By a Canadian Falun Dafa practitioner
(Clearwisdom.net) The annual conference of the Canadian
Bar Association was recently held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, a city in central
Canada. The conference attracted many experts, including Canada's Minister of
Justice Mr. Irwin Cotler, the Minister of International Cooperation Ms. Aileen
Carroll, Chief Justice Beverly McLachilin, Deputy Minister of Justice Mr. Paul
Macklin and over 800 lawyers and other professionals in the legal system. This year, the theme of the conference was Law Beyond Borders. The opening
plenary included brief addresses from Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin and
Minister of Justice Irwin Cotler. United Nations Special Envoy Stephen Lewis
delivered a moving keynote address on his experiences combating the tragic
spread of AIDS in Africa. One attendee raised the question of how to enforce the rule of law
internationally, mentioning those in China who tortured professor Zhang Kunlun,
a Falun Gong practitioner. The host of the panel onstage at the time remarked
that the United Nations was not the only answer. She also encouraged the
Canadian justice system to help hold those who committed such crimes
responsible. Outside the conference building, practitioners held a peaceful rally and put
an anti-torture exhibit. Many media came to interview, film and photograph those
at the event. Co-founder of the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun
Gong (WOIPFG) Mr. Li Xun and American lawyer Dr. Terri Marsh were invited to
join a panel presenting a report on international human rights violations. The
panel provided an academic discussion of Falun Gong practitioners and others
pursuing justice in the face of gross violations of their most basic human
rights. This is the first time that practitioners have given presentations to
the CBA. Dr. Terri Marsh discussed the lawsuit against former Chinese president Jiang
Zemin from various legal aspects. Dr. Marsh analyzed three points in this case. Marsh said that the core principle of the Nuremburg Commission was that no
one could be above the law. She cited many cases of former heads of state and
high-ranking officials being convicted in the past. She also discussed the
concept of "Jus Cogens", which means that crimes recognized worldwide,
such as torture, crimes against humanity and genocide are the responsibility of
all countries of the world to face. These crimes don't hurt only one person. On
the contrary, they destroy the very fabric of humanity. Mr. Li Xun started his speech by citing a sentence from the testimony of
Professor David Ownby, Dean of the East Asia department at the University of
Montreal, "the severity of persecution of Falun Gong exceeds any other
persecution in China's history." He discussed how Falun Gong practitioners
used the law of Canada to stop the persecution. He cited American senator Mr.
Hiram Johnson's famous words in 1917, "The first casualty when war comes,
is truth". He pointed out the persecution of Falun Gong is totally based on
lies. He discussed the case of suing a Chinese language newspaper in Canada, the
case Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Joel Chipkar suing Deputy Chinese Consul Mr.
Pan Xinchun for libel and others. Legal professionals expressed their willingness to continue cooperation with
Falun Gong. The dean of a law school invited practitioners to lecture at his
university. To support the event, Falun Gong practitioners overcame many difficulties to
travel to Winnipeg. Among them were practitioners from Vancouver who drove 30
hours, Calgary and Edmonton who drove 15 hours, practitioners from Regina,
Minnesota and Toronto. Together they formed one body and tirelessly devoted
themselves to clarifying the truth to the legal system and local people.
Falun Gong practitioner Li Xun, renowned human rights lawyer Mr. David Matas
and Dr. Terri Marsh participate in a panel onstage
Chinese version available at
http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2004/8/19/82139.html