(Clearwisdom.net) My name is Xie Yan and I am from Guangzhou City, China. I am an Australian citizen. I was once imprisoned in a forced labor camp for two years in China because I refused to give up my practice of Falun Gong. During the imprisonment, the guards implemented forcible brainwashing on me and tortured me mentally and physically. One time the guards handcuffed me to the frame of a window for several days straight and deprived me of sleep. Like the rest of the prisoners, I had to work 16 hours a day making export goods. Later, due to the continuous efforts of my fiancé at the time (my husband now) and many others trying to rescue me, the camp released me on April 23, 2004.
On December 2006, Chen Zhaoji, current Chair of the Guangdong Political Consultative Committee, visited Australia. I and another Falun Gong practitioner, Li Fuying, 78, who was also persecuted because of her beliefs, filed a lawsuit against Chen for illegal imprisonment and the crime of torture.
The accused Chen actively participated in the persecution of Falun Gong. I personally think he is responsible for the numerous crimes against humanity that have happened in Guangdong Province.
On November 13, as my attorney was ready to obtain a default judgment against the defendant, three officials from the Australian Attorney General's Department suddenly appeared in court. They delivered a letter from the Chinese Embassy in Australia arguing the defendant should be granted immunity for being a foreign official.
On November 22, the Australian Attorney General submitted a document to the court defending the accused with diplomatic immunity. On November 15, Alexander Downer, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, signed a certificate to protect the accused based on diplomatic immunity.
As the plaintiff and a direct victim in this case, I feel outraged at the Chinese Embassy. The embassy said in its letter, "No matter what Chinese officials did and what their identities are, and no matter whether what they did is official or private, they should be granted immunity and any lawsuit against them is against the law." Also, I am extremely disappointed with the Attorney General's involvement in this case. According to International Law, when a crime involves torture and crimes against humanity, no one has immunity.
Adolf Hitler was a government official and he did what he did based on the laws of Nazi Germany. I would like to know, if Hitler were on trial today, would Minister Downer and the Attorney General use the same reasoning to excuse him?
The persecution of Falun Gong itself is against China's Constitution and The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including all international laws based on the Declaration.
Falun Gong is a traditional Chinese practice based on the principles of Truth, Compassion, and Forbearance. Currently more than 100 million people in over 80 countries in the world benefit from the practice. (For more information, please visit http://falundafa.org )
At present, at least 3103 Falun Gong practitioners have died as a result of the persecution. This persecution has involved genocide and crimes against humanity. The Chinese Communist Party's involvement in removing organs from living Falun Gong practitioners is an "unprecedented evil" according to David Kilgour, the former Canadian Secretary of State (Asia Pacific), who is one of the authors of the Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China.
The persecution of Falun Gong must stop and those who participated in the persecution must receive legal punishment. I want to tell all the Australian people that we must not grant immunity to any Chinese official guilty of crimes against humanity. Please call the Chinese Embassy in Australia and let them know that they shouldn't interfere with judicial procedures in Australia. Their phone number is +61-02-62734780.
