FDI: Criminal Lawsuit Filed in Iceland Charging Head of Gestapo-like Agency in China with Crimes of Torture, Genocide 
NEWS -- Sep. 08, 2003 Falun Dafa Information Centre, www.faluninfo.net
"Iceland has a legal and moral duty to prosecute
forcefully and bring to justice persons that are guilty of systematic violations
of international human rights"
-- Ragnar Adalsteinsson,
Advocate to the
Icelandic Supreme Court
and renowned human
rights attorney
íí
LONDON (FDI) -- For the past four years, the "6-10
Office" in China -- described by the United States Congress as an agency
charged with "overseeing the persecution of Falun Gong members through
organized brainwashing, torture, and murder" -- has been the primary
instrument for implementing a policy of genocide towards Falun Gong
practitioners. (about
"6-10 Office")
Today in a criminal lawsuit, the man in charge of the
"6-10 Office", Luo Gan, who is on a two-day visit to Iceland, has been
charged with crimes of torture, genocide and crimes against humanity. The
lawsuit was filed September 8 with the State Criminal Prosecutor in Iceland, Mr.
Bogi Nilsson (+354-5301600).
The complaint is based on the United Nations Convention
Against Torture, which Iceland signed in November 1996. As a signatory to the
Convention Against Torture, Icelandic Courts are authorized to hear cases which
allege violation of its terms.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include Falun Gong practitioners
from Australia, Canada, the United States, the UK, Italy, Holland, Denmark and
Ireland. They are represented by Mr. Ragnar Adalsteinsson, who is an Advocate to
the Icelandic Supreme Court and a renowned human rights attorney.
"Iceland has a legal and moral duty to prosecute
forcefully and bring to justice persons that are guilty of systematic violations
of international human rights," says Mr. Adalsteinsson, "including
violations of the United Nations Convention against Torture and other Cruel and
Degrading Treatment or Punsishment and the United Nations Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide."
The Icelandic lawsuit is the twelfth international lawsuit in
nine countries to emerge in the past two years against high-ranking Chinese
officials or government bodies for their roles in persecuting Falun Gong. (news
- website)
It is the fourth international lawsuit to target Luo Gan
and/or the "6-10 Office" he oversees.
Last month, one of the lawyers who prosecuted Chilean
dictator, Augusto Pinochet, filed a criminal lawsuit in Belgium against Luo Gan,
former Chinese leader, Jiang Zemin and one other senior-ranking Chinese official
on behalf of Falun Gong practitioners. The lawsuit charges the three men with
genocide, torture and crimes against humanity. (news)
In December 2002, a criminal lawsuit was filed in France
charging the former Vice-Premier of China, Mr. Lanqing Li -- who was the acting
administrative head for the "6-10 Office" -- with crimes of torture.
In July 2003, the French criminal court began legal proceedings on the case. (news)
In October 2002, a class-action lawsuit was filed in a U.S.
District Court charging former Chinese leader, Jiang Zemin, and the "6-10
Office" with torture, genocide and crimes against humanity. (news)
Luo Gan and the "6-10 Office" -- A Gestapo for
Falun Gong
According to an internal Chinese Communist Party document
dated June 7, 1999, in a speech to the Chinese Communist Party Central
Committee, Jiang ordered the Committee to set up an office for the
"leadership group" and named it "the Head Office for Handling the
Falun Gong Issue," also called the "6-10 Office," named for the
date it was officially founded. (about)
Jiang personally appointed three chiefs of the "6-10 Office," one of
whom was Luo Gan.
The "6-10 Office" became a well-organized and
independent system, spanning from the Central Government to the local
governments, and having absolute power over each level of administration in the
Party, as well as the political and judiciary branches.
In an Aug. 05, 2001, article from the Washington Post,
a three-prong tactic consisting of "violence," "high-pressure
propaganda campaign," and "brainwashing classes" was cited by a
government official as the approach used by the Chinese government to eradicate
Falun Gong. "Each aspect of the campaign is critical," the Post quoted
the official. "Pure violence doesn't work. Just [brainwashing] doesn't work
either. And none of it would be working if the propaganda hadn't started to
change the way the general public thinks. You need all three."
The Post article went on to say, "In January,
Beijing's secret 610 office, an interagency task force leading the charge
against Falun Gong, ordered all neighborhood committees, state institutions and
companies to begin using [brainwashing classes], government sources said. No
Falun Gong member is supposed to be spared. The most active members are sent
directly to labor camps where they are first 'broken' by beatings and other
torture."
