Criminal Lawsuit Filed in Spain Charging Former Chinese Leader and Senior Aide with Genocide, Torture

NEW YORK (FDI) — On Wednesday, 15 plaintiffs from the United States, Australia, Belgium and Spain filed a criminal lawsuit with Spain’s National Court charging former Chinese leader, Jiang Zemin, and Chinese Communist Party Politburo member, Luo Gan, with directing genocide and torture of Falun Gong practitioners.

The complaint alleges that Jiang Zemin ordered Falun Gong “eradicated” in 1999, and has been the central figure in directing and overseeing a genocide – as defined by the United Nations Genocide Convention (website) – against the traditional Chinese faith.

The complaint also alleges that Luo Gan has been promoting and enforcing the genocide as the vice-director of the “6-10 Office” (about); an agency established by Jiang and granted extra-constitutional powers to “eradicate” Falun Gong through organized brainwashing sessions, torture and murder.

According to the plaintiff’s attorney, Mr. Carlos Iglesias, a judge has been assigned to the complaint, although there is no timeline for a decision as to whether the case will be accepted by the Court.

Unlike many recent lawsuits filed by Falun Gong practitioners in Europe, the statutes invoked by the Spanish complaint against Jiang and Luo are national laws rather than United Nations Conventions. The complaint is based on Spain’s Organic Law, which grants Spanish courts universal jurisdiction to process complaints for severe crimes such as genocide, even though the alleged crimes were not committed in Spain.

The Spanish lawsuit against Jiang and Luo is the 16th international lawsuit in 13 countries to emerge in the past two years against high-ranking Chinese officials or government bodies for their roles in persecuting Falun Gong. (news – website)

It is the 3rd international lawsuit to target Jiang Zemin and the 8th lawsuit to target Luo Gan and/or the “6-10 Office” he oversees. (news)

Two of these lawsuits filed in the United States have already seen judgments in favor of Falun Gong, while several others have been dismissed reportedly due to severe diplomatic pressure from the Chinese regime.

Spain’s High Court where the lawsuit against Jiang and Luo was filed gained international prominence in 1998 by accepting a similar lawsuit filed against former Chilean dictator Augosto Pinochet, for which the court then evoked the European Convention on Extradition in an attempt to have Pinochet extradited from the UK to Spain to stand trial.

About the correlation between the suit against Jiang and Luo, and the suit against Pinochet, Mr. Iglesias said, “We are using many of the same arguments that were used against Pinochet, and since such a case could never be brought before a court in China, the universal jurisdication of our Law and the legal precedent in Spain indicates this court has every reason to accept and try this case.”

An attempt to file a lawsuit against Jiang Zemin in China was made in August 2000 by Mr. Wang Jie from Beijing and Mr. Chu O-ming from Hong Kong. The men, however, were detained by Chinese authorities and there was no response to the lawsuit from the Chinese regime. Mr. Chu was later given a five year prison sentence, while Mr. Wang – according to an Aug. 24, 2003 Associated Press report – was released on medical parole due to severe injuries he suffered while in detention.

“The United Nations Conventions are clear on this issue,” adds Mr. Igesias. “If justice cannot be served in the countries where alleged crimes of genocide and torture occur, it is the responsibility of the international community to step in. In Spain, we have laws that can accept and try such cases, and that’s exactly what we intend to do.”