Details of German Lawsuit Filed Against Perpetrators of the Persecution Against Falun Gong

On November 21 2003, a lawsuit was filed with the German Federal Supreme Court, charging former Chinese head-of state Jiang Zemin and 16 other high-ranking Chinese leaders with Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity, Torture, Murder and the Severe Bodily Harm of Falun Gong practitioners. The lawsuit was filed by the German Falun Dafa Association, together with forty Falun Gong practitioners from Germany, China, America, Canada, Australia and Ireland. The plaintiffs’ legal representative is Mr. Wolfgang Kaleck, a lawyer from Berlin who famously represented German victims of military dictator Augusto Pinochet.

Forty Plaintiffs

Among the forty plaintiffs are 14 Falun Gong practitioners who are German nationals. They were arrested and beaten because they made an appeal for Falun Gong on Tiananmen Square, Beijing. The others are 15 practitioners from different countries, including Zhao Ming from Ireland, Zhang Cuiying and Dai Zhizhen from Australia, and Canadian Professor Chang Kunlun. They or their families have been tortured or persecuted to death in the persecution of Falun Gong. There are another 11 plaintiffs: 9 German nationals and two Chinese nationals, who are all Falun Gong practitioners living in Germany

Sixteen Named Defendants

The accused include:

• Chinese head-of-state Jiang Zemin
• Li Lanqing, former Vice Premier and director of the “610 Office” (a Gestapo-like organization set up specifically to persecute Falun Gong)
• Luo Gan, Standing Member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and Vice Director of “610 Office”
• Xia Deren, Deputy governor of Liaoning Province
• Liu Qi, former Beijing Vice Mayor and also President of the Beijing Planning Committee of the 2008 Olympic Games
• Zhao Zhifei, Deputy Head of Hubei Province’s Department of Public Security
  Jiang Wanlai, Section Chief of the General Administration Department in Beijing Tuanhe Forced Labour Camp
• Yang Fenghua, Section Chief of the Education Department in Beijing Tuanhe Forced Labour Camp
• Jiang Haiquan, Deputy Lead of Branch 3 in Beijing Tuanhe Forced Labour Camp
• Tu Chiwen, the murderer in Beijing Tuanhe Forced Labour Camp
• Chuang Hsuhung, the murderer in Beijing Tuanhe Forced Labor Camp
• Wang Chao, a prison guard in the Dispatching Office in Beijing Tuanhe Forced Labor Camp
• Sha Hsuehmei, a prison guard in the Dispatching Office in Beijing Tuanhe Forced Labor Camp
• Wang Chaofeng, a prison guard in Beijing Xinan Forced Labor Camp (now Beijing Female Forced Labor Camp)
• Cheng Tsui E, a prison guard in Beijing Xinan Female Forced Labor Camp
• Chiao Hsuehhsien in Beijing Xinan Forced Labour Camp and the other defendants who are unnamed in the lawsuit, in particular the government officials and the heads of the “610 Office” in such seriously persecuted provinces as Liaoning Province, Jilin Province, Heilongjiang Province and Shangdong Province, who are mentioned in the additional testimony (which is from the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong.)

Criminal Offences Judged by the Rule of Law

In the 86-page indictment, Mr. Kaleck detailed the comprehensive and systematic torture, murder and mental persecution that Falun Gong practitioners have been subjected to since 1999. The suit is based on testimonies from such well-respected human rights organizations as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, documentation and reports of the persecution against Falun Gong from the UN Refugee Agency and international media, the testimony of the 15 Falun Gong practitioners who had personally experienced persecution, together with the documentation of the deaths of 818 Falun Gong practitioners published on Minghui.net. Combined with analysis of the great numbers of persecution cases, and China’s official papers and media reports, it is apparent that the defendants in the lawsuit have committed the crimes of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity as stated by International Criminal Law.

(1) Genocide

German Criminal Law (220a) (before its amendment the article could be applied to all cases happening prior to June 30 2002) and Article 6 of the German International Criminal Codes regulate Genocide on the basis of Article 2 of Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Article 4 of Special International Criminal Tribunals in Yugoslavia and Rwanda, Article 6 of the Rome Statute of International Criminal Court as well as international judicial cases. Generally speaking, genocide is defined as: any state or any agent similar to a state, any government or any agent similar to a government which undertakes large-scale, systematic action with the intent to destroy a racial or religious group with their own distinct characteristics.

