Press Advisory from Germany
Tuesday, April 1, 2003
Falun Gong practitioners are filing lawsuits to document facts of the
transgressions against basic human rights during Jiang Zemin’s state
visit in Germany in 2002.
Falun Gong practitioners of various nationalities are planning to file
lawsuits during the coming days against the German states of Lower Saxonia,
Brandenburg and Saxonia Proper. Their goal is to establish facts of human
rights transgressions against their persons during Jiang’s visit
in April 2002 and hope that these lawsuits will prevent such acts in the
future.
Having experienced persecution themselves has shown these Falun Gong
practitioners the importance of intervening against the ongoing human
rights abuses against practitioners in China since 1999. These Falun Gong
practitioners demonstrated the importance of intervention during Jiang’s
visit to Germany last year. Unfortunately, they were hindered in their
efforts by German and Chinese security forces, who seemed to have worked
in concert.
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Falun Gong representatives tried on numerous occasions to establish dialogue
with certain governmental entities on this issue. They tried to get clarity
over the basic law-damaging behavior that occurred in April of 2002 and
requested assurances that these events would not happen again. Berlin
Senator Dr. E. Koerting and an official from the Public Security Sector
were ready to hold such a dialogue. A circulated document, issued by the
Berlin Senate authorities dated December 20, 2002, puts the situation
this way: … The result of our investigations can be summed up in this
manner, that the actions of the police, as far as can be clarified, are
basically correct and according to law, but individual incidents show
that restricting proximity by superfluous banning of certain locations
and control of attire may have resulted in damage to the law. The police
commissioner and I distinctly regret this. In the future, the police will
be conscious of adhering to regulations regarding proximity [to dignitaries]
during protests, particularly where Falun Gong practitioners are concerned,
even during state visits and “Priority One” events.
Falun Gong practitioners have acknowledged this regret.
Representatives of the German Ministry of the Interior wrote to the Falun
Gong practitioners in a letter dated October 24, 2002, “basically, you
have adhered to your registered gatherings and parades according to law
during this state visit and have behaved peaceably and without disturbances,”
but they also declined any other attempts at further dialogue.
On March 13, 2003, due to intervention by someone from the Berlin Senate,
another opportunity for dialogue presented itself. Practitioners, their
attorney and a police department manager and two of his colleagues participated
in the discussion. Even though the Bundes-Kriminalamt (German equivalent
of the American FBI) did evaluate individual incidents during these protests,
no clear conclusions could be drawn, which will result in another such
lawsuit, this time against the German Ministry of the Interior.
The reasons these lawsuits are coming about in the first place go back
to the unwillingness of representatives from the states of Saxonia, Brandenburg
and Lower Saxonia to hold dialogues, in spite of many requests to do so.
If it so happens that the authorities have a change of heart and show
their willingness to discuss these matters, the plaintiffs will withdraw
their suits.
Press Echo, in an article from April 2002 describes the situation thus:
“Using the headline The Perfect, undemocratic State Visit, among other
things, Maria Nix wrote in the Spiegel Online magazine, dated October
4, 2002 about Jiang Zemin’s visit in Berlin, that ‘these critical
voices will not reach the ears of China’s state president Jiang Zemin,
although he is spending five days in Germany. Because whereever he shows
his face, the German officials are keeping protesters at bay.'” Many
other print presses concurred.
Human dignity and justice are precious foundations of any democratic
system. They were put aside to appease a foreign guest of state. These
are what these lawsuits deal with, to make this clear, and to avoid similar
happenings in the future.
Thursday morning, April 3, 2003, press conferences are planned in Berlin
and Dresden, where the plaintiffs will be present, accompanied by their
attorneys. A press conference in Hannover will take place later on.
Background information:
Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is a peaceful meditation practice,
originating in China and practiced in 60 countries around the world. Along
with the physical exercises, practitioners place great emphasis on living
their lives according to Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance, principles
that are cherished around the world. Since the persecution began in China
in 1999, at least 600 deaths of practitioners while in police custody
have been verified. Internal governmental sources put this number much
higher, at around 1,600 deaths. Tens of thousand have been abducted, kidnapped
and arrested, and more than 100,000 are suffering in forced labor camps,
mostly without the benefit of proper legal procedures.
(Original text in German)
Posting date: 6/Apr/2003
Original article date: 1/Apr/2003
Category: World News
