After filing the lawsuit on August 20, Falun Gong practitioners Dai Zhizhen, Shi Yuhong and lawyer George-Henri Beauthier (from left to right) held a press conference in Brussels, Belgium (AFP)

(Clearwisdom.net) The Epoch Times reported on August 21^st: On Wednesday, August 20, a criminal lawsuit charging the former Chinese Communist leader, Jiang Zemin with the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and state directed torture, was submitted to federal prosecutors by six Falun Gong practitioners residing in Belgium. Two of Jiang's most senior accomplices, Luo Gan (the head of the Political and Legislative Affairs Committee) and Li Lanqing (the former director of the "610 office") are also named in the lawsuit.

The Belgian Falun Dafa Association said in a letter to the media that the lawsuit was filed under the recently enacted Belgian law. The lawsuit is the 11th international lawsuit to emerge in the last two years against Chinese government officials or entities for their role in the persecution of Falun Gong. Three of these lawsuits in the United States have already handed down judgments against Chinese officials for torture and other crimes committed in the persecution of Falun Gong.

Reuters' news from Brussels on August 19^th reported that a top Belgium lawyer would bring a court case against Jiang on Wednesday, saying his crackdown on the Falun Gong spiritual movement broke Belgium's human rights law.

Reuters reported that Georges-Henri Beauthier, who is representing the Falun Gong practitioners in this action, has represented the plaintiffs in Belgium's most notorious case, the case against Marc Dutroux, who is to stand trial for abduction, rape and murder. He also brought the first successful case under the human rights law, in which two Rwandan nuns were sentenced to between 12 and 20 years for their part in the country's 1994 genocide.

It is reported that one of the plaintiffs in the case, Matthias Slaats, told Reuters on Tuesday a number of Falun Gong members in countries including Belgium, the United States and Australia were filing the suit for torture, crimes against humanity and genocide.

AFP reported on August 19^th that six followers of the Chinese spiritual movement Falun Gong are to file a lawsuit against former president Jiang Zemin. The suit will be handed to federal prosecutors on Wednesday.

AFP's report said that the suit will be brought under new legislation adopted by Belgian lawmakers on August 5. The new law, which covers "serious violations of international humanitarian law", allows suits to be brought only if there is a link between the alleged crimes and Belgium. One of the plaintiffs in the new case, 31-year-old Belgian computer programmer Matthias Slaats, said Tuesday the lawsuit fulfilled the required criteria.

The Belgian Falun Dafa Association said in a letter to the media that between 1992 and 1999, Falun Gong flourished throughout China. The Chinese governments' own survey indicated there were between 70-100 million people who had taken up the practice by early 1999. Falun Gong extensively and deeply touched the hearts and minds of people from all walks of life. In July 1999, however, fearful and jealous that Falun Gong had reached such a broad range of Chinese people, Jiang Zemin used his power as the country's top leader to ban the practice -- an act that went against the decision of Politburo Standing Committee members and Premier and was, in fact, illegal because it overstepped the power granted to Jiang by the Chinese Constitution.

According to sources in China and thousands of cases of testimony from victims, Jiang implemented the persecution through a three-prong directive to all levels of government:

1) Destroy Falun Gong practitioners physically through systematic, state-sanctioned forced-labor, torture and killings.

2) Destroy Falun Gong practitioners' reputations through a worldwide media campaign to demonize Falun Gong and falsely depict its practitioners as dangerous 'cult' members and a menace to society.

3) Destroy Falun Gong practitioners financially, which, in a Communist nation where the government can exercise nearly complete control over employment and housing, allowed Jiang to deny Falun Gong practitioners the basic necessities for living. Practitioners lost their salaries and pensions, were fired from their jobs, were evicted from their homes in addition to suffering widespread extortion, confiscation of property and state-enforced fines when detained by police.

This directive was carried out primarily by the "610 Office" -- a Gestapo-like agency Jiang created for the sole purpose of implementing his "eradicate Falun Gong" policy. The United States Congress has called the "610 Office" an agency charged with "overseeing the persecution of Falun Gong members through organized brainwashing, torture, and murder."