China’s official papers prove that the persecution against Falun Gong practitioners in China was instigated by Jiang Zemin. Manipulating his power, Jiang gave a political directive to comprehensively destroy Falun Gong. The “610 Office” was specifically set up to persecute Falun Gong, demanding all governmental and judicial levels, prisons, detention centres, forced labour camps, brain-washing classes and mental hospitals to carry out its directives. In forced-labour camps or prisons Falun Gong practitioners have been tortured, murdered and persecuted in accordance with the directive.

The purpose and intention of destroying the spiritual practice of Falun Gong is illustrated by the torture and murder of Falun Gong practitioners in over 30 provinces in China and also by the imprisonment, forced labour education, torture, and mental persecution that over one million Falun Gong practitioners have suffered from. From the great number of cases, we can see that they are consciously and systematically torturing and murdering Falun Gong practitioners. It is because they are Falun Gong practitioners that they are inflicted and murdered.

The intent to destroy Falun Gong as a group with a specific belief is also demonstrated by the use of various extreme methods to “convert” Falun Gong practitioners. From the great number of testimonies and numerous deaths of practitioners a pattern of persecution can be detected: First, the police arrest those who are thought to be Falun Gong practitioners and then imprison them in the detention centre or the police station where they are forced to watch and listen to lots of anti-Falun Gong materials and to asked to renounce their belief in Falun Gong and stop all Falun Gong activities. If the practitioners refuse to give up their belief, they will be put under more serious monitoring after their release. Then the police will take another chance to arrest the practitioners and torture them physically and spiritually so as to make them renounce their belief. Usually Falun Gong practitioners are sent to the labour camps without any legal trial and the term of imprisonment can be prolonged arbitrarily. During the imprisonment in the labour camps or prisons, the prison guards forcefully brainwash the practitioners by demanding they read anti-Falun Gong materials, while brutally torturing them in an attempt to make them renounce their belief. If practitioners do not give up their belief, the physical and spiritual torture inflicted on them will be escalated and prolonged. If practitioners determinedly refused to give up their belief, they might even be tortured to death.

In addition, slanderous propaganda against Falun Gong is used to turn public opinion against the practice. Furthermore, the vicious torture, murder and persecution of Falun Gong practitioners arouses fear among the public and thus keeps them away from Falun Gong. As a result, Falun Gong is unlikely to attract more practitioners. Even though in the short-term, Falun Gong practitioners cannot be all be “converted” or murdered, the intention is to spread state-terrorism throughout the whole society to destroy Falun Gong in the long term.

Abundant evidence indicates that the persecution against Falun Gong happening in China has the purposeful and systematic intent to destroy the spiritual practice of Falun Gong. Therefore, the persecution can be defined as Genocide.

(2) Crimes Against Humanity.

Article 7 of the German International Criminal Codes defines Crimes Against Humanity as such criminal offences as murder, torture and sexual violence committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population. Documentation from human rights organizations, UN and media illustrates that the 4-year persecution against Falun Gong is a comprehensive and systematic violation of human rights. Numerous cases prove the widespread incidence of torture, murder and sexual violence.

Criminal Responsibility of the Accused.

Former Chinese head-of-state Jiang Zemin, personally launched and ordered the persecution against Falun Gong. Many of his official papers and statements prove his leading role in the persecution. He personally set up a nationwide organization to persecute Falun Gong, the “610 Office”, and through this organization gave all kinds of secrets directives and orders to persecute Falun Gong.

The other two defendants, former vice premier Li Lanqing and Standing Member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Luo Gan, were appointed as Director and Vice Director of “610 Office” by Jiang Zemin. As Director and Vice Director of “610 Office,” they are endowed with the power to command all government agencies and judicial departments. They are responsible for drafting, negotiating and putting into practice the policies and methods used to systematically persecute Falun Gong. They not only consciously tolerate this systematic persecution but also directly participate in it. They slander Falun Gong on all kinds of public occasions, turning public opinion against Falun Gong and increasing support for the persecution. Luo Gan even went to all labour camps or prisons to oversee and participate in the persecution. During the Chinese New Year of 2000, he personally interrogated the plaintiff, an Australian national, Zhang Cuiying, arranging and ordering the police and inmates to torture her.

