(Clearwidsom.net) Clearwisdom Net correspondent Dong Na reports from Canada - International Justice Day, July 17, 2004, marks the international community's historic adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) six years ago. The international community decided to establish a permanent International Criminal Court to prosecute the most serious crimes such as genocide and crimes against humanity.
July 20 this year also marks the fifth anniversary of the Jiang group's persecution of Falun Gong. Five years ago, driven by his jealousy, Jiang started a large-scale persecution against a group of innocent people who believed in Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance. Five years have passed. The escalating state-sponsored terrorism and the overwhelming slanderous propaganda have not eradicated Falun Gong, and were unable to pressure Falun Gong practitioners to succumb. On the contrary, Falun Gong practitioners from all over the world actively seek help from international laws and take legal actions to try to bring the chief perpetrator of this persecution to justice.
On July 17, practitioners went to the Canadian Parliament Hill and the Chinese Embassy to hold a peaceful appeal and to call for an end to the five-year-long persecution.
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- The Chinese law has degenerated into a tool for the evildoers to exercise state-sponsored terrorism
Falun Gong practitioner Mr. He Zhili, who personally experienced the persecution in China, introduced that in 2000 before he was unlawfully sentenced to jail, his family tried to look for an attorney for him. However, almost none of the attorneys would dare to accept this case. His family finally found an attorney who was willing to defend him. But on the day when the attorney agreed to meet him, the attorney's car was missing. Shortly after, his car surprisingly reappeared. The only thing that was missing from his car was a letter from Mr. He Zhili's wife, Ms. Zhang Li.
Mr. He said that later, personnel from the National Security Bureau used inconceivable means to exert pressure on his attorney. The Haidian District Court (the court determined to sentence He Zhili to jail) told his attorney that he could only defend for commuting the sentence rather than a defense of innocence. In fact, the judiciary institution already decided to sentence He Zhili to 3 years and 6 months in prison and the so-called trial was only a gesture. The process that Mr. He sent his letters was videotaped and was considered as evidence against him. When the attorney questioned the legitimacy of the way they gathered the evidence, the judge said that this was a state-secret and there was no such question on the legitimacy. After that, Mr. He appealed to the Intermediate Court, but his appeal was rejected in only a few hours.
President of Canada Falun Dafa Association Mr. Li Xun said that in China, the law is unable to uphold justice for Falun Gong, but it has become a tool used by the Jiang's group to exercise state-run terrorism.
- Jiang Zemin and his accomplices are only a handful people who implement and advocate the persecution
Falun Gong practitioner Dai Gongyu said that after the persecution started five years ago, Falun Gong practitioners continuously appealed to or wrote to the Chinese government to explain to them the real situation of Falun Gong. Practitioners have no intention to oppose the government, but just try to seek their basic rights to practice Falun Gong. However, all channels of the appeals were blocked. Any person who tried to appeal for Falun Gong would be arrested, detained and punished. During the process, practitioners have paid a high cost. Canadian practitioners Mr. Lin Shenlin and Li Jinyu had been abducted and imprisoned for their appeal for Falun Gong.
Mr. Dai Gongyu said that under Falun Gong practitioners' peaceful anti-persecution, Jiang Zemin and his accomplices did not stop their suppression, but they constantly escalated this persecution. This kind of harm to human's morality and conscience is already in the scope of crimes against humanity. The persecution is not only targeting the Falun Gong practitioners, it is an infringement of human's dignity and morality. If we don't apply various means including legal actions to stop this atrocity, there won't be any justice to speak of.
- International human rights attorney: Employing legal process reflects victims' courage
Why wasn't there such case in Canada before Professor Zhang Kunlun filed a lawsuit against Jiang Zemin? Famous human rights attorney David Matas said that this lawsuit reflected the victims' courage. Only when the victims transcend themselves, can they sue these people. According to people from the legal community, testifying in courts is extremely painful and challenging, because people must recall what they have experienced. Usually, many people do not have the courage or energy to sue those criminals.
According to Mr. Li Xun, Canadian practitioners started using legal procedures to stop the harassment against Falun Gong practitioners in Canada. After that, three defamation lawsuits were filed to stop Jiang's group from instigating hatred overseas. At present, legal actions to bring Jiang to justice are unfolded in Canada. Falun Gong practitioners clarify the truth and expose the persecution to the Canadian government, media and Chinese residents. In the world, lawsuits against the chief perpetrator are filed in a number of countries. In October 2002, Falun Gong practitioners also filed a lawsuit to the International Criminal Court against Jiang Zemin for genocide. Now this case is in process.
Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Wang Xueliang, one of the plaintiffs of the Les Presses Chinoises libel case, had been imprisoned twice in China for not giving up his belief. After he came to Canada to study, he was harassed by Chinese officials in Canada. In the end of 2001, Mr. Wang found that there was a New Year Party sponsored by the Chinese Embassy. In fact, that was a photo exhibition to demonize Falun Gong. Therefore, he took some photos. When the Embassy staff members found him out, he was severely beaten. When accepting interviews, he said, "I did not think that I would encounter persecution in Canada which is far, far away from China. But the reality is that this persecution has been extended to overseas. For instance, my telephone was tapped. The next day after my article was published on Clearwisdom Net, my family members phoned me to stop me from doing so. I was beaten up in the Chinese Embassy. China has exported its state-run terrorism to Canada." Mr. Wang Xueliang said, "If these kinds of severe crimes such as crimes against humanity and genocide can not be prosecuted in the countries where the crimes took place, we must seek justice in a broader scope through even more powerful legal institutions including courts in different countries and the International Court."
Ms. Huang Daiming is already in her 70s. She is one of the victims of a discrimination case in Ontario Province. A local senior citizen organization unreasonably cancelled her membership under pressure from the Chinese Embassy. Ms. Huang said, "I believe that justice will eventually defeat evil."
Category: Rallies & Protests
