Former Leader of China Jiang Zemin Must Be Brought to Justice for His Crimes Against Humanity
The large-scale, systematic, and horrific persecution and killing of innocent Falun Gong practitioners in China has persisted for almost four years. It must stop. To restore justice to society, we are filing lawsuits against the former Leader of China, Jiang Zemin, and others in his group for genocide and crimes against humanity.
International Criminal Court
On October 21, 2002, citizens and residents from Canada, the U.S., France, Australia, Ireland, Hong Kong and China jointly submitted a legal case against Jiang Zemin and two other top Chinese officials to the United Nations Committee Against Torture, the United Nations Human Rights Committee, and the International Criminal Court for his crimes committed in instigating and carrying out the brutal persecution of Falun Gong.
Jiang Is the Leading Architect of the Violent Repression that destroyed Millions of Lives
In July 1999, fearful of anything touching the hearts and minds of more citizens than the Communist Party, Jiang Zemin outlawed Falun Gong, a practice of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal principle of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
Since then, Jiang’s regime has adopted a nationwide policy of “defaming their reputation, bankrupting them financially, and destroying them physically” against practitioners of Falun Gong.
Jiang and the “610 Office” systematically make use of the state-controlled media, including TV stations, radio stations, and newspapers, to create widespread defamation and instigate hatred against Falun Gong. Through methods such as imposing large fines, withholding pensions, and dismissing workers from their jobs, governmental entities deprive people of their economic means of living. Implication is used to intimidate people to “express their opinion” on Falun Gong and to participate in the persecution.
During this time, internal policies such as “no law regulates the treatment of Falun Gong practitioners” and “death of Falun Gong practitioners from beating is nothing and shall be counted as suicide, the body shall be directly cremated” have become common knowledge among the police departments and the legal systems and related governmental agencies in China.
To eradicate the practice of Falun Gong and to eliminate Falun Gong practitioners as a group from society, Jiang’s regime has used iron-fisted dictatorial tactics to force the Party, political and military bodies, the police, government enterprises, the media, schools, research institutions, street committees, and even foreign investment companies to cooperate with the persecution.
The Jiang regime has emphasized the nationwide establishment of so-called “re-education classes” that in fact use force to brainwash Falun Gong practitioners who refuse to renounce their practice. Countless families have been torn apart, practitioners have been forced to leave their home to avoid illegal arrest, and many have been illegally sent to detention centers, mental hospitals, prisons, and forced labour camps where they suffer brutal physical and mental torture, are forced to perform heavy labour, and live in appalling conditions.
Brutal torture often seen in persecution reports include electric shocks to the body, including the private parts; the “Tiger Bench”; water dungeons; long-term sleep deprivation; branding and burning; exposure to harsh conditions such as extreme heat or cold; heavy physical labour; bamboo splinters hammered under the fingernails; forced abortions; and prolonged hanging. Furthermore, the Jiang regime has sent large numbers of healthy practitioners to mental hospitals, injecting them with drugs that destroy the central nervous system and cause severe psychological damage. These tortures are used on men and women of all ages, including the elderly and juveniles. [Torture
Method Illustrations]
The Jiang regime has drawn upon huge resources in terms of money and manpower to carry out the persecution. As reported by the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong, the regime has expended one quarter of China’s financial resources to persecute Falun Gong. The Chinese Communist Party attempts to rule the Chinese people with lies. It uses complete control of the state-run media, and the control of all information from outside China (by blocking web sites, filtering the internet, and banning or interrupting such trusted information sources as Google, the BBC, CNN, and The New York Times), to fill its population with lies about Falun Gong and to hide the truth about the tremendous crimes the government is committing.
The Communist Party also uses lies to try to deceive the outside world. Indeed, after this lawsuit against Jiang Zemin was filed, the first reaction of the official government spokesperson was simply to deny this lawsuit existed (see “Falun Gong Sues Jiang in U.S. Court”, AP, 10/23/02).
The Chinese Government, at the instigation of the Jiang faction, covered up the SARS epidemic just as they have lied to the world about the nature of Falun Gong, and covered up the the extent and brutality of the persecution. The result is the same – lies cost lives. The lawsuit by the Falun Gong practitioners against Jiang Zemin tells the truth about the crimes he is committing in China and around the world. As the world comes to understand the horror going on in China, that horror will have to end.
This lawsuit has been supported by the Friends of Falun Gong, an organization dedicated to ending the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.
We call for the world’s attention to the crimes and atrocities committed by the Jiang regime. We hope the world will awaken to the truth behind the cover-up and stand up for justice, fundamental principles, and the rule of law.
