International Media Focus on Genocide Lawsuit against Bo Xilai During U.S. Visit (Photo)

(Clearwisdom.net, April 25, 2004) On April 22, 2004, Bo Xilai, the Minister of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, was sued by Falun Gong practitioners for genocide, torture and crime against humanity to United States District Court of the District of Columbia during his visit to the United States. Many major media worldwide reported this incident.

On April 24, Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that Falun Gong practitioners filed a lawsuit in U.S. Federal court charging Chinese Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai for genocide and torture committed during his tenure as governor of Liaoning Province.

AFP reported that Bo Xilai visited Washington this week as member of Vice Primer Wu Yi's delegation. He was served with legal papers when he was attending a reception banquet U.S. government held for Wu Yi.

One spokesperson of U.S. Department of State said that he was aware this civil suit, however, he wasn't clear if the legal papers of this lawsuit filed in United States District Court of the District of Columbia have been properly delivered.

Chinese officials refused to comment on this incident. The document submitted to the court alleged that Bo Xilai played a major role in the persecution of the Falun Gong spiritual movement.

On April 23, Routers reported, a State Department spokesman said he was aware a civil suit had been filed but it was unclear if the papers, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., had been properly served.

According to the report of Reuters, Attorney Sklar said that the Liaoning provincial government is considered one of the worst abusers of Falun Gong practitioners. The lawsuit papers pointed out that Bo "planned and carried out a sustained and deliberate set of policies and actions that resulted in the arbitrary and unlawful arrest, detention, persecution and in some cases execution of the plaintiffs."

The report said: "under international law, genocide is defined as intentional acts 'to destroy in whole or part a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.'"

The report said that the suit alleged Bo's activities met this definition because "they consisted of an intentionally inflicted policy and practice, carried out under color of law, of inflicting serious bodily harm, and in a number of death cases while in detention, against members of a spiritual group."

Sklar said the suit was the fourth brought in the United States against Chinese officials for human rights abuses against Falun Gong, a spiritual movement that the communist government in Beijing considers a threat.

At the end of this report, Reuters pointed out that the State Department, in its latest human rights report, said China's government in 2003 continued its crackdown on Falun Gong and thousands of its practitioners remained imprisoned in jails, labor camps and psychiatric facilities.

On April 24, World Daily reported that Liaoning Falun Gong practitioner Li Weixin delegated attorney to file a civil suit in United States District Court of the District of Columbia against Bo Xilai on April 22. Bo, the Minister of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, was visiting Washington on the same day.

The report said that legal papers of this suit was delivered to Bo Xilai personally by a Process Server hired by the plaintiff around 6:40 p.m. of the same day in front of the Fairmont Hotel.

Citing a report of Faluninfo.net, World Daily said that Bo Xilai opened the envelope and threw the papers on to the ground after he realized it was court summon. In civil case no. 1.04CV00649 (Li Weixun v. Bo Xilai), the plaintiffs are Li Weixun and other victims. They sued ex-governor of Liaoning Province Bo Xilai for abusing his power to severely persecute Falun Gong practitioners and tramp on human rights. Besides violating international laws and the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, his conducts also violated the Alien Tort Claims Act and Torture Victims Protection Act of U.S.

The World Daily also reported that Attorney Lana Han pointed out that plaintiffs can request the court to issue a default judgment if Bo Xilai doesn't reply the court summon.

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