Spanish newspaper La Voz de Almeria publishes article about the lawsuit against the Chinese Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai

LA VOZ DE ALMERIA 47
MIERCOLES, 9 DE NOVIEMBRE DE 2005
SOCIEDAD
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AGAINST TORTURE AND GENOCIDE

Lawsuit Filed Against Chinese Minister in the National Court a Few Days Before His Visit to Madrid

Human rights organisations demand that China respect religious liberties in their country

LA VOZ

Just a few days before the Chinese president Mr. Hu Jintao’s State visit to Spain, the Communist Party Minister of Commerce Mr. Bo Xilai will have to face a lawsuit that was filed yesterday in the National Court by fifteen victims of the persecution that is taking place in China against millions of people for their spiritual beliefs in the teachings of Falun Gong.

Bo Xilai, who will likely accompany the Chinese President during his trip to Spain from the 13th to the 15th of November, has been subjected to criminal lawsuits in various countries around the world, including England, Germany, Poland, the United States, Chile and Peru, accused of grave crimes against humanity, genocide and torture against Chinese citizens for their spiritual beliefs, where hundreds have died through cruel torture. In a similar manner, this very year during the Chinese president’s trip to Canada Bo’s entrance was vetoed and he has been considered a “persona non gratis” in various countries around the world for his systematic violation of basic human rights. Bo Xilai, during his time as the Mayor of Dalian and governor of Laoning Province from 1990 to 2003, coordinated, directed and moved forward the activities of the 6/10 Office, created, according to the plaintiffs, to defame and exterminate practitioners of Falun Gong in China and under his jurisdiction and with his full consent, hundreds were tortured and murdered in the Chinese extermination camps, called “re-education through labour”, among which the Masanjia labour camp stands out most for its evilness and cruelty. Reports form the United Nations and Amnesty International document these crimes.

Universal justice is applicable in cases of genocide and the Spanish Court is competent to litigate such cases according to a recent sentence by the Constitutional Court in the case of Guatemala. For this reason, Bo’s immediate detention will be requested from the Judge.

A Chinese Law Firm that defends human rights is closed down

The Chinese lawyer Gao Zhisheng, a well known human rights defendant, must close his law firm for one year, due to his personal request to the authorities to stop the persecution against practitioners of Falun Gong, according to the independent press.

“The justice office informed me yesterday that we have to stop operations for one year. If I do not comply, they could restrict my personal liberties”, Gao stated.

According to the Hong Kong newspaper “South China Morning Post”, the Zhisheng Legal Office must close, leaving in abeyance various important and significant cases which few other lawyers have dared to defend so far.

Among these are the disputed territories that provoked violent altercations in the town of Taishi (Canton) since July, the detention of the clandestine Catholic priest Cai Zhuohua, and the sentence to seven years in prison for the cyberspace dissident Zheng Yichun.