When street demonstrations and mass telephone-call campaigns to
protest Chinese government persecution fizzled, followers of the Falun Gong
spiritual movement did what many aggrieved parties do: They sued – in
countries other than China.
Over the past 18 months, followers of the group banned by the Chinese
government have filed at least a dozen suits in foreign
courts against Chinese officials they accuse of rights abuses. Their biggest
target: former President Jiang Zemin.
It’s the latest tactic in an ongoing, high-profile campaign to draw
attention to China’s often brutal three-year-old crackdown on the group. If
the object is to rile China’s leaders, who are protected at home by the
Communist Party’s political monopoly, it seems to be working.
[..]
Recent weeks have seen a flurry of new cases in Finland, Iceland, Belgium,
France, and Australia. The group says it has signed on high-profile lawyers
such as British human rights attorney Geoffrey Robertson to represent them.
“The purpose of these cases is simple and specific: to target those
responsible for the persecution. This is not a political campaign against
the Chinese government,” said Levi Browde, a Falun Gong spokesman in the
United States.
Virtually all Falun Gong activism these days comes from abroad; mainland
followers have gone into hiding. It is unclear how many mainland Chinese are
Falun Gong practitioners.
The court cases apply foreign laws such as the U.S. Alien Claims Tort Act to
crimes committed in China – the same principle under which, in 1998, a
Spanish judge ordered former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet to face
charges of crimes against humanity.
China is believed to be exerting considerable diplomatic pressure to have
the suits dismissed. Yet even if the lawsuits fail, which is likely, Falun
Gong may still be able to claim public-opinion points.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/xml/uncomp/articleshow?msid=20
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Posting date: 28/Sep/2003
Original article date: 26/Sep/2003
Category: Media Report
