By Chen Yijun and Zhao Xiaohui
TAIPEI – The National Association of Lawyers, the largest lawyers association in Taiwan, passed a resolution and issued a public statement on October 25, 2003, to support worldwide legal initiatives to bring Jiang Zemin to justice. They also called for the immediate release of Taiwanese Falun Gong practitioners detained in China.
This is the first lawyers’ association that has voiced support for the lawsuits against Jiang.
The National Association of Lawyers, representing more than 4,000 lawyers from all over Taiwan, unanimously passed a resolution to appeal for a stop to the persecution of Falun Gong and to support worldwide legal initiatives to bring Jiang Zemin to justice. The resolution was introduced and sponsored by 18 conference delegates at a meeting on September 7.
“Human rights is a universal value not limited by national boundaries. The [National Association of Lawyers] fully empathizes with Falun Gong practitioners in filing the lawsuit against the Chinese dictator [former president Jiang Zemin] based on grounds of human rights. The lawsuit was filed based on their faith in truth, compassion, and forbearance to protect their freedom of speech and to resist the violation to their personal freedom,” says the public statement.
The statement also calls for the immediate release of Taiwanese practitioners detained in China to avoid harming the relations between the people of Mainland China and Taiwan.
The Association encourages the Chinese government to conform to the “International Convention on Citizens and Political Rights,” which the Chinese government has ratified.
“The protection of human rights is the mission of lawyers, and freedom of belief is a human right bestowed upon us by god”, said Guo Linyong, Director of the National Association. Guo believes that faith in truth, compassion and tolerance is a form of self-improvement, which is a basic human right.
Guo stresses that the lawyers did not intend to interfere with China’s domestic politics. But with the mission of a lawyer and as world citizens, the Association passed a resolution to support Falun Gong practitioners’ lawsuit against the dictator [former Chinese president Jiang Zemin] based on human rights.
Zhang Shixing, Secretary of the National Association, said that lawyers should be pioneers in advocating democracy and the rule of law. The public statement is strong evidence of the high value Taiwanese lawyers place on human rights. He hoped that the statement would dissolve the doubt in the minds’ of some lawyers who were initially hesitant in supporting the human rights of Falun Gong.
Posting date: 29/Oct/2003
Original article date: 28/Oct/2003
Category: Media Report
