【大紀元6月17日訊】大紀元澳洲記者曾妮報導/6月15日下午一點，澳大利亞維多利亞省法輪大法學會在中國駐墨爾本總領事館前舉行了新聞發布會，公布江澤民在美國被起訴一案最新進展，表達對訴江案的支持。三十多名法輪功學員及太陽先鋒報（Herald Sun）、大紀元時報、新唐人電視台、希望之聲電台等媒體冒雨參加了新聞發布會。(大紀元陳明攝影)
維省法輪大法學會發言人史密斯博士（Dr. Michael Smith）宣讀了一份媒體聲明。聲明說：“八名法輪功學員代表他們個人和所有被迫害的法輪功學員于2002年10月以反人類罪、酷刑罪、濫用刑律致人死命罪及群體滅絕罪等起訴江澤民及610辦公室。這項訴訟案集中體現了法輪功學員在中國所受到的系統性的迫害。國際反群體滅絕罪公約規定，犯有群體滅絕罪的國家領導不能享有元首豁免權，而且江澤民也已經不再是國家元首，因此訴訟案被送上法庭之后，原告對于江XX便有了法律上的權限。
“中國于1983年4月18日簽署了反群體滅絕罪公約。作為公約的簽約國，它應該遵守公約的准則。但是，它的前國家主席、610辦公室和其他一些政府和中共高官在對法輪功的鎮壓和迫害中所犯的罪行嚴重地違反了該項公約，已經构成了群體滅絕的罪行。
“江氏政權還利用全國的宣傳工具和全世界的大使館、領事館系統地發起反法輪功宣傳。學校、工作單位、政府机构以及中國國內外几乎所有的中國公民都因為害怕被報复而在事實上加入到了這場運動之中。法輪功學員不能上學、工作或過一份正常的生活。無數的家庭被拆散，無數人為躲避迫害而陷于無家可歸的境地。數以千万計的法輪功學員不能正常地生活。這完全符合國際刑事法庭對于“群體滅絕罪”的第三項定義。”
聲明宣讀前后，記者及攝影師還冒雨對几名法輪功學員進行了單獨采訪和拍攝。一名來自中國的法輪功學員說，她在中國的時候曾經被非法關押一年多。不僅法輪功學員受迫害，連家人、親屬、朋友甚至同事領導都有可能受牽連。這場迫害的規模在世界及中國歷史上都空前的，完全符合“群體滅絕”的定義。這樣的罪行在二十一世紀的今天必須得到制止。
附：媒體聲明原文
PRESS STATEMENT
15th June, 2003
In dictionaries, the term “genocide” is defined as the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, cultural or religious group. The classic example would be Hitler’s attempt to exterminate the Jewish race during World War II.
.As defined by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court:
” ‘Genocide’ means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: a) Killing members of the group; b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.”
The lawsuit against Jiang Zemin and the 610 Office was filed in October of 2002, by seven named Falun Gong practitioners, on behalf of themselves and on behalf of all persecuted practitioners, for crimes against humanity, torture, improper execution and death, and genocide. The lawsuit encapsulates the systematic persecution of all persons who embrace the spiritual tenets of Falun Gong in China. When the case was filed The Plaintiffs had jurisdiction over Jiang Zemin, notwithstanding his status as head of state, because international law, and especially the Convention Against Genocide, does not grant heads of state immunity from those acts that constitute genocide. Moreover, Jiang Zemin is no longer head of state.
The People’s Republic of China ratified the Genocide Convention on April 18, 1983. As a signatory to the Convention, they are obliged to abide by its tenets. Notwithstanding their ratification of the Genocide Convention, their former President, the 610 Office and other high ranking government and Communist party officials have committed acts of genocide and substantial violations of the Convention in connection with the campaign of persecution and repression they have waged against practitioners of Falun Gong since 1999.
