BOSTON (FDI) – As part of a growing trend to bring China's human rights violators to justice, former governor of Anhui Province, Wang Taihua, was served early this Monday morning with a class-action lawsuit while visiting the United States.
While staying at Boston's Seaport Hotel, Wang was served with a summons for a complaint charging him with torture, genocide, kidnapping, and persecution of religious and spiritual beliefs.
As governor and supervisor of the Female Re-education Camp (forced-labor facility) and mental hospitals located in Anhui, Wang has played a major role in the suppression of the Falun Gong spiritual practice through systematic torture and violence.
Wang is just one of several Chinese officials recently charged in the United States under the Alien Tort Claims Act and the Torture Victims Protection Act for violating international treaties governing human rights.
At a recent vigil in Boston, Dr. Wei Pengfei of MIT explains the appeals further: “By saying ‘Bring Jiang, Luo, Zhou and Jing to Justice,’ Falun Gong practitioners have made it clear: We love our motherland…the activities we have are against the criminals, not against any nation or government.”
Bo Xilai, the Minister of Commerce and former governor of Liaoning Province, was also served last month in Washington, D.C., for similar charges.
Two years ago, charges of genocide, torture, and crimes against humanity were brought against former leader of China Jiang Zemin during his visit to Chicago. Oral arguments for that case were made before 7th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday. (news)
# # #
NEWS - May 24, 2004
Falun Dafa Information Center, www.faluninfo.net
Background
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa (about), is a practice of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." Practiced in over 50 countries world-wide, Falun Gong has roots in traditional Chinese culture. With government estimates of as many as 100 million practicing Falun Gong, China's Communist leader Jiang Zemin outlawed the peaceful practice in July 1999 (report). Since that time, Jiang's regime has intensified its propaganda campaign to turn public opinion against the practice while imprisoning, torturing and even murdering those who practice it. The Falun Dafa Information Center has verified details of 960 deaths (reports / sources) since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. In October 2001, however, Government officials inside China reported that the actual death toll was well over 1,600. Expert sources now estimate that figure to be much higher. Hundreds of thousands have been detained, with more than 100,000 being sentenced to forced labor camps, typically without trial.