In Geneva, Mr. Philip Grant, attorney and President of TRIAL (Track Impunity Always), announces an international coalition to bring lawsuits against Jiang Zemin in “multiple countries.” [Full Statement]

GENEVA (EFGIC) – On March 18th, during the United Nations 59th Human Rights meeting, a Swiss attorney announced plans to launch a lawsuit against Jiang Zemin for torture, crimes against humanity and genocide if the former Chinese leader ever visits Switzerland.

And that, the Swiss attorney says, is just the beginning.

Philip Grant, legal representative to the plaintiffs and President of TRIAL (Track Impunity Always), a non-governmental organisation in Switzerland devoted to combating impunity, announced that he is organising an international coalition to bring Jiang to justice.

At a news conference held in Geneva Mr. Grant said, "...60 Falun Gong national associations around the world, in collaboration with TRIAL, are setting up an international coalition formed of reliable and devoted human rights lawyers to actively take up the defence of the numerous victims of Chinese repression, by spinning an ever tighter web around Jiang Zemin." (Full Statement)

Mr. Grant announced that, in the coming weeks, criminal complaints will be "prepared and/or filed" in a number of countries who possess universal jurisdiction for crimes of "torture, crimes against humanity and/or genocide."

Lawyer: “Mr. Jiang Zemin must count on the fact that, to his last breath, he might be tracked down outside of China.”

Mr. Grant made clear that all parties who assist in the persecution of Falun Gong under Jiang’s orders would also be targeted.

"From the top to the bottom of the Chinese State or of the Communist Party," Mr. Grant said, "those who plan or execute the scheme of terror and mass human rights violations against Falun Gong practitioners must know that they will be held accountable for their criminal behavior... Mr. Jiang Zemin must count on the fact that, to his last breath, he might be tracked down outside of China."

According to Mr. Grant, the persecution of Falun Gong is in violation of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which China has signed and ratified. Jiang Zemin or anyone who follows him in persecuting Falun Gong, Mr. Grant points out, can be immediately arrested as soon as they land in countries that have ratified this convention.

On March 15, 2003, Jiang Zemin stepped down from his post as President. According to Mr. Grant, Jiang Zemin will no longer be able to enjoy the prerogative of immunity granted to a head of state.

Other than his native Switzerland, Mr. Grant would not disclose which countries he is actively working with for the international coalition presumably to leave Jiang Zemin and others who persecute Falun Gong in the dark as to when and where they may face a lawsuit and arrest.

For the lawsuit prepared in Switzerland, the plaintiffs include: a graduate student from Ireland, Mr. Ming Zhao (video), who was tortured for almost 2 years in a Chinese labour camp, Ms. Yuzhi Wang from Harbin, China who was arrested and tortured until she lost most of her vision and Ms. Zhizhen Dai, an Australian citizen who is raising her young daughter on her own after her husband was tortured to death in China because he practised Falun Gong.

Extensive reports from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, official records at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the European Falun Gong Information Centre document how people are tortured and brainwashed to sign statements to give up their belief. Violent persecution continues for those who continue to hold onto their faith, including: rape, sodomy, forced abortion, forced drug injections, 30,000-volt electric shocks, beatings, stabbings, suffocations, drowning, sleep deprivation, long term confinement in small cages, and starvation.

Many sources in China estimate that millions are forced to leave their homes to avoid persecution.

Mr. Grant has no association with Falun Gong nor its practitioners.

Background

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa (about), is a practice of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal principle of “Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance.” It is a practice that was taught in private for thousands of years before being made public in 1992 by Mr. Li Hongzhi. Falun Gong has roots in traditional Chinese culture, but it is distinct and separate from other practices such as the religions of Buddhism and Taoism. Since its introduction in 1992, it quickly spread by word of mouth throughout China, and is now practiced in over 50 countries.

With government estimates of as many as 100 million practicing Falun Gong, China’s President Jiang Zemin outlawed the peaceful practice in July 1999 (report), fearful of anything touching the hearts and minds of more citizens than the Communist Party. Unable to crush the spirit of millions who had experienced improved health and positive life changes from Falun Gong, Jiang’s regime has intensified its propaganda campaign to turn public opinion against the practice while quietly imprisoning, torturing and even murdering those who practice it.

The European Falun Gong Information Centre has verified details of 636 deaths (reports / sources) since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. Government officials inside China, however, report that the actual death toll is well over 1,600, while expert sources estimate that figure to be much higher. Hundreds of thousands have been detained, with more than 100,000 being sentenced to forced labour camps, typically without trial.