Belated Report: Taiwan National Bar Association Publishes Resolution to Support the Lawsuit against Jiang Zemin

The Taiwan National Bar Association, the largest association in the Taiwanese legal arena, published a resolution on October the 25th 2003 to support Falun Gong practitioners' global lawsuits against Jiang Zemin, the head persecutor in China against Falun Gong practitioners. The Taiwan National Bar Association also urges China to immediately release all illegally incarcerated Taiwanese Falun Gong practitioners back to Taiwan. This is the first bar association in the world that has openly expressed support for Falun Gong practitioners' lawsuits against Jiang Zemin.

The Taiwan National Bar Association (TNBA) has more than 4,000 members. On October 25, 2003, the board of directors at TNBA held a meeting to elect the new Chairman and the new Supervisor. After the election, they discussed the resolution that 18 members had proposed to support Falun Gong practitioners' global lawsuits against Jiang Zemin. After an enthusiastic discussion to support human rights, they unanimously agreed to pass the resolution and made a public statement of their decision.

The following is the complete content of the resolution:

Taiwan National Bar Association's resolution on October 25, 2003, as follows:

Whereas, human rights are values fundamental to all humankind and have no borders;

Whereas, practitioners of Falun Gong persevere in their belief of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance and, for the purpose of protecting the fundamental human rights of freedom of speech, are against the violations of individual liberty;

Whereas, we completely understand the intent of international condemnation of human rights abuses in China;

It is, hereby, Resolved, by this Association,

That China is urged to abide by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights it has signed;

That the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights will be used as the source of resolutions by associations and practitioners of Falun Gong;

That China is especially urged to immediately release any fellow citizen of Taiwan to avoid damage to the relationships among citizens from the two areas.

The Chairman of TNBA, Mr. Guo Linyong, said that the Taiwan National Bar Association is composed of local Bar Associations all over Taiwan and it is the duty of attorneys to protect human rights. Freedom of belief is everyone's inherent right. It is purely a personal improvement issue that Falun Gong practitioners believe in the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and personal improvement is a type of spiritual belief. It is their responsibility as attorneys to express their concern that Falun Gong practitioners are subject to political persecution or are deprived of personal freedom when their activities are apolitical.

Mr. Guo Linyong emphasised that they, as attorneys, do not intend to interfere with China's domestic administration. On the other hand, it is the duty of every attorney and every citizen on earth to express his or her concern for China's human rights violations against Falun Gong practitioners and to support Falun Gong practitioners' lawsuits against those who have violated Falun Gong practitioners' human rights through the persecution. Mr. Guo also reminded the Chinese government to adhere to the "International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights" that it has signed. In addition, he reminded the Chinese government that spiritual belief is a global standard and he urged the Chinese government to immediately release Taiwanese Falun Gong practitioners who are currently in China's custody.

Finally, Mr. Guo Linyong reminded the Taiwanese attorneys that there are no borders for human rights and urged all Taiwanese attorneys to support Falun Gong practitioners' global lawsuits against Jiang Zemin.