The deputy governor of Liaoning Province, Xia Deren, has been in charge of putting into practice the policies to persecute Falun Gong in Liaoning Province. Xia is also responsible for setting up the concrete polices in Liaoning Province used to persecute Falun Gong. Falun Gong practitioners in Liaoning Province have been subject to severe persecution, at least 90 of whom had been persecuted to death since 1999.

Former Beijing Mayor, Beijing party Secretary Liu Qi, is in charge of putting into practice the policies to persecute Falun Gong in Beijing and directing the police and security guards to deal with Falun Gong practitioners. With numerous media reports of the arbitrary arrests and torture of Falun Gong practitioners in Beijing, he was acutely aware of the existence of criminal acts, but did nothing to stop them.

Deputy Head of Hubei Province’s Department of Public Security, Zhao Zhifei, is endowed with the power to directly control the police and security guards in Hubei Province. He has the responsibility to stop and punish the human rights violations in Hubei Province, but he never fulfils his administrative responsibility and even personally directs and arranges the persecution against Falun Gong.

The 7th to 16th defendants directly participate in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in Tuanhe Forced Labour Camp, the Dispatching Office in Beijing and Xinan Forced Labour Camp. For instance, in March, 2002, Jiang Wanglai, Yang Fenghua and Jiang Haiquan, inflicted electric shocks on the plaintiff Zhao Ming for over one hour, using an electric current stronger than 60,000 volts.

The Jurisdiction of German Courts

Article One of German International Criminal Codes states, “This Act shall apply to all criminal offences against international law designated under this Act, to serious criminal offences designated therein even when the offence was committed abroad and bears no relation to Germany.” The German Federal Supreme Court will face two questions after receiving the lawsuit. The first question is if German Criminal Law can be applied to the lawsuit. The apparent answer to the question is yes. The second question is whether the German Federal Supreme Court needs to make enquiries into the accusations. Mr. Kaleck thinks that the answer is also very definite for the following reasons. Firstly, quite a few of the criminal offences mentioned in the suit are related to Germany. Second, the Chinese high-ranking officials may visit Germany in the near future. Besides, the lawsuit is related to Germans and people living in Germany. Therefore, the German Federal Supreme Court has an obligation to commence comprehensive enquiries into the accusations.

In the past few years, China has remained far from being able to implement its own rule of law, particularly in the aspect of its Criminal Law and how to regulate its own government. The victims are unable to file a lawsuit in China. On the contrary, those tortured victims who try to file a lawsuit or who try to expose the torture cases to the public will be further persecuted. As a result, judicial processes for those criminal acts in China are not possible. Thus it is very important to file a lawsuit in another country.

If the international concerns over human rights problems are serious, and if all nations are serious about bringing human rights abusers to justice, something should be done from one point, from one place. Mr. Kaleck hopes that Germany can play the leading role and that the German Federal Supreme Court, the highest judicial agency in Germany, can make enquiries after receiving the lawsuit. The investigations may be more complex and take a long time, because the investigations may involve difficulties, the suit is associated with the 4-year political history, and the persecution is still being carried out.

Because Germany plays an important role in the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the German criminal justice system has an obligation to clear up these accusations before the court as soon as possible. The accused that have been named in the lawsuit against which reasonable assumption of guilt exists, must as soon as possible be served with an international arrest warrant. This has already happened in the instance of the criminal actions of an Argentine military dictator, a suit that had been filed with the Federal Criminal prosecutor in Nuernberg-Fuerth. That makes the accused acutely aware of where they will travel in future for fear of legal action against them. German enquiries into these accusations will encourage judicial enquiries in other nations to conducting their own investigations, to collect these findings and perhaps, at some future time, to locally begin criminal proceedings in China against those guilty of human rights crimes.

The Issue of the Privilege of “Head of Sate Immunity”

Last April during Jiang’s visit to Germany, the German human rights organization Association for Threatened Peoples filed a lawsuit against Jiang. But at that time, the case did not get very far because Jiang, as China’s leader, was privileged with “Head of State Immunity.” But Jiang is no longer Chinese head-of-state. If he travels to Germany now, he is not under the protection of the privilege of “Head of State Immunity.”