According to sources in China and thousands of testimonies
from victims, the "6-10 Office" implemented a similar three-prong
directive given by Jiang in the later part of 2001 to all levels of government:
As vice-director of the "6-10 Office" Luo
personally inspected Political and Judiciary branches as well as labour camps
around the country to ensure all levels of government implement Jiang Zemin's
three-prong directive for handling Falun Gong practitioners
According to the United Nations Human Rights Commission's
2001 Report, Luo Gan had intimate knowledge of the forms of torture and
abuse used against Falun Gong practitioners in labour camps: "In October
2000," the UN report states, "prison guards in the Masanjia prison in
Shenyang, Liaoning province, allegedly stripped 18 female Falun Dafa
practitioners and put them into cells containing male convicted criminals. It is
reported that Luo Gan, a high-ranking Communist Party official, was aware of the
incident. The 18 women are said to remain in prison."
Lawsuit Plaintiffs: Victims of Severe Torture and Killings
From eight countries across Europe, North America and
Australia, the experience of the plaintiffs in the Icelandic lawsuit illustrate
the brutality carried out by Luo and the "6-10 Office."
40-year-old Ms. Jane Dai, a plaintiff from Australia, first
read about her husband's death in a news report on the Internet. He was tortured
to death by police in China for refusing to renounce his Falun Gong practice,
and his partially decomposed body was later found in an abandoned hut. Ms. Dai
struggled for months to obtain her late-husband's ashes from Chinese authorities
and has spent the last two years touring the world with her young daughter
raising awareness about the persecution that killed her husband.
Graduate student, Zhao Ming -- a plaintiff who studies at
Ireland's Trinity College -- was detained by Chinese authorities in 2000 after
he returned to China for the holidays. Because he practices Falun Gong, Zhao was
severely tortured in Tuanhe Labour camp located just outside Beijing. Due to
international pressure, Zhao was finally released in 2002.
47-year-old Ms. Wang Yuzhi is a plaintiff who had been a
successful businesswoman in northeast China before she was imprisoned in the
notoriously violent Wanjia Labour Camp because she practices Falun Gong. After
months of prolonged torture and abuse, Labour Camp officials feared Ms. Wang
would die in their custody and so released her to avoid responsibility. Soon
after, Ms. Wang was able to escape China and now lives in Vancouver, Canada.
After making her story public, her family members were rounded up in China.
For more information about Luo Gan, Falun Gong, and
international efforts to end the persecution of Falun Gong in China, please
visit www.faluninfo.net.
Contact information: Icelandic Attorney Ragnar Adalsteinsson:
+354-6961306
Falun Dafa InfoCenter -- Europe: Li Shao: +44-7810554394;
North America: Levi Browde: +1-914-720-0963
# # #
NEWS -- Sep. 08, 2003
Falun Dafa Information Centre, www.faluninfo.net
Background
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa (about),
is a practice of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal
principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." It is a practice
that was taught in private for thousands of years before being made public in
1992 by Mr. Li Hongzhi. Falun Gong has roots in traditional Chinese culture, but
it is distinct and separate from other practices such as the religions of
Buddhism and Taoism. Since its introduction in 1992, it quickly spread by word
of mouth throughout China, and is now practiced in over 50
countries.
With government estimates of as many as 100
million practicing Falun Gong, China's President Jiang Zemin outlawed the
peaceful practice in July 1999 (report),
fearful of anything touching the hearts and minds of more citizens than the
Communist Party. Unable to crush the spirit of millions who had experienced
improved health and positive life changes from Falun Gong, Jiang's regime has
intensified its propaganda campaign to turn public opinion against the practice
while quietly imprisoning, torturing and even murdering those who practice it.
The Falun Dafa Information Centre has verified details of 780
deaths (reports
/ sources)
since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. In October 2000,
however, Government officials inside China reported that the actual death toll
was well over 1,600, while expert sources estimate that figure to be much
higher. Hundreds
of thousands have been detained, with more than 100,000
being sentenced to forced labour camps, typically without trial.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE FALUN DAFA
INFORMATION CENTER -- John Nania 612-237-3232, Levi Browde 914-720-0963,
Erping Zhang 646-533-6147, or Feng Yuan 917-941-1097. Email: faluninfoctr@nycmail.com,
Website: http://www.faluninfo.net/
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