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Exposing Chinese Communist Government Officials and Confiscating Their American Assets -- Interview with FoFG USA Chairman Mark Palmer
Mark Palmer is the former US ambassador to Hungary and a vice-chair of
Freedom House, a prominent human rights organization. He is also a founding member of
Friends of Falun Gong USA, a U.S.-based non-profit human rights group. In an
interview with FoFG, he discusses the accountability of the Jiang Zemin regime
in the persecution of Falun Gong, and the corruption of the regime's elite, who
have brought vast sums of money out of China into the United States and other
countries. The following is an excerpt of the interview.
[...]
Q: Recently, an interview was held with Mr. Stewart
Weisman, Esq. who is the legal counsel for the World Organization to Investigate
the Persecution of Falun Gong, a group focusing on investigating the criminal
conduct of those involved in the persecution of Falun Gong, and bringing them to
justice. He indicated that the group will be seeking to confiscate the
properties of the corrupt government officials with the liquidated value of the
assets going to the victims of the persecution. Do you have any comment on this?
A: It is a well-established principle of jurisprudence that
victims should be compensated from the assets of those who commit crimes against
them. When this is done through a transparent judicial process based on the rule
of law it is fair and reasonable. Wherever the properties of corrupt Chinese
party cadre and government officials can be identified I fully support court
procedures and decisions resulting in the liquidated value of those assets going
to the victims -- Falun Gong and others in China -- who are suffering from
corruption and oppression.
Q: Given the recent reported successes of the United
States in tracking and stopping the flow of money into the hands of Al Qaeda
terrorists, how confident are you that the United States has the capacity to
monitor the "corrupt gains" earned from the persecution of Falun Gong
that the Chinese elite may be funneling into the U.S.?
A: The U.S. Government's ability to track, stop and seize
corrupt money flows has been significantly enhanced in recent years. We are most
successful when we have been able to work with other democratic governments. Of
course we are unlikely to receive genuine Chinese Communist Government
cooperation, because the Communist Party's leaders prevent it from taking
significant steps to end corruption. The Party has always prosecuted anti-graft
activists and activities as vigorously as corrupt cadres. While democratic
governments' ability in this field is far from perfected, it is highly likely
that a concerted and persistent campaign will unearth significant corrupt
Chinese assets in the United States and other countries. The problem is
political understanding and political will. [...] the general U.S. Government
view from the Nazi leaders forward to Milosevic and others is that political
leaders are subject to international legal actions. Surely Jiang Zemin should
not be exempted given the scale of his human rights violations.
[...] For the U.S. Government to aggressively find and expose
corrupt Chinese Communist elites and their American assets would endear us to
the vast majority of the Chinese people. It would encourage them to demand an
honest, accountable system in China, one in which judges act according to the
law and not the Communist bosses and their personal interests. Falun Gong's use
of the media and Internet here and in China is critical. Demonstrations in
Washington and other capitals focused on these issues are key. Using the courts
in the United States and elsewhere can bring huge benefits. FoFG USA is a non-profit human rights organization whose
mission is to support Falun Gong practitioners' freedom of belief. We are a
member-based organization and membership is free. To join, please visit our
website: http://www.fofg.org/act/act_join.php
Posting date: 5/18/2003 |