Spanish Judge Calls Top Chinese Officials to Account for Genocide

By Charlotte Cuthbertson
Epoch Times Staff

Created: Nov 14, 2009
Last Updated: Nov 21, 2009

Lawyer Carlos Iglesias (second from right) and democracy activist Wei Jingsheng (center) stand with Falun Gong victims of persecution Lu Shiping and Dai Ying (left), and Li Jianhui (right), after testifying before the judge on the cases of torture and genocide, Madrid May 2, 2009. (Victor Liu/The Epoch Times)

In a groundbreaking case, following a two-year investigation, a Spanish judge has accepted charges of genocide and torture in a case filed against five high-ranking CCP officials for their role in the persecution of Falun Gong.
This is the first time that a court has recognized the campaign against the group as legally fitting the definition of genocide. If the defendants were in Spain, the Court could call them before the Judge for a hearing.

“This historic decision by a Spanish judge means that Chinese Communist Party leaders responsible for brutal crimes are now one step closer to being brought to justice,” said Carlos Iglesias, a local lawyer representing the plaintiffs.

Between 2003 and 2007 fifteen victims of persecution filed criminal complaints against each of the five officials under a Spanish law that enables individuals or their lawyers to initiate private prosecutions (acciones populares). Four complaints were combined into one case, the facts of which a judge from Spain’s National Court (Audiencia Nacional) has been investigating since 2006; the fifth was added later.

On Nov. 11, Iglesias received a letter from the National Court saying the charges of genocide and torture had been accepted.

Among the accused is ex-leader of the Chinese Communist Party, Jiang Zemin. Jiang is widely acknowledged as the initiator and primary driver behind the campaign launched in 1999 to “eradicate” Falun Gong. According to Chinese regime statistics at the time, an estimated 70 to 100 million people were practicing the discipline that combines slow-moving exercises and spiritual teachings.

In order to implement Jiang’s decision to wipe out the group, the country’s state-run media, security apparatus, and network of “re-education through labor camps” were mobilized in full force. Since then, experts estimate that hundred of thousands, possibly millions, of practitioners have been sent to labor camps, prisons, and thought reform classes.

Human rights groups and Western media reports have documented the systematic use of torture to force them to renounce their faith. According to the Falun Dafa Information Center, over 3,000 are documented to have been killed, many due to torture, since 1999.

Spanish lawyer Carlos Iglesias. (The Epoch Times)

“The perpetrators of the genocide and torture will be confronted with two trials,” Iglesias said. “One of justice in front of the courts, and another, judgement in front of history, for having committed the biggest of all atrocities: the persecution of millions of persons whose only intention is to improve their ethical, moral, and spiritual qualities, following universal values.”

Also facing charges of genocide and torture in the Spanish case is Luo Gan, former head of the 610 Office, an extrajudicial agency set up to lead and coordinate the campaign against Falun Gong. Chinese human rights lawyers have compared the 6-10 Office to Nazi Germany’s Gestapo in its operations, brutality, and extraordinary authority.

The other three accused are Bo Xilai, current Party Secretary for Chongqing and former Minister of Commerce; Jia Qinglin, the fourth-highest member of the Party hierarchy; and Wu Guanzheng, head of an internal Party disciplinary committee. The charges against the three are based on their alleged proactive advancement of the anti-Falun Gong campaign during their time as top officials in Liaoning, Beijing, and Shandong respectively.

According to evidence presented before the court, Jia had reportedly given speeches urging lower officials to persecute Falun Gong and commended security units for their “success” in the “fight” against the spiritual practice. In 2002, he made the campaign one of Beijing’s top five priorities.

A Pulitzer Prize-winning article from 2000 by the Wall Street Journal’s Ian Johnson documents how financial punishments and political pressure imposed by Wu on his subordinates led Weifang city authorities to torture—and sometimes kill—local residents who practiced Falun Gong.

Next Steps

Each of the five accused officials will now receive a rogatory letter (letter of request) from Judge Ismael Moreno via diplomatic channels, according to Iglesias. The letter will include more than 20 questions relating to the individual’s involvement in the persecution against Falun Gong and will be written in both Spanish and Chinese. Failure to respond to the questions would bolster Judge Moreno’s case for issuing an international arrest warrant. Iglesias said the accused will likely have four to six weeks to reply.

