During Chinese president Hu Jintao's visit to Chile for the 2004 APEC Summit, Falun Gong practitioners filed a criminal lawsuit for the crimes of genocide and torture against former Chinese President Jiang Zemin and other high ranking Chinese officials.
On the 18th of November 2004, the same day Hu Jintao arrived for the APEC Summit, a criminal lawsuit was filed in the Chilean capital of Santiago against various Chinese officials who are directly implicated in the persecution of Falun Gong. The lawsuit specifically accuses four Chinese officials, Jiang Zemin, China's former president; Luo Gan, former Minister of Public Security; Li Lanqing, a high ranking member of the Communist Party, and Bo Xilai, the current Minister of Commerce and former governor of Liaoning Province, for crimes committed against Falun Gong practitioners during the persecution. Their crimes include genocide, kidnapping, torture and cruelty. Chile's legal code recognises the principle of universal jurisdiction for such serious crimes. The lawsuit was signed by five Falun Gong practitioners, who were represented by three Chilean human rights lawyers, Mrs. Hiram Villagra Castro, Mr. Hugo Humberto Gálvez and Mr. Cristian Pablo Campos.
Chile was the final stop for Mr. Hu Jintao during his visit to South America, having visited both Brazil and Argentina before arriving for the APEC Summit, where he signed various lucrative trade agreements between these Latin American nations.
Criminal lawsuit filed against Jiang Zemin and Luo Gan in Bolivia
On the afternoon of November 16th, 2004, another lawsuit was filed in neighbouring Bolivia. The Bolivian lawsuit is against Jiang Zemin and Luo Gan for the crimes of genocide, torture, reduction to the state of slavehood or a similar state, threats, and the violation of liberty, which has been inflicted on millions of Falun Gong practitioners. It is a criminal lawsuit and was filed by Bolivian lawyers Don Marcos Zabalaga and Don Miguel Mardoñez. The lawsuit itself came as the result of one the lawyer's personal interest in this persecution, after having been very moved when he first learned about it. The defence of human rights, life and people's dignity should be carried out in all countries of the world. This was the message lawyer Miguel Mardoñez conveyed to explain the legal actions in Bolivia. The lawyers offered their time and efforts free of any charge, having been deeply moved from their hearts.
Bolivia's general prosecutor, with his office in the city of Sucre, received the lawsuit on November 16th. The lawsuit details the brutal persecution of millions of practitioners of Falun Gong and the cruel practises carried out in labour camps and the horrible tortures and mass murders. The crimes are the direct responsibilities of Jiang Zemin and Lou Gan. Lou Gan was director of the 610 Office, an extrajudicial body that coordinated and directed the persecution across China. The lawyers specifically requested that the prosecutor send a copy of the lawsuit to the Ambassador of China in Bolivia, so that he, as the Chinese authority in Bolivia, have knowledge of this legal action.
In the lawsuit the prosecutor is asked specifically for international arrest warrants for Jiang Zemin and Luo Gan, so that those responsible for the crimes can be brought before the Bolivian courts. The lawsuit for genocide is based on the Bolivian criminal code, which states that the Bolivian justice system is competent to prosecute the crime of genocide.
The lawsuit has been supported by 16 victims and was signed in the presence of one of the victims, Mrs. Dai Zhizhen, whose husband was tortured to death at the young age of 34, leaving his recently born daughter without a father.
Human rights affect the entire international community and therefore, all countries should show solidarity to put an end to acts of genocide and torture, like those carried out by defendants Jiang Zemin and Luo Gan, asking that ultimately justice be made for the victims and their families.
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