Verified deaths in custody now stand at over 720, with the actual figure almost certainly in the thousands. China’s media and Internet blockade makes it extremely difficult to obtain accurate figures. Brutal torture is also commonplace, including subjecting practitioners to prolonged and severe beatings, electric shocks, water dungeons and sleep deprivation, branding and burning, exposure to extreme heat and cold for long periods of time, as well as forcing them to perform heavy physical labour while seriously weakened and malnourished. There have been countless such victims. Furthermore, the regime has sent large numbers of perfectly healthy practitioners to mental hospitals, injecting them with mind-altering drugs and causing severe psychological damage.
The above acts clearly violate the terms of the Convention Against Genocide.
Dangerous Minds: Political Psychiatry in China Today, a report issued by Human Rights Watch and the Geneva Institute on Psychiatry in August 2002, found that “large numbers of the group’s detained practitioners were forcibly sent to mental hospitals by the security authorities.” The practitioners are forced to take toxic drugs, are physically restrained for long periods in hospital beds and in dark hospital rooms, as well as being subjected to electroconvulsive treatment and brainwashing.
In addition, the regime is systematically disseminating propaganda against Falun Gong via its state controlled media, as well as through embassies and consulates throughout the world. Schools, work units, government departments, and indeed all Chinese citizens at home and abroad are pressured to join the campaign for fear of reprisals. Consequently, Falun Gong practitioners can no longer go to school, work, or enjoy a normal social life. Numerous families have been torn apart and forced into homelessness to avoid arrest. Tens of millions of Falun Gong practitioners cannot live a normal life. This is exactly the third category of the ICC “genocide” definition.
48 hours ago Judge Mathew F. Keneally accepted an Amicus Brief submitted by 38 Members of the US Congress including the kChairman of the House International Relations Committee, Illinois Republican Henry J. Hyde, and leading Democrat Tom Lantos who authored the Brief.
The Judge is expected to deliver his verdict as to whether the case will be allowed to proceed before the end of June.
Other Lawsuits.
Lawsuit Againist Jiang Zemin and two other top Chinese officials to the United Nations Committee
-Lawsuit Against P.R.C. Ministries for Criminal Conduct in USA – The PRC Ministry of State Security [“MSS”], the Ministry of Public Security [“MPS”], and China Central Television [“CCTV”] have been named as party defendants in this lawsuit, which has been filed in the United States District Court for Washington, D.C.
Lawsuit Against Head of China’s “610 Office” Li Lanqing in France
Summary of Lawsuit (From Legal Standpoint)
On October 18, 2002, individual plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court of the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division against Jiang Zemin and Falun Gong Control Office (Office 6/10). The complaint was filed under seal and the defendants were served by alternate service upon security agents designated by the courts as appropriate substitutes for personal service on October 22, 2002.
The lawsuit is a civil action for compensatory and punitive damages for torts committed in violation of international and domestic law, that is instituted pursuant to specific statutory authorization, namely the Alien Tort Claims Act (28 U.S.C. § 1350) and the Torture Victims Protection Act (106 Stat. 73 (1992)).
Plaintiffs are members of and represent a designated class of Falun Gong practitioners who have resided in China in the past, or are currently residing in the Peoples’ Republic of China, who were subjected to torture, genocide, and other major human rights abuses as current residents and citizens of the Peoples’ Republic of China, together with their immediately affected family members, or as visitors to that country. Individual plaintiffs also include U.S. citizens or alien residents of the U.S. who were purposefully, intentionally, subjected to discrimination based on their belief in the spiritual practice of Falun Gong and their co-extensive attempt to protest peacefully the persecution of Falun Gong in China during Defendant Jiang’s visit to Iceland in June of 2002.
Specific causes of action pleaded in the complaint are torture; genocide; the right to life; the right to liberty and security of the person, and to be free of arbitrary arrest and imprisonment; the freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to associate freely; violations of the above-cited rights and protections as embodied in customary international law; conspiracy to commit violations of civil rights within the jurisdiction of the U.S.
