Frettabladid (Icelandic newspaper): Discussing Human Rights with Luo

September 6th 2003

The [Icelandic] Minister for Justice hopes that the Chinese Governor will learn from his trip to Iceland. Luo is said to be responsible for many of the human rights violations carried out by the Chinese government.

Luo Gan, the top governor of the justice system in China, will have an hour-long meeting with Bjorn Bjarnason the [Icelandic] Minister for Justice during his visit to the country, which starts on Sunday evening. He is visiting Iceland to learn and he will visit the Supreme Court, Iceland''s Parliament and the Ministry of Justice. Luo is also the head of the notorious "610" Office in China, which masterminds the "fight" against so-called "wrong belief systems" i.e. Falun Gong and Christian churches.

"We have to take care of our guests. Since he is visiting to learn about the Icelandic legal and justice system, we must inform him of our standpoint concerning human rights. My standpoint is very clear." When asked whether he would protest against human rights violations in China, Bjorn said he would not hide his point of view: "I have a clear opinion of the human rights situation in China."

Bjorn says he hopes that Luo will learn from his trip to Iceland; "We have put together information about our legal and justice system, human rights laws and constitutional laws as well as our participation in global human rights agreements, which we will introduce to him."

Gudmundur Arni Stefansson, Vice President of Iceland, will see Luo on behalf of the Icelandic Parliament and have a meeting with him and the leaders of all parties on Monday morning. "I will personally initiate a discussion about human rights with him. I have heard that he has a record in that respect that is not very good. But I need to learn more about the person," said Gudmundur Arni Stefansson.

The Icelandic chapter of Amnesty International sent out a press release yesterday, where they encouraged the Icelandic government to protest against the human rights violations in China and to demand their improvement in China. A silent standing protest, to show support for the victims of human rights violations in China is being planned.