Judge Moreno has spent two years investigating the case, following a Constitutional Court (Tribunal Constitucional) ruling from June 2006 that ordered Spanish courts to accept the case based on a law enabling them to exercise universal jurisdiction. This legal principle allows domestic courts to hear cases of genocide and crimes against humanity regardless of where they occur and what the nationality of the defendant.

Evidence considered by the judge during the investigation process included written testimonies from fifteen Falun Gong practitioners and oral testimonies from seven. The judge also relied on reports by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Human Rights Law Foundation, and the U.N. Commission of Human Rights to reach his decision, Iglesias said.

“The application of universal jurisdiction now brings this case to a decisive stage and shows that the Spanish justice system will defend victims of a genocide that is happening in the 21st century in China and that there will not be impunity for these crimes,” Iglesias said. “When one carries out the crime of genocide or torture, it is a crime against the international community as a whole and not only against Chinese citizens. Spain is emerging as a defender of human rights and universal justice.”

The case is part of both a broader trend in Spain and a larger effort by Falun Gong adherents and their lawyers to seek redress outside of China. Spanish courts propelled the movement of prosecuting international crimes in national courts when a judge issued an extradition request for Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1998. More recently, they have begun investigations into genocide in Guatemala and Tibet. Meanwhile, more than seventy Falun Gong cases have been filed in at least 30 countries.

Iglesias said the plaintiffs may immediately ask for international criminal arrest warrants to be issued for the accused. “In Spain, you can’t have a trial without the defendants being present,” he said. If the accused do not travel to Spain, the justice system will work with other countries that have legal treaties with Spain to extradite them should they travel to those countries.

“We have to be vigilant when they travel,” Iglesias said. “Justice and the lawyers will not stop—they are knocking on the criminals’ doors.”

Additional reporting by Zulema Núñez in Spain.

Dedu (Be Saved) Music Video

‘Berlin Twitter Wall’ Blocked in China

By Genevieve Long
Epoch Times Staff
Nov 4, 2009

A screenshot of the website showing ‘tweets’ about the Berlin Wall. Before the site was blocked in China, most were in Chinese. (berlintwitterwall.com)

A virtual wall created for Twitter users to express their thoughts and hopes on the 20 year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall has been blocked in China.

The “Berlin Twitter Wall,” as it’s called, is an initiative of KulturProjekte Berli, a not-for-profit organization that promotes networking and mediation of art and culture.

Launched on Oct. 20, according to the press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the virtual wall was blocked by Chinese authorities after almost 2,000 Chinese Internet users left Twitter messages there. The wall currently has just over 4,000 tweets posted on it, mostly in Chinese.

“Chinese Internet users must not be prevented from accessing the Berlin Twitter Wall,” said Reporters Without Borders in a statement released Tuesday morning. “Initiatives like these are important platforms for the promotion of freedom of speech as well as for critical voices and protest.”

RSF added that many foreign news outlets and social-networking sites remain inaccessible to Chinese users.

Twitter account holders can post comments that appear automatically on the berlintwitterwall.com site by using the hashtag #fotw (fall of the wall).

The site exhorted users to “share your thoughts on the Fall of the Berlin wall now or let us know which walls still have to come down to make our world a better place!” Chinese on twitter drew comparisons between the Berlin Wall and the Great Firewall of China (GFW), the name given to the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s program of pervasive Internet censorship.

“Overturning the GFW is an urgent priority, communism is just a red terror that deceives people,” one user wrote.

“The Berlin Wall has a Chinese version. German friends have given us a rallying point to overturn the GFW!” a writer identified as cx0878 wrote.

“Why is getting on the net now to say true words so hard?” another user said, calling themselves guozili.

The Golden Shield Project, often called the Great Firewall of China, is a censorship and surveillance project operated by China’s Ministry of Public Security. It is intended to increase up the Chinese Communist Party’s control of the Internet in China. It includes tens of thousands of personnel who monitor and delete content deemed subversive, as well as an elaborate system for making Web sites inaccessible.

