Mr. Kofi Annan, Secretary-General
United Nations
Dear Secretary-General Annan:
Since Jiang Zemin came to power at the time of the Tiananmen Square student massacre in 1989, the condition of human rights in China has deteriorated precipitously. Ignoring the country’s own constitution as well as international law, Jiang has initiated suppression and persecution targeting proponents of democracy, workers and labor unionists, farmers, scholars and academics, Internet users, journalists, and doctors, to name a few. At present, there is substantial evidence that he has committed blatant genocide against ethnic, religious, and spiritual groups such as Falun Gong, unregistered Christians, and Tibetans.
What is more horrifying is the way he carries out the persecution. Incarceration and torture are ordered to force victims to go against their conscience and renounce their beliefs. Jiang has promised government officials and police money and benefits if they ignore their own conscience to carry out orders. He has made a mockery of the judicial system by forcing the courts to turn a blind eye to justice and by creating laws to suit his purposes. He has forced the media to compromise its professional integrity, using it at will to fabricate and circulate lies and propaganda to incite hatred against his victims. In doing so, he has turned the whole country into unwitting accomplices to his crimes or hostages to his will.
He has also expanded the persecution to other countries, using economic interest to silence the international voice of condemnation while spreading lies and slander about his victims around the world to justify his criminal deeds, thus making the whole world victim to his deceitful ways. Through Chinese embassies and consular offices, threats and acts of violence have been perpetrated against dissidents on foreign soil. The damage to human morality, dignity, and conscience is severe and shakes the foundation of human civilization.
We, The Global Coalition To Bring Jiang To Justice, a coalition of more than 100 organizations and individuals, hereby request that an international criminal tribunal be established to prosecute Jiang not only for committing crimes of genocide against China’s citizens, but also for committing crimes of genocide against the human conscience. This crime is so pervasive and detrimental that it has become another form of genocide that we cannot ignore.
Although no longer China’s official leader, Jiang remains the driving force behind current regime policy. With the resources and technology of the world’s most populous country at his disposal, the threat to the world community is real and frightening. Let us make a stand here and now. Let the world recognize Jiang’s crimes and bring him to justice for the betterment of the world’s future.
Sincerely,
The Global Coalition To Bring Jiang To Justice
October 6, 2003
Posting date:12/Oct/2003
Original article date: 6/Oct/2003
Category: World News