In the last four years, almost 800 deaths from torture have been verified, while the true death toll is believed to be in the thousands. Thousands more have been incarcerated in mental hospitals, where many are tortured. More than 100,000 have been sent to forced labor camps, typically without trial. And these are just the numbers we can ascertain behind the information blockade Jiang Zemin has erected around the persecution to hide the true facts from the world.

The Belgian Falun Dafa Association pointed out in the letter that but the real terror of Jiang's genocide policy towards Falun Gong is not found merely in the number of dead or the number of imprisoned. What Jiang unleashed in July 1999 was a horrific form of genocide that not only seeks to "physically destroy" 70-100 million people because they believe in "Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance", but has sought to destroy the belief itself.

The letter continued that police, detention centers and labor camp officials throughout China are granted awards and promotions for successfully extracting statements from Falun Gong practitioners renouncing their faith regardless of the methods they use. At the same time, they are fired from their posts and/or subjected to punishment from their superiors for failing to secure such renunciations.

The letter also cited the report from the Wall Street Journal about the torture death of 58-year-old Ms. Chen to depict Jiang's horrific form of genocide:

The day before Ms. Chen Zixiu died, her captors again demanded that she renounce her faith in Falun Dafa. Barely conscious after repeated jolts from a cattle prod, the 58-year-old stubbornly shook her head.

Enraged, the local officials ordered Ms. Chen to run barefoot in the snow. Two days of torture had left her legs bruised and her short black hair matted with pus and blood, said cellmates and other prisoners who witnessed the incident. She crawled outside, vomited and collapsed. She never regained consciousness, and died on Feb. 21.

The letter pointed out that Jiang's horrific form of genocide is a campaign of terror that does not just destroy lives, but destroys faith. It should not be allowed to exist in the modern world. It is a terror that must be brought to justice.

The letter continued that last week, with the passing of the former Ugandan Dictator, Idi Amin, the world was reminded of the grave injustice done by allowing brutal dictators to go untried for their alleged crimes.

The letter called upon the Belgian people, the Belgian government, the media and members of the international community to join them in ensuring that justice is served, and not allowing those dictators who illegally monopolized political power to prevail.

The letter asked people to join us in ensuring that -- in the end -- it is not those who have illegally monopolized political power who prevail, but rather, it is those who stand on the side of justice and rule-of-law who prevail.

The Falun Dafa Information Center said that on the same day (August 20^th) when the lawsuit against Jiang was officially filed, many Belgian politicians, including King of Belgium, would receive a written statement from the Belgian Falun Dafa Association to announce the lawsuit. The letter explained the position of the Belgian Falun Dafa Association and Falun Dafa Associations around the world, and briefly presented the steps the Belgian practitioners had taken, and the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners around the world that would be brought to the attention of the Belgian King.

It is reported that NVA Party spokesperson has replied to the letter and expressed their support for the Falun Gong practitioners' lawsuit. The letter said, "... the NVA Party supports the action you have initiated, and sincerely hopes that the legal action would have a positive result."

Belgian media organizations received the news release detailing the lawsuit, and some media outlets have interviewed Falun Gong practitioners.

Some civil organizations have recently written letters to the lawyer of the plaintiffs and the plaintiffs themselves to express their support for the lawsuit against Jiang in Belgium. The "Global Coalition for Bringing Jiang to Justice" preparation committee believed in its letter that the lawsuit carried "profound meaning." The letter called for everyone to "Jointly gather the strength of the human civilization to completely bring Jiang to justice in the court of conscience, in the court of morality and in the court of law. " The "Global Mission to Rescue Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners " said that this was "an act of justice." "Friends of Falun Gong USA" expressed its support for the lawsuit in its letter and pointed out that heads of state should not enjoy immunity for the crime of genocide.

Posting date: 8/25/2003
Original article date: 8/24/2003
Category: Falun Dafa Worldwide
Translated on 8/24/2003
Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2003/8/21/55968.html

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