The Epoch Times: Chinese Officials Summoned By Australian Law

Epoch Times Australia Staff
Nov 10, 2005

Communist Party officials from China implicated in the persecution of Falun Gong, attending a business conference in Sydney, have been given a NSW Supreme Court summons on behalf of torture victim and Australian resident Ms. Yan Xie. She has also made a request to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) to investigate these officials under the obligations of Australian law.

At the China Guangdong-Australia business Conference 2005 held in the Hilton Hotel Sydney on November 8, Mr. Zhang Dejiang, member of the Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Secretary of the CCP Committee of Guangdong Province, was handed a summons for the NSW supreme court for which he has to reply to within 28 days or he may have a default judgement made against him.

Meanwhile outside the hotel, about 60 people holding banners quietly appealed for the end of the persecution of Falun Gong in China and to show support for 37-year-old Ms. Yan's attempts to see these Chinese officials tried under Australian and international laws. Ms. Yan, who has been in Australian resident since July 2004 was detained in Chatou Women's Labour Camp for over two years for handing out Falun Gong pamphlets revealing the persecution of Falun Gong by the CCP.

Among the tortures experienced by Ms. Yan was being shackled for varying periods of time where she was handcuffed to the bars of a window at such height as to enable her to just touch the ground. In this way, she was forced to either take her weight on tiptoes or hang by her wrists.

She was subjected to this type of torture for a period of five days, comprising an initial period of 48 hours continuous suspension and a subsequent period of internment suspension for 18 hours of the day for the remaining three days. Other forms of torture included being bound by ropes for extensive periods, violent force-feeding and mental brainwashing.

She told The Epoch Times that she underwent extensive periods of brainwashing designed to break her will. The 37-year-old she also witnessed one college teacher become insane from the mental torture she was subjected to.

Before going to the appeal outside the Hilton, Ms. Yan visited the Australian Federal Police (AFP) building to make a criminal complaint against Mr. Zhang and two other officials, one of whom is the director of the 610 office of Guangdong province. The 610 office (Chinese Gestapo) was established to oversee the persecution of Falun Gong in China.

Within the documents given to the AFP, it stated that under the crimes (torture) Act of 1988 it gives the force of law to Australia's legal obligations under the UN convention Against Torture. Under section 7 of this Act the accused can be charged with an offence against this Act once he is in Australia.

Mr. John Deller, of the Falun Dafa association of NSW, who accompanied Ms. Yan to the AFP building, told The Epoch Times: "Ms. Yan met two federal agents who received the complaint - they will pass it onto a decision-making committee."

"And we trust that the law and the human rights principals can be applied in Australia without interference from trade... human rights, torture, [and] human rights abuse are separate issues and should not be mixed," said Mr. Deller.

"Trade should not influence the outcome of a criminal complaint against a torturer," he said.

In a similar action taken in the U.S. in 2002, former Mayor of Beijing, Liu Qi, was sued for genocide and crimes against humanity in relation to the persecution of Falun Gong in China. Although he fled the country after the Court Summons, a default verdict found him guilty.

Source http://theepochtimes.com/news/5-11-10/34382.html