(Clearwisdom.net) We are witnessing an important and historic event. The National Court of Spain recently indicted five high-ranking Chinese officials, including Jiang Zemin and Luo Gan, for their active participation in the persecution of Falun Gong in China. They are being charged with the crimes of genocide and torture. The Court indicted these five officials in mid-November 2009, and they have six weeks to respond. If there is no response after six weeks, they can be arrested and tried in any country that has an extradition treaty with Spain. On December 17, 2009, a federal judge in Argentina ruled that Jiang Zemin and Luo Gan committed genocide and torture, and issued international arrest warrants for Jiang and Luo for their roles in the persecution of Falun Gong.
This Argentine ruling is similar to the one handed down by the National Court of Spain. Luo Gan, the Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Politics and Legislation Committee, visited Argentina in December 2005. During that time, Argentine Falun Dafa practitioners entrusted lawyers Adolfo Casabal Elas and Alejandro Guillermo Cowes to file a lawsuit against Luo with the Federal Court for Criminal Punishment of Argentina. The No. 9 Court of the Argentine Federal Court accepted the suit, and Judge Octavio Araoz de Lamadrid handled the case.
It's quite moving to know that during the investigation over a period of four years, given all the pressure from the Chinese Communist Party in the name of the Chinese government, the judge persisted and ultimately completed his investigation inside and outside of Argentina. The judge met with victims of the persecution, as well as non-practitioner witnesses. He also included in his investigation reports from the United Nations and other organizations regarding Jiang and Luo's persecution of Falun Gong. He ruled that Luo Gan committed the crimes of genocide and torture.
The judge also found that Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan's superior, was the initiator of the persecution of Falun Gong. He, therefore, included Jiang Zemin in Luo's case and handled the two cases together. The judge charged Jiang with the same crimes as Luo Gan.
In a 142-page legal document, the judge extensively documented the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China, and the role that Jiang and Luo played.
Judge Lamadrid explained in his decision that "[Jiang Zemin and Luo Gan's] strategy of genocide that has been designed encompassed a range of actions with a total contempt for life and human dignity. The end devised--the eradication of Falun Gong--justified all utilized means. In this way, torment, torture, disappearances, deaths, brainwashing, psychological torture, were the currency of the persecution of its practitioners."
Judge Lamadrid emphasized that he had adopted principles of universal jurisdiction in handling the case. He said in his ruling, "I understand that in the present case the principle of universal jurisdiction must be applied in view of the [severity of the] crimes, the number of victims affected, and the ideological nature of the actions taken against members of the Falun Gong religious group."
In the past two months, these judges from Spain and Argentina took action against the Chinese officials who have persecuted Falun Gong. They both adopted principles of universal jurisdiction when handling their cases. In other words, both judges ruled that Jiang Zemin and Luo Gan not only persecuted and tortured kind-hearted Falun Gong practitioners who believe in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, but also disregarded human lives and commonly held principles when they imposed genocide and torture. There are also pending cases in the following countries against Jiang Zemin for his policies of genocide and torture against Falun Gong practitioners: Belgium, Germany, Korea, Canada, Greece, Chili, Australia, Bolivia, Netherlands, Peru, Switzerland, New Zealand, Japan, the United States
Based on the principle that human rights and morality should transcend any political and economic considerations, it is clear that Jiang Zemin and Luo Gan committed crimes and damaged human society when persecuting Falun Gong. More and more people are learning the facts about the persecution and identifying with the practice of Falun Gong's principles, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. As time goes on, more people will be determined to step forward and support Falun Gong practitioners to safeguard their beliefs. Lawsuits against Jiang and other chief culprits will find support in more countries, and ultimately, Jiang and his gang will be brought to justice.
