Mar 03, 2004

It is with great disappointment that I read the Taiwan High Court has rejected the suit filed by Falun Gong practitioners against former Chinese president Jiang Zemin ("Human rights trump sovereignty," Feb. 28, page 8).

Recent developments in international law are advancing towards "universal jurisdiction" for egregious abuses of human rights, regardless of when, where and by whom they were committed. The Belgium law of universal jurisdiction passed in 1993 (with subsequent amendments) spearheads the trend that human rights should indeed trump over issues of sovereignty and nationality.

The arrest warrant case in the International Court of Justice and Augusto Pinochet trial in the UK's House of Lords have stripped acting and former heads of state of their immunity from prosecution, thus affirming that those who commit grave offences against well-established rights and freedoms are accountable for their crimes. The statutes of the recently established International Criminal Court (ICC) also affirm that domestic courts should aid the ICC in prosecuting government officials wherever and whoever they may be. After the apprehension of Slobodan Milosovic, it seems official title and position is no defense.

Jiang's persecution of Falun Gong members and his campaign to demonize the so-called "evil cult" is well documented worldwide. We have all seen images of how protesters -- both Chinese and foreign -- have been kicked, beaten and brutally dragged away by the police in Tiananmen. This is what we have seen. According to those released by the Chinese government, what happens behind the scenes is even more heinous.

Whatever the merits were for striking the case out, the tyrants live another day with blood on their hands. It is deeply worrying that Taiwan, where the government has sought to establish a state bound by the rule of law and conforming to the norms of the international legal plane, has not seized the Jiang suit as an opportunity to prove itself suitable to that cause.

David Chen

London

Source: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/edit/archives/2004/03/03/2003100974

Posting date: 3/4/2004
Original article date: 3/3/2004
Category: News & Media Reports

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