Commentary: Jiang Zemin Ranks Among The Most Despicable Murderers in History

Last October, Jiang Zemin visited the United States for the last time as head of state. Falun Gong practitioners sued him in US court on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. Since then, many lawsuits have been filed against Jiang.

In March 2003, a Switzerland-based international non-governmental organisation, Track Impunity Always, and the Swiss Falun Dafa Association jointly filed a lawsuit against Jiang in Switzerland. In August 2003, six Falun Gong practitioners sued Jiang in Belgian Federal Court on charges of genocide, torture, and crimes against humanity. Practitioners in Germany, Australia, Britain, Canada and some other countries are also preparing to sue Jiang.

Recently, more than 100 organisations worldwide launched the "Global Coalition for Bringing Jiang to Justice." Now we can say that suing Jiang is a human rights activity that has international influence.

Please do not underestimate the action of suing Jiang. Although we may not be able to bring Jiang to court at this current time in history, trying to do so does reflect peoples' conscience and upright voices. As the one primarily responsible for the persecution of Falun Gong, Jiang has already placed himself among the most despicable murderers in human history.

Even when not counting other crimes, the persecution of Falun Gong is alone enough for Jiang to be the prime murderer in human history. During Hitler's time, the economy in Germany also had dramatic development.

But can we forgive his persecution of the Jews? Moreover, if you are clear that Jiang is wrong in persecuting Falun Gong, why do you not protest? When we are speaking of Hitler persecuting the Jews, we are talking about something that took place in history. But when we speak of Jiang's persecuting Falun Gong, we are talking about something that is happening right now. Not only are we placing Jiang's position in history, we are also positioning ourselves. This is a question that every Chinese person has to face-- especially the intellectuals. While Jiang has been brutally persecuting Falun Gong, what have you done? Have you stepped forward and spoken the truth, or turned aside and kept silent, or have you even helped the tyrant to do evil?

I know that right now in China, it is risky to protest in public. What I want to say is that even if you cannot step forward and publicly voice your opposition to the persecution of Falun Gong, it does not necessarily mean that you should keep quiet, or blindly follow along. At least, you should speak out about your disagreement with the persecution on some other occasions. For example, you can do it at home such as during a meal, or during private conversations with friends. Sometimes we may not be able to act courageously, but at least we can continue being upright. Protest needs courage. But you can also protest even if you are not courageous enough. In a land where freedom of speech is not allowed, the real discussions may not come from the media or meetings, but from families at the dinner table, and from private conversations among friends. Once such discussions accumulate to a certain level, they will spread throughout the country. Together, these public voices of discontent will break through the restraints set up by the autocracy. During our past struggles for freedom in our history, wasn't each one obtained in this way?

RFA (Radio Free Asia)