Falun Gong practitioners all over the world can practice in a different environment, with no persecution, no torture, no imprisonment, and no fear. Let's work together till that day comes.