EFGIC: International Falun Gong Plaintiffs Win Torture Lawsuits

LONDON [EFGIC] – We are encouraged by last Wednesday’s U.S. court ruling which found two high-ranking Chinese officials liable for crimes of torture, genocide, and other crimes against humanity.

This ruling adds to the momentum of 47 lawsuits filed in 29 countries and six continents against Chinese officials who have actively persecuted Falun Gong practitioners. These lawsuits have become the largest international collaborative legal effort since the Nuremberg Nazi trials. (news)

Although facing pressure from the Chinese government, the U.S. judges did not dismiss the case, but rather sent an important message to China: those who persecute Falun Gong practitioners will be held accountable for their crimes, irrespective of rank or official position.

Moreover, the judges found that the alleged persecutory acts committed by Beijing Party Secretary Liu Qi and Dalian Mayor Xia Deren are not only in violation of U.S. law and international law, but even in violation of Chinese law. Therefore, the officials are not immune and were found liable for the crimes alleged against them.

The cases set an important precedent for other lawsuits against Chinese officials brought under the very same U.S. statutes and federal law.

Council will seek to bar these and other defendants from visits to the United States through official channels.

Details of the Ruling

Last Wednesday, Judge Wilkin of Northern California’s U.S. District Court adopted Magistrate Chen’s recommendation finding Liu and Xia liable for crimes that violate international treaties ratified by China, the Chinese Constitution and law, as well as international law.

The U.S. District Court denied the defendants’ attempts to get these cases dismissed, saying that: “This Court accords great weight to the factors that address the merits of the Plaintiffs’ substantive claims and the sufficiency of the complaint and evidence supporting their claims.”
The officials were sued under the Alien Tort Claims Act and the Torture Victims Protection Act, which allow plaintiffs to take action in U.S. courts against foreign perpetrators of torture.

Xia, the current mayor of Dalian, has played an active role in persecuting Party members who are Falun Gong practitioners. Current Beijing Party Secretary Liu, who is also the former Beijing mayor and head of the Beijing Olympic Committee, has made public statements in fervent support of the eradication policy toward Falun Gong – what many human rights lawyers are calling genocide. Under his watch, Beijing became the centre for arresting Falun Gong practitioners who legally submitted petition letters to the Chinese government or peacefully raised banners on Tiananmen Square. Innumerable Falun Gong practitioners have been tortured and killed in China’s capital.

Liu was sued by two plaintiffs from China, and six plaintiffs from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Sweden, and the United States. Although there is no indication that either defendant directly tortured anyone, still the Court found both of them liable for torture and other serious human rights abuses based on an application of the standard of command responsibility, aiding and abetting, and conspiracy, applied in several cases brought under the Alien Tort Claim Act and Torture Victim Protection Act in U.S. courts.

The ruling on these cases states that although “the People’s Republic of China appears to have covertly authorized but publicly disclaimed the alleged human rights violations caused or permitted by Defendants... such violations are in fact prohibited by Chinese law.” Therefore, “their alleged acts are not acts of an agency or instrumentality of the People's Republic of China within the meaning of the FSIA, and sovereign immunity thereunder does not lie.”

We wish to sincerely thank the Center for Justice and Accountability and their attorneys Joshua Sondheimer and Sandra Colliver, as well as Morton Sklar, Executive Director of the World Organization Against Torture USA, for their tireless work on this case.

Attorney Dr. Terri Marsh, who also worked on the case, can be contacted at (202) 369-4977.

Sandra Colliver, at The Center for Justice and Accountability, can be contacted at (415) 544-0444.

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NEWS – Dec.18, 2004
European Falun Gong Information Centre, More contacts. www.clearharmony.net

Background

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa (about), is a practice of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal principle of “Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance.” Practised in over 60 countries world-wide, Falun Gong has roots in traditional Chinese culture. With government estimates of as many as 100 million practising Falun Gong in China, China’s then-Communist leader, Jiang Zemin, outlawed the peaceful practice in July 1999 (report). Since that time, Jiang’s regime has intensified its propaganda campaign to turn public opinion against the practice while imprisoning, torturing and even murdering those who practise it. The European Falun Gong Information Centre has verified details of 1170 deaths (reports) since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. In October 2001, however, Government officials inside China reported that the actual death toll was well over 1,600. Expert sources now estimate that figure to be much higher. Hundreds of thousands have been detained, with more than 100,000 being sentenced to forced labour camps, typically without trial.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE EUROPEAN FALUN GONG INFORMATION CENTRE – Peter Jauhal + 44 (0) 7739 172 452, Nicolas Schols +32 47 98 75 734
More contacts. www.clearharmony.net Email: [email protected]