Last Updated
Nov 4, 2009

A Pyramid Inside the Heart

Understandings on Cultivation

Author: Guan Ming

(PureInsight.org) When I was young, my grandmother told me a story that I still remember clearly to this day. The story was about an active young boy who lived in the East several hundred years ago. He lived on a mountain, and everyday he climbed up to the top of the mountain to look out at the sea far away. He was told that on rare occasions, one could see a golden pyramid rising from the sea that is as glorious as a fairyland. He told his mother that someday he would travel to and live inside the golden pyramid after he had grown up. His mother always smiled when hearing that. She would reply, “All right. I hope you will grow up soon.”

On the day the boy turned 18 years old, he told his mother that he would leave to search for the golden pyramid. His mother was surprised: “Son, that story is just a legend. There is no such pyramid in this human world.” But the boy was determined: “Mother, trust me. I will find the golden pyramid.” After traveling a long distance and encountering many hardships, the young man persevered every day in walking in the direction of the pyramid. One day, he finally reached the sea that he had viewed from his mountain home. Although, he couldn’t see the pyramid that he was searching for, he still believed that he would see it some day. Day after day, he waited by the sea.

As I grew older, I also believed that there was no such golden pyramid in life. However, I kept remembering this beautiful story. One day, I casually entered a Chinese bookstore and saw a copy of Zhuan Falun which was golden and shiny. This reminded me of the above story. Since then, I started to read this heavenly book and still enjoy reading it to this day. This became the golden pyramid inside my heart.

In the sweltering heat of June, people like to go and stay in places where air-conditioning is available. However, when I pick up my trumpet and practice music as a Celestial Band member, all those discomforts due to high temperatures are diminished. I believe it is because of the pyramid in my heart that helps me dissolve into in the music and enter into the state of feeling as if I am walking in the breeze.

When marching in the rain with other Celestial Band members or practicing the Falun Dafa exercises in the rain, I sometimes felt a little cold after my clothing was soaked. However, the pyramid in my heart would warm me up from dantian (point in the lower abdomen) throughout my entire body and I would become very comfortable again.

When experiencing tribulations, such as threatening or humiliating situations, this golden pyramid always shines with a light of compassion. This strengthens my determination in following the truth and makes me more diligent. I know that no test can change my determination as a Dafa practitioner.

Translated from Chinese

Shen Yun Performing Arts “Inspires People to Have Compassion” (Photo)

(Clearwisdom.net) Shen Yun Performing Arts graced the stage at the Canon Theatre in Toronto on Sunday for it’s final presentation until it returns in January. Joining the packed theatre at Sunday’s show were Mr. and Mrs. Finlason and their two children. Mr. Finlason operates a tourism business.

“It was a great show–all the colors, all the dancing and the singing–everything, it was beautiful,” he said.

Mr. and Mrs. Finlason and their two children enjoyed Shen Yun.

The family was moved by the presentation of classical Chinese culture. “The cultural aspect, it’s so neat, it’s all storytelling–every dance tells a story. There’s a lot of drumming and instruments and the costumes–it’s just really neat. It’s something you wouldn’t really see in North American western dancing, so it’s very unique,” added Mrs. Finlason.

Family Travels Three Hours to See Shen Yun

Mr. Wang, who lives in a small city in southwest Ontario, traveled all the way to Toronto (a three-hour drive) to see the Shen Yun Performing Arts show at Canon Theatre on Sunday afternoon.

Mr. Wang, who brought his wife and child to the show, said he had heard so much about Shen Yun that he wanted to see it, but the family was previously deterred by the long trip to Toronto.

“That is why this is the first time we’ve seen Shen Yun. This time, we made up our minds to come and see it, and I feel it was well worth the trip!”

And after all the effort to come, he greatly appreciated the presentation of classical China’s traditional values. “All the performers are very professional, including the dancers and singers. The show is very well done. Shen Yun makes people pursue good things, inspiring people to have compassion. That is very good,” he said.

Mr. Wang described the unique backdrop as “magnificent,” adding that he was also delighted by the orchestra, which combines Western and Chinese instruments.

“The orchestra is very good, they are very professional. I found that the orchestra, dancers, and the backdrops are well coordinated. I am not a professional in the arts, but to me it is very well done and coordinated.”

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