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Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination Makes a Just Decision in Falun Gong Case
(Clearwisdom.net) Minghui reporter Rui Ran from Boston: The
Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination has reached a verdict
on a case filed by two reporters Feng Xuebin and Yu Kexin, who claimed they were
discriminated against by two Chinese community groups for their belief in Falun
Gong. Defendants Li Gang, president of the Overseas Chinese
Entrepreneur Association and Xiao Lei, acting president of American
Chinese Medical Association, were issued a Finding of Probable Cause. True cause behind discrimination is belief of Falun Gong On the evening of June 14, 2003, thirteen Chinese community organizations
jointly sponsored an anti-SARS benefit concert in Sudbury, Massachusetts. Feng
Xuebin and Yu Kexin went there as reporters for New Tang Dynasty TV. Although
all other media were given entry, Feng Xuebin and Yu Kexin were told by Mr. Gang
Li and Mr. Lei Xiao that they could not enter, and had to be escorted from the
building when they refused to leave. Feng Xuebin and Yu Kexin videotaped the
whole incident. The videotape became a crucial piece of evidence later in the
trial. The tape shows that Mr. Xiao and Mr. Li stopped the reporters and told
them they could not enter without tickets. When the reporters tried to buy
tickets, they were told no tickets were sold at the concert, yet it could be
seen from the videotape that people were buying tickets and entering. Later,
someone gave the reporters tickets. Mr. Xiao immediately approached that person
and said something to him, which resulted in him withdrawing the tickets. Mr.
Xiao and Mr. Li subsequently called the police and forced the reporters to
leave. Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination representatives pointed
out in the verdict that the although the defendants denied discriminating
against the two reporters, the videotape shows that the defendants knew the
reporters were Falun Gong practitioners. Mr. Xiao ridiculed the reporters' faith
and the founder of Falun Gong; the concert tickets were sold to the public at
the door; someone later gave the reporters a ticket, but Mr. Xiao pulled that
donor aside and said something to him, after which the person took back the
tickets. The tape also reveals Mr. Xiao saying to the reporters, "I told
him you are Falun Gong [practitioners]." Section 92A, Chapter 272 of the General Laws of Massachusetts dictates: "No owner, lessee, proprietor, manager, superintendent, agent or
employee of any place of public accommodation, resort or amusement shall,
directly or indirectly, by himself or another, publish, issue, circulate,
distribute or display, or cause to be published, issued, circulated, distributed
or displayed, in any way, any advertisement, circular, folder, book, pamphlet,
written or painted or printed notice or sign, of any kind or description,
intended to discriminate against or actually discriminating against persons of
any religious sect, creed, class, race, color, denomination, sex, sexual
orientation..." Therefore, the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination pointed
out in the verdict, that the plaintiffs filed a self-explanatory suit, which is
they were rejected at a public place only because of their religious belief; on
the other hand, the defendants could not provide any reasonable and
non-discriminatory explanation proving otherwise. The reason behind the discrimination is that Chinese consular officials
arrived The Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination mentioned that Mr.
Xiao and Mr. Li called the police to get rid of the reporters. According to that
evening's police report, the defendants claimed, "Chinese consular
officials will attend this event. These (the reporters) are Falun Gong
practitioners and they want to interfere with the activities." According to
the videotape, Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination pointed
out that, "The plaintiffs did not do anything to interfere with the
concert, nor is there any evidence showing they would do so." Yu Kexin, one of the plaintiffs said, "Before the concert we had
numerous interviews with local Chinese organizations including the two defending
organizations, and we all had a good relationship. However, at events that
Chinese consular officials attend, the reporters would be pressured when
attempting to conduct interviews." Li Gang, one of the defendants, later said in private that he had invited
Chinese consular officials from the Chinese Consulate General in New York. He
was worried that the appearance of Falun Gong practitioners would displease
these officials. Something similar happened at another event. On the evening of January 30,
2004, a New Year gala performance was held at the Irvine Auditorium on the
campus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, co-sponsored by the
Chinese Consulate General in New York, the Philadelphia Department of Commerce,
and the China Trade Center of Philadelphia. This was the first of a series of
activities of the "Splendor of China" program for cultural and
business exchanges between the City of Philadelphia and partners in China.
However, reporters from NTD TV were again blocked from the event. We learned
from media reports that Huikang Huang, Deputy Consul General of the Chinese
Consulate in New York was a surprise guest at the event. The source of these incidents is the Jiang regime's persecution of Falun Gong In the past several years, many Chinese consulates played both direct and
indirect roles in discriminating against and harassing overseas Falun Gong
practitioners. For example, they unreasonably held Falun Gong practitioners'
passports that needed renewing, secretly took pictures of Falun Gong
practitioners appealing in front of Chinese consulates, directly instigated
Chinese community organizations to reject Falun Gong practitioners, distributed
slanderous information to foreign governments, and other discriminatory acts.
The Chinese consulate did this because of Jiang Zemin's orders. Jiang started
this persecution out of personal interests and used the whole government
machinery to carry out the persecution. Chinese embassies and consulates abroad
are only some of the perpetrators of the persecution. The corrupt deeds of consular officials of such a large country as China,
ignoring diplomatic policies by slandering Falun Gong and creating conflicts
within Chinese communities abroad, have severely damaged China's image in the
world. Recently, the Ontario Supreme Court announced Pan Xinchun, Deputy Consul
General in Toronto, Canada, guilty of libel against a Falun Gong practitioner,
which has sounded the alarm to Jiang's cohorts abroad. The anti-discrimination verdict handed down by the Massachusetts
Commission Against Discrimination sends a clear message that Jiang's
attempt to spread its persecution of Falun Gong to free foreign countries will
not be tolerated. Posting date: 4/4/2004 |