(Clearwisdom.net) When the lawsuit filed by Falun Gong practitioners
against Jiang in a U.S. Federal District Court in Chicago, for the crimes of
"genocide" and "anti-humanity" enters into a critical
period, last Sunday, June 22, after holding five-day peaceful sit-ins in Chater
Garden to support the lawsuit, nearly 200 Hong Kong Falun Gong practitioners
continued their peaceful sit-in outside the Revenue Tower in Wan Chai, in hopes
that people can see clearly Jiang's brutal suppression of innocent people. They
also hoped through legal approach to put Jiang on trial so that he would be held
accountable for his atrocities.
Jiang's persecution extends outside China
HK Falun Gong practitioners Ms. Huang expressed that she came to join sit-in
because Jiang's brutal persecution of Falun Gong has extended outside China, the
obvious example is that HK government irrationally accelerates the enactment of
Article 23 legislation. Moreover, "Royalists" -- pro-China candidates
take the majority of seats in the Legislative Council, the Security Bureau took
no notice of public opinions, and would forcefully implement Article 23
legislation. The proscription mechanism in Article 23 fully showed that the
Mainland China would extend its control into Hong Kong to undermine HK's
independent judiciary and democratic political system. Another example of
Jiang's extension of persecution overseas is the Chinese Consulate in the US
hired people to beat Falun Gong practitioners who peacefully appealed. The court
finally found the persons who beat the practitioners guilty.
Ms. Huang also expressed that Jiang's relentless repression of Falun Gong in
China violates constitution and legal procedures, for instance, practitioners
are sent to forced labor camps and mental hospitals without going through any
legal procedure, and practitioners were deprived of right to defend themselves
in court. Falun Gong practitioners around the world therefore hoped to hold
Jiang and perpetrators accountable for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners
through judicial procedure in the US. The practitioners also hoped that the
people of the world would pay attention to the lawsuit, and hoped the world
would be a peaceful place and the brutal persecution would no longer occur.
Officials of ministry and provincial level were found guilty
Falun Gong practitioners recently took legal actions in the U.S. courts to
sue perpetrators for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners.
On June 20, 2003, a U.S. Magistrate Judge in San Francisco denied foreign
sovereign immunity to Beijing Party Secretary and former Beijing Mayor Liu Qi
and Deputy Governor of Liaoning Province Xia Deren, and found them guilty of
overseeing the torture of practitioners of Falun Gong. Through this verdict,
Judge Chen made sure the principle that sitting Chinese officials, no matter how
high their levels are, if they committed the crime against Falun Gong
practitioners, they would be held accountable by law.
At an earlier time, Zhao Zhifei, chief of police and second-in-command of
"610 Office" was found guilty in a Southern District court of New
York. In this first case in the U.S. against a Chinese official for persecuting
Falun Gong, the judge awarded nominal damages to the plaintiffs, including the
punitive and declaratory damages sought by plaintiffs.
The enactment of Article 23 legislation will damage the freedom of HK's later
generations
In addition, Ms. Huang pointed out that as the enactment of Article
legislation approached, Falun Gong practitioners worried that it would damage
Hong Kong's autonomy, and they had no idea if they would have opportunity to
hold peaceful appeals in Chater Garden and other places, so she cherished the
current free space and came to join the sit-in.
Ms. Huang revealed that she planned to participate in "July 1st
Parade," and she would also ask other practitioners to participate, as
Article 23 affects not only this generation of HK, it would also affect all
later generations. Every Hongkonger should pay attention to this matter.
People who oppose the legislation thought that even if they stood up, they
would be unable to stop the legislation. Ms. Huang, however, thought that a
voice represents a complaint. At present, many people have questioned Tung
government's policy, and people's expectation on him becomes lower and lower.
Moreover, the Security Bureau disregards public opinions on Article 23
legislation. She continued, "If I still keep silent, it equals to that I
accept this, so as a Hong Kong citizen, I hope other citizens to take to the
street and let their voices heard the very day."
Everyone knows that Article 23 legislation targets Falun Gong, as a Hong Kong
citizen, and Falun Gong practitioner, Ms. Huang thought Article 23 targets all
Hong Kong citizens, their freedom, democracy, freedom of expression and the
press would be restricted. What they could do is to affect the government in a
peaceful manner and a compassionate attitude. The government may again face up
to the righteousness and conscience. She knew that HK government bore the
pressure from the Mainland, but she said, the lawsuit against Jiang, showed that
perpetrators would be held accountable by law for persecuting Falun Gong sooner
or later.
Whether to proceed the lawsuit against Jiang will be decided by the end of
the month
Hong Kong Falun Gong practitioners held peaceful sit-ins in Chater Garden
from Last Monday to Friday, 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.. As there was more
practitioners' participation on weekend, they moved to outside Revenue Tower to
continue expressing their concerns for the lawsuit against Jiang. The activity
was held from 4:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. After that, they returned to Chater Garden
to continue their two-hour sit-in per day, until June 24, they called an end to
their sit-ins in support of the lawsuit against Jiang.
When the lawsuit against Jiang and activities for bringing to justice
globally are taking place around the world, it is said that the Chinese
government through diplomatic means to request the US government to use
"sovereign immunity" to ask the US court to stop proceeding the
lawsuit. By the end of June, US Federal District judge of Illinois in Chicago
will decide if he will accept and hear the case.
Chinese version available at
http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2003/6/25/52827.html