Law Professor of George Washington University Talks about Lawsuit against Jiang

Professor Stan Hart of George Washington University

The lawsuit against former China leader Jiang for genocide has caught the attention of people from all walks of life. What is genocide? Does a Head of State have immunity to the lawsuit? Many people want to know if this is just a symbolic trial or a real one. Professor Stan Hart of George Washington University was successful in a lawsuit against former president of Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos. He was interviewed by the Epoch Times Newspaper a few days ago.

Many Cases Won in American Court in History

Professor Stan Hart said that in the 200 years of American history, immunity was given to all heads of states when they were in power, but the case of Falun Gong has something different. Jiang was the Head of State when the lawsuit was filed, but he is no longer the leader of China now. For those leaders who stepped down, there were many cases won in American courts, such as the one against former president of the Philippines Marcos, who was held responsible for four victims being tortured, missing and jailed for many years under his orders.

Hart said that the significant point of the lawsuit against Jiang is whether the court will grant immunity to those who committed genocide when they were still in power. There are similar cases in other US courts. The main reason for filing the lawsuit is that international law is to restrain a country and its officials within certain bounds, and behaviour that violates these laws are not acceptable. The lawsuit against Jiang is based on international law.

An international law was passed after the atrocities committed against Jews by the Nazi's were discovered. The law was a covenant designed to prevent and punish acts of genocide. The law clearly defined "genocide", which in addition to the extermination of a group of people, included mental and physical torture.