Germany's Federal Department of Domestic Affairs Acknowledges Violation of Dafa Practitioners' Basic Rights During Jiang's Official Visit

Clearwisdom correspondents Su Jing and Zheng Yan report: At noon on April 26, 2004, a spokesman for the German Federal Department of Domestic Affairs (GFDDA) officially admitted that the restrictive measures they took against Falun Gong practitioners who stayed at Adlon Hotel in Berlin when former Chinese president Jiang Zemin visited Germany in April 2002 were against German laws. The German Falun Dafa Association embraced the response. Following a discussion, representatives from the German Federal Department of Domestic Affairs and Falun Gong practitioners' representative reached an official agreement so that the German Falun Dafa Association's lawsuit against the Federal Department of Domestic Affairs for violating the practitioners' rights could be resolved.

German federal police violated human rights because of deliberate misinformation from the Chinese government

According to documents the GFDDA delivered to the court, before Jiang arrived in Germany, the Chinese government told the German government, "According to a reliable source, Falun Gong plans to interfere with Chinese president Jiang Zemin's visit to Germany," "[Falun Gong inside China] sent orders to its branch offices in countries surrounding Germany asking its members to gather in Germany and interfere with the visit;" and "we cannot rule out the possibility of Falun Gong resorting to violent behaviour." This misled the German police and caused them to be nervous. Jiang also forced the German police to clear all Falun Gong practitioners out of the Adlon Hotel, threatening to end the visit unless the hotel complied with his directive.

Falun Gong practitioners accept suggestion and reach peaceful agreement

A German government report recognised that Falun Gong practitioners have never taken any violent measures during their protest of China's persecution of Falun Gong.

Falun Gong practitioners' anti-persecution activities have always been peaceful, targeting Jiang's group, the persecutors. Even in Mainland China, where Falun Gong practitioners' personal freedom, property and even life are threatened, they still clarify the truth in a peaceful and rational manner.

Jiang's group has been exporting lies for a long time

Jiang's group spreads lies inside and outside of China to deceive the international community and poison the minds of those who do not know the truth. Below are a few examples.

During the 60th session of United Nations Committee on Human Rights held in Geneva in March and April 2004, Jiang sent a group of lackeys and roughnecks to slander Falun Gong at the conference. Kaneko Yoko, a Falun Gong practitioner living in Japan who was held in China for one-and-a-half years recognised Wang Yusheng, one of the members, a co-founder, assistant director and head secretary of the Chinese Anti-Cult Association. On April 16, the Transnational Radical Party, a permanent international non-governmental organisation in the Geneva United Nations Office, held a special meeting on the subject of genocide. During the meeting, a Swiss attorney, Ms. Boone, announced the filing of a lawsuit against Wang Yusheng. Wang Yusheng has led the Chinese Anti-Cult Association to the UN human rights conference during the past four years; he slandered and attacked Falun Gong during these meetings.

The "610 Office," founded in June 1999 for the sole purpose of persecuting Falun Gong, is notorious for its directing role in persecuting Falun Gong. At the 2000 and 2001 meeting of the UN Commission on Human Rights held in March 2001 in Geneva, Switzerland, when faced with large numbers of documented cases of people tortured to death, Liu Jing, head of "610 Office," brazenly deceived the world again and claimed none of these cases were true, despite the fact that they all listed specific names, times, places and details of torture.

At an hour-long summit with then U.S. President Bill Clinton during APEC's 1999 meeting in New Zealand, Jiang Zemin made clear his concern that the U.S. show the "correct" attitude on the Falun Gong issue. Among the range of important issues discussed, only the Falun Gong issue was both raised directly by Jiang Zemin as well as documented in a book that Jiang gave to President Clinton. Jiang's inappropriate behaviour shocked many Western diplomats present.

Jiang group's lies damage China's image and impair the Western world's value system

On April 26, a judge decided that the German Falun Dafa Association's lawsuit against the Federal Department of Domestic Affairs for violating the practitioners' rights is officially resolved, since Falun Gong practitioners have reached an agreement with the GFDDA. The outcome of this dispute shows Jiang group's lies are losing their captive audience and damaging China's image. People can clearly see that the villainous attitude of "I'll do whatever I want, and there is nothing you can do about it" belongs to the Chinese government.

The German government also brought shame upon itself by violating human rights and German laws. It is a victim of Jiang group's lies. To its credit, the GFDDA admitted the violations, which shows the German justice system is truly just.

Jiang's group also coerced some countries to abandon their fundamental values and inadvertently assist in the persecution. During Jiang's visit to Iceland, some Falun Gong practitioners went to Iceland to call for Jiang to stop persecuting Falun Gong. In response, Jiang's group sent a blacklist to the Icelandic government, and certain people, on government orders, rough-handled Falun Gong practitioners. The Icelandic government received wide criticism because of its actions, and 450 Icelandic legislators and other notables published four full-page newspaper advertisements with the word "Sorry" emblazoned in Chinese characters at the top of the page. On June 14, local human rights groups organised an anti-Jiang demonstration in Reykjavik that attracted about 1,000 people.

In late January 2004, during Chinese president Hu Jintao's visit to France, Jiang's minions lied to the French government and said Falun Gong practitioners would make trouble during the visit. Many in French Chinese communities received similar propaganda. Deceived, some individuals in the French government ordered police to arrest and detain Falun Gong practitioners from around the world, even though they hadn't violated any law. Simply being identified as a Falun Gong practitioner because of wearing a yellow scarf was enough to be arrested. As a result, the French government was also criticised for bowing to the Jiang group's pressure.

What message will the German government's acknowledgement send to the French government?