SENIOR-RANKING CHINESE OFFICIAL CHARGED WITH CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

NEW YORK - August 28, 2001 - Zhou Yongkang, the General Secretary of the Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party of Sichuan Province, was served with a complaint yesterday afternoon around 3 o'clock, accused of violating the Torture Victims Protection Act and the Alien Tort Claims Act. The complaint was filed this morning in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Illinois. Among the charges listed in the complaint are:

• Disappearance
• Torture
• Other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment
• Crimes against humanity
• False imprisonment

The suspect, who was served the complaint in front of the 911 Center in Chicago, Illinois, is believed to have worked in concert with other officials of the Communist Party and high-ranking officials of the Sichuan provincial government to target practitioners of Falun Gong. Sources contend he authorized, supervised, and endorsed the use of means such as murder, torture and disappearance in order to intimidate and eliminate Falun Gong in his region.

The complaint is being filed by Haiying He, 32, of Boston, whose sister, an elementary school teacher in China, has been subjected to torture and other rights abuses in the custody of Sichuan Province authorities. She disappeared in June and has not been seen since; family believe that she has been executed.

Human Rights Attorney Terri E. Marsh of Washington D.C. and New York-based supporters of Falun Gong have scheduled a press conference in New York at noon to discuss the case. Detailed information regarding the alleged crimes will be made available: