Toronto Residents Investigate Legal Means to Rescue Their Mothers Who Are Persecuted in China

By Canadian Falun Gong practitioners

(Clearwisdom.net) Since July 18, 2004, Toronto residents Liang Biao, Zen Xiaonan, and Xiao Jin have visited six renowned human rights attorneys in the Toronto area regarding the situation of their mothers, who are persecuted in China because of practicing Falun Gong. They have requested them to investigate what legal means can be undertaken to bring the responsible persons to justice.

Due to the serious violations of Chinese law during their mothers' trials, the three decided to pursue legal action outside of China. Every attorney they consulted was shocked upon hearing the persecution that their mothers suffered and expressed their sympathy. They also provided a variety of useful legal advice. Zen Xiaonan and Liang Biao continue to discuss the potential legal action with their attorneys.

Liang Biao's 68 year-old mother, Ms. Huang Xiuchao, was arrested by the Suixi County Police Department of Guangdong Province two years ago and detained for nearly five months because she practices Falun Gong. On June 10, 2002, without notifying her family or allowing them to be present, the Suixi County Court illegally sentenced her to a four-year prison term. It was only after the appeal term had expired on June 28 that the court finally informed the family of the trial and verdict, leaving them with no way to appeal the sentence. At present, Ms. Huang continues to be held in the Guangdong Province Women's Jail.

Zen Xiaonan's mother, Ms. Huang Xin, is a retired employee of the Shenbei Hospital in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province. She was illegally detained on four separate occasions because she practices Falun Gong. When she went to the hospital to pick up her pension check in September 2003, the personnel of the local "610 Office" abducted her. Later, she was secretly sentenced to an 8-year prison term. As in the case of Liang Biao's mother, the family was not notified. Nor did the Heping District Court of Shenyang City allow Ms. Huang to ask for an attorney. Legal procedure was ignored, the verdict was not announced, and once again there was no way to appeal the sentence. Because Ms. Huang did not give up her practice of Falun Gong, she was transferred to the Prison Management Hospital of the Liaoning Province Women's Jail at the end of 2003. Without having a physician examine her or give a diagnosis, she was forced to take the antipsychotic, chlorpromazine, every day. This is a powerful drug with serious, potentially fatal side effects. High doses or long-term use can produce side effects including but not limited to involuntary movements, hallucinations, catatonic-like states, lethargy, bizarre dreams, paranoid reactions, seizures, staggering gait, weakness, twitching, tremor, jitteriness, drooling, mask-like face, spasms of the neck muscles and jaw muscles, difficulty swallowing, a feeling of tightness in the throat, rigidity of back muscles, a condition of constant motor restlessness characterized by feelings of muscle quivering, an inability to sit still and an urge to constantly move about, irregular heartbeat, enlarging of the heart, congestive heart failure, coma, sudden cardiac arrest, and circulatory collapse. Not all of these side effects are reversible once a person stops taking the drug. As a result of being forced to take this drug continuously for more than 7 months, Ms. Huang lost most of her memory. She is sometimes unable to speak and suffers partial paralysis of both legs. Her life has been placed in jeopardy through the inappropriate and unjustifiable use of this powerful antipsychotic agent. At this time, she is still being detained in the Sixth Squad of the Ninth Brigade of the Liaoning Province Women's Jail.

Xiao Jin's 66-year-old mother, Li Guangzhen, lives in Gongan County, Jinzhou City, Hubei Province. She was arrested by the local police and forcibly sent to a brainwashing center in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, because she explained the true situation of Falun Gong to people in the street on March 13, 2004. Thanks to the combined efforts of the overseas media and the Canadian Embassy in China, along with appeals from kind-hearted people, Ms. Li was released unconditionally on July 9, 2004.

Liang Biao, Zen Xiaonan and Xiao Jin remain very worried about their mothers' safety. Using various means, they are appealing to government officials and fellow citizens alike, drawing attention to the plight of their mothers who are persecuted in China because of their belief, and calling for assistance in obtaining their release from prison. On June 15, 2004, a press conference for rescuing family members was held in the Provincial Parliament of Ontario, Canada, which introduced in detail the three mothers' situations and suffering. The press conference was broadcast live to all parliament members and was later broadcast to the whole province through the Ontario TV Station. Many Chinese and English media also covered this event.

The case of Ms. Huang Xin, Zen Xiaonan's mother, has been reported in detail by many media including the Epochtimes, Radio Free Asia, and Toronto's Omni 2 TV Station. This case has also been reported to the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong, and it is being reported to many international organizations such as the United Nations Committee Against Torture and Amnesty International.

When a reporter asked why they did not pursue legal action directly in China, Zen Xiaonan said: "During the trial of my mother, the Heping District Police Department, the Heping District Court and the Procuratorate were controlled by the '610 Office'. They brazenly carried out the illegal trial. Many attorneys do not dare to provide defense for Falun Gong practitioners because they are afraid of retribution from the Jiang regime, which has absolute authority in the country. However, we won't give up. We will research the Chinese Law by ourselves and bring an accusation at an appropriate time. We will find justice for our mothers. We are going to bring all those who carry out persecution against such a good group of people to justice."

When a reporter interviewed Liang Biao, he said: "We are collecting personal information and criminal evidence of all related personnel who have been responsible for persecuting our mothers. We will put the information on record with the appropriate organizations and with the customs officials of every country. This evidence will be used to judge them in the near future."

Since eight Falun Gong practitioners signed jointly and brought an accusation against Jiang Zemin and the "610 Office" in charge of persecuting Falun Gong to the U.S. Federal Court in Chicago in October 2002, Jiang Zemin has been served with lawsuits in the U.S., Belgium, Spain, Germany, Korea and Taiwan on charges of genocide, torture, and crimes against humanity. In addition, the people of more countries, including the UK, Ireland, Demark, Iceland, Moldova, Armenia and Finland, are actively consulting attorneys in their countries. An action to bring Jiang Zemin, the chief criminal of persecuting Falun Gong, to justice was initiated and is gaining momentum all over the world. His principle accomplices, Luo Gan, Li Lanqing, Zen Qinghong, Zhou Yongkang, Zhao Zhongfei, Xia Deren, Li Qi, and others have also been formally sued in various countries. According to the related laws of these countries that the foreign officers (including their spouses, sons and daughters) who persecute freedom of belief are prohibited to enter these democratic countries, those persons' criminal records will be submitted and put on file in these countries' customs and immigration departments. Those persons who are listed will not be able to enter without facing legal action for their crimes.

On March 9, 2004, two international non-governmental organizations submitted a list of the 102 main Chinese leaders in the persecution of Falun Gong, including Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan, Liu Jing, Zhou Yougkang, Li Lianqing, and Wang Maolin, and requested the U.S. government to prohibit these people from entering the U.S. In September 2003 and January 2004, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police put Jiang Zemin and 44 other persons who persecute Falun Gong on a watch list. Once these people enter Canada, they could immediately face investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. According to the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Program (CAHWCP) of Canada, anyone responsible for genocide or crimes against humanity will be subject to repatriation, deportation or criminal prosecution.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/8/2/80804.html

 Yearly Archive   Printer Version