EDGES MAGAZINE Issue 35

November 2003

Terence Shanahan updates EDGES
on the continued persecution of Falun Gong in China.
Falun Gong’s heroic stand
for civil rights and freedom
of belief in China


It is now more than 4 years since the persecution of Falun Gong was implemented by the then Chinese president Jiang Zemin. He claimed that Falun Gong would be wiped off the face of the earth within 3 months. He also established a special office known as the 610 office, which had jurisdiction over the judiciary and all levels of government, deal strictly with the suppression of Falun Gong.

During these 4 years plus Jiang’s directive to eradicate Falun Gong resulted in systematic and widespread detainments, brainwashing, torture and killing of Falun Gong practitioners in China-all with the intent to force practitioners to renounce their faith. Those who renounce Falun Gong are often released, while those who do not continue to be tortured and abused, or die in the process. There has not been any recorded incident of retaliation by any Falun Gong practitioner throughout Jiang’s campaign of genocide.




Jiang also set in motion a world wide slanderous campaign defaming Falun Gong and went to the terrible extreme of staging a self immolation incident in Tinananmen Square, Beijing, claiming that the poor unfortunate people who burned themselves were Falun Gong practitioners. Firm evidence has been obtained and disclosed by independent observers revealing the whole affair was rigged in order to demonise Falun Gong and turn the Chinese public against it.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa is a practice of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal principle of "Truthfulness- Compassion-Tolerance" and transcends cultural, social, economic and national boundaries. Those who practise come from every walk of life and it is now practiced by millions in over 50 countries. Falun Gongs founder, Mr Li Hongzhi has received recognition and many awards throughout the world for encouraging civic virtue and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000,2001,2002.

Wave of International Lawsuits Target Persecution of Falun Gong The Belgian lawsuit is the latest in a string of international lawsuits against high-ranking Chinese officials or government bodies for their roles in persecuting Falun Gong.

In December 2002, a criminal lawsuit was filed in France charging the former Vice –Prime Minister of China, Mr Lanqing Li, with crimes of torture. In July 2003,the French criminal court began legal proceedings.

In the United States, five such lawsuits have been filed. Two of these lawsuits have already seen judgments in favour of Falun Gong.

In June 2003, a U.S. magistrate Judge denied foreign sovereign immunity to a Beijing Party Secretary and former Beijing Mayor Liu Qui. In a report the judge submitted to the court, Liu Qi was found guilty of overseeing the torture of Falun Gong practitioners.

In December 2001 the U.S. district Court of the Southern District of New York ruled against Zhao Zhifei, chief of police and second –in –command of the"6-10 office"in Hubi Province. In this case, the judge ordered a default judgement against Zhao Zhifei and awarded nominal damages to the plaintiffs, which could include the punitive and declaratory damages sought by the plaintiffs.

In March 2003, a Switzerland- based international non-governmental organisation, "Track Impunity Always" announced plans to sue Jiang Zemin for his role in persecuting Falun Gong.

Lawsuits have been filed in Indonesia and Hong Kong, while citizens of Canada, the United States, Australia, Ireland, Hong Kong and China have submitted a case against Jiang Zemin to two United Nations bodies as well as the International Criminal Court.

To learn more about the situation in China, please visit www.falundafa.org.uk

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