Friends of Falun Gong USA is sponsoring a civil lawsuit targeting former head of the Chinese Communist Party Jiang Zemin and the Falun Gong Control Office (Office 6-10). Falun Gong practitioners who have lived in China or currently live there filed suit under the aegis of the Alien Tort Claims Act and the Torture Victims Protection Act. They charge Jiang with torture and genocide in China and for conspiracy to deprive them of their civil rights here in the United States.

On June 10, 1999, Jiang established “Office 6-10” as a subdivision of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee. The following month, he banned the spiritual practice Falun Gong.

What is Office 6-10?

Office 6-10 employs and supervises government officials and public agencies, such as state-run media and all levels of law enforcement, in implementing the ban. Since Office 6-10 was created, thousands of Falun Gong adherents have been subjected to arbitrary arrests, detentions, and beatings — human rights abuses that have been verified by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the U.S. Department of State, and other organizations. For an in-depth look at the persecution of Falun Gong, please see our background section.

Washington, D.C.-based human rights attorney Terri E. Marsh filed the lawsuit in October 2002, while Jiang was enroute to Chicago during his final visit to the U.S. as China’s head of state. Marked by protests, Jiang’s trip culminated in a meeting with President Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

The lawsuit against Jiang Zemin and Office 6-10 raises significant issues that Friends of Falun Gong USA believes should be brought to light. In 1999, when Jiang banned Falun Gong, there were between 70 and 100 million individuals following the practice. Overnight, millions of law-abiding citizens were turned into criminals.

Persecution against Falun Gong Worsens

In the ensuing years, we have witnessed an escalation of human rights violations in China. As the U.S. Department of State recently noted in its annual human rights report, “…mere belief in the discipline, without any outward manifestation of its tenets, has been sufficient grounds for practitioners to receive punishments ranging from loss of employment to imprisonment, and in many cases, to suffer torture and death.”

Those who practice Falun Gong outside of the mainland have not been spared completely. There is a movement afoot to impose anti-sedition legislation in Hong Kong; many critics of the law, known as Article 23, have linked it to Beijing’s antipathy to Falun Gong.

Sovereign nations as diverse as Iceland, Myanmar (Burma), and Germany have been pressured into detaining, deporting, and intimidating Falun Gong practitioners who have not violated any of their laws. Here in the United States, individuals have been prosecuted for criminal acts against Falun Gong practitioners, and U.S.-based offices of the Chinese government have been sued for violating practitioners’ civil rights.

U.S. Government Takes a Stand

Under diplomatic pressure from the People’s Republic of China, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a brief on behalf of the Department of State asking that the lawsuit against Jiang and Office 6-10 be dismissed. This is not unusual, as DOS has sought to protect the principle of head of state immunity in other cases brought against world leaders; it is part of the quid pro quo under which nations operate. Plaintiffs assert that the principle does not apply in this case, however, because in keeping with the Geneva Convention Against Genocide – to which the U.S. is a signatory, the principle of equality before the law takes precedence. In addition, defendant Jiang is no longer head of the PRC.

Perhaps in recognition that the U.S. relationship with Jiang is not the same as the U.S. relationship with China, 80 Illinois state representatives sent a letter to their Congressional counterparts urging their support for the lawsuit. Subsequently, more than three-dozen members of Congress filed an amicus, or friend-of-the-court, brief sponsored by the International Relations Committee of the House of Representatives. The brief supports Falun Gong practitioners’ right to bring this legal action, noting, “human rights concerns, such as those raised by this case, have long been considered a key aspect of U.S. foreign policy” (see FoFG statement on the brief).

The Stage is Set

The judge’s acceptance of this filing sets the stage for further consideration of the issues raised in this groundbreaking lawsuit.

Friends of Falun Gong USA believes that all people should be free to follow their spiritual beliefs. We are committed to using every peaceful means at our disposal to advocate on behalf of Falun Gong practitioners’ right to practice their faith and to redress violations of their rights. To read more about lawsuits we are sponsoring, please see our legal action section.

Sign a petition to bring Jiang Zemin to justice