A Summary of Falun Gong's Lawsuits Around the World Against Human Rights Violations

On May 1st, 2006, International Advocates for Justice (IAFJ) published some statistics which show that the Falun Gong group has filed as many as 54 civil and criminal lawsuits in 33 different countries on the five continents against Jiang Zemin (former Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party), Luo Gan and 30 other high-level officials of the Chinese Communist Party that have been playing the most active roles in the persecution of Falun Gong. According to IAFJ, Falun Gong has filed the largest number of human rights lawsuits in the 21st century and the charges are among the most severe international crimes defined by international criminal laws.

As of April 2006, the Falun Gong group has filed lawsuits against Jiang Zemin in 16 countries around the world

According to IAFJ's report on the statistics of Falun Gong's human rights lawsuits, the Falun Gong group has filed lawsuits against Jiang Zemin in 16 different countries as of April 2006, including the United States, Canada, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Greece, Germany, Holland, Spain, Belgium, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Taiwan and Japan.

In addition to Jiang Zemin, Falun Gong practitioners have also filed lawsuits against many high-level officials of the Chinese Communist Party, including a former Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, Minister of Culture, Minister of Commerce, a former Minister of Education and Minister of Information.

There are three main types of charges against these officials of the Chinese Communist Party: genocide, torture and crimes against humanity, which are identified as the most severe international crimes defined by international criminal laws.

According to IAFJ, Falun Gong practitioners have filed the largest scale of human rights litigations in the 21st century in terms of the number of countries where the lawsuits were filed, the largest number of Chinese Communist Party officials sued for the same persecution and oppression, the total number of litigations, etc. It is also a joint legal action involving attorneys from the largest number of different countries in the world since World War II.

So far the human rights attorneys representing Falun Gong all over the world include Mr. William Bourdon, a French human rights attorney who also participated in the lawsuit against Chili's ex-dictator Pinochet, Georges-Henri Beauthier, a human rights attorney in Belgium, Geoffrey Robertson QC, a world-renowned human rights attorney, David Matas, a human rights attorney in Canada, as well as Dr. Terri Marsh, an American human rights attorney who filed the first lawsuit in the United States against Jiang Zemin in Chicago, Illinois.

As of today, Falun Gong has won at least five of the civil suits in the United States and Canada. For those lawsuits that have been rejected or dropped on the grounds of lacking jurisdiction or immunity, Falun Gong's attorneys have filed appeals. At present, most of Falun Gong's global human rights lawsuits are being processed by the courts or are in the process of being filed. As for those requests for a trial or an investigation made to the international justice system, Falun Gong is still waiting for a reply.

IAFJ states that governments worldwide, the international human rights arena and the United Nations' human rights committee should pay serious attention to Falun Gong's human rights litigations. It urges countries around the world to not be influenced by any political power or interest and process these litigations according to international human rights laws and their countries' respective laws.

According to IAFJ's statistics on Falun Gong's human rights lawsuits from 2001 to April 2006, Falun Gong practitioners have filed lawsuits in 33 different countries on the five continents against Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan and 30 other high-level officials of the Chinese Communist Party that have been playing the most active roles in the persecution of Falun Gong, as well as five lawsuits against Chinese embassies and consulates for slander. The statistics also include Falun Gong practitioners' complaints and requests for an investigation or a trial made to prominent international justice organisations, such as the United Nations' Human Rights Committee, its Torture Committee, International Criminal Tribunal, European Court of Human Rights, etc.

The Falun Gong group's litigations are mostly criminal litigations. Some are based on special local laws, such as the criminal lawsuits filed in Taiwan and Canada. Some are based on local criminal laws, such as the lawsuits filed in Spain, Greece and Holland.

For the past six years since 2001, Falun Gong practitioners have filed at least 54 civil and criminal lawsuits, not including lawsuits against some overseas Chinese media for slander.

International Advocates for Justice (IAFJ) is an international non-governmental organisation registered in the state of New York and founded in July 2004. Its members include human rights attorneys and professionals working in the field of justice worldwide.