Australian Falun Gong Practitioners Seek to Sue Jiang Zemin in China

In May of 1992, at a time when many of us were deeply mired in the suffering of illnesses, catastrophes, and misfortunes, when mankind was at a complete loss as to how to find its way out from declining human moral standards, from the pursuit of fame and profit, and from the many deadly side-effects brought about by the degeneration of the human soul, Master Li Hongzhi revealed the Truth of the universe to the entire world -- "Truthfulness, Benevolence, and Forbearance." He selflessly presented the "Gong" (the five exercise movements) and the "Fa" (the teachings) of Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa) to mankind. During the last eight years, the principles of "Truthfulness, Benevolence, and Forbearance" have attracted more and more people around the world. Wherever people were learning Falun Gong, moral standards improved, people's hearts became more compassionate and kind, and many illnesses were miraculously cured.

However on July 20, 1999, in order to challenge the great power of this pure, righteous, and benevolent force, Chinese president Jiang Zemin attempted to ban Falun Gong, in violation of the Chinese Constitution and laws. In effect, he usurped the name of the Chinese government and used the machinery of the whole country as his weapon. Fabricating facts, he waged a vicious and slanderous campaign against Master Li Hongzhi and Falun Dafa. In a very short time, all of China became a land with no human rights, no morality, no justice, and no laws. What remained was only bloodshed and violence.

For more than a year, under Jiang's sole command, more than 60 innocent people have been brutally tortured to death. Tens of thousands of kind-hearted practitioners, who would not fight back when beaten or sworn at, have suffered greatly. Many people were forced to leave their homes and wander homeless; families were broken up; the elderly lost their children; babies lost their parents. Female practitioners were stripped naked and thrown into the cells of male prisoners. Pregnant women were forced to have abortions or driven to have miscarriages, and normal and healthy people were forced into mental hospitals and injected with mind controlling drugs. This cruel tragedy that turned China into a hell on earth is not only still continuing, it is even getting worse! Only someone who has gone totally insane could have perpetrated as many crimes against the people as Jiang Zemin.

We are a group of 45 Australian Falun Gong practitioners and we are witnesses to Jiang Zeming's evil crimes.

Between November 1999 and March 2000, we went to China one after the other to visit our families. While in China, our freedoms were restricted, our lives were threatened, and we were deprived of our human rights. We were illegally arrested for no reason while we visited our friends' apartments. While traveling on trains, some of us were illegally detained so that we could not reach our destinations. Our personal belongings were confiscated; we were interrogated for hours and hours, during which time we were not even allowed to use the restroom. Some of us were even thrown into jail. Even though we are Australian citizens, we had to undergo mental and physical abuses simply because we are practitioners of Falun Gong.

For this reason, we are going to sue Jiang Zemin for the following crimes:

1. The Crime of breaking the law: For no reason and without evidence, Australian citizens holding valid visas were illegally arrested, searched and imprisoned.

2. The Crime of illegal search and imprisonment

3. The Crime of libel and insult

4. The Crime of violating international human rights:

• Depriving the rights of people's freedom of belief
• Depriving the rights of people to explain and clarify the facts and truth
• Depriving the rights of people to live a normal life
• Depriving the rights of people's freedom of association
• Depriving the rights of people's freedom of speech
• Depriving the rights of people's social activity

For more than a year, these peaceful and fearless Falun Gong practitioners, harboring no discontent or hatred and manifesting great benevolence and forbearance in the face of indescribable tortures and abuses, have been continually calling out to everyone, awakening the conscience and compassion still present in everyone's heart -- even at the cost of sacrificing their own lives. Jiang Zemin's crackdown is not just against Falun Gong, but is actually against the kindness and morality of the entire human society. The victims are not only Falun Gong practitioners, but also kind-hearted people everywhere who look forward to peace and justice. Therefore, we jointly sign this lawsuit against Jiang Zemin.

We call on all people of goodwill, international organizations, and legal organizations for their support. We deeply believe that mankind's common desire to promote goodness and punish evil will help spread justice all over the world. Thus, let us all work together to liberate the world from these great injustices as soon as possible.

Australia Falun Gong Practitioners

(signatures omitted)

November 1st, 2000