(Clearwisdom.net) After a four-year investigation, Judge Octavio Araoz de Lamadrid of the Argentina Federal Court No. 9 made a historic decision on December 17, 2009. Judge Lamadrid has issued arrest warrants for the former leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Jiang Zemin, and Luo Gan, former head of the 610 Office, for their role in the persecution of Falun Gong. The two high-ranking CCP officials were charged with crimes against humanity. Judge Lamadrid ordered the Interpol Department of the Federal Police of Argentina to carry out the arrest.
In a 142-page legal document, the Judge elaborately assessed the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China, and the role that Jiang and Luo played.
Judge Lamadrid explained in his decision that "the strategy of genocide that has been designed encompassed all range of actions with a total contempt for life and human dignity. The end devised--the eradication of Falun Gong--justified all utilized means. In this way, torment, torture, disappearances, deaths, brainwashing, psychological torture, were the currency of the persecution of its practitioners."
Judge Lamadrid emphasized that he had adopted principles of universal jurisdiction in handling the case. He said in his ruling, "I understand that in the present case the principle of universal jurisdiction must be applied in view of the [severity of the] crimes, the number of victims affected, and the ideological nature of the actions taken against members of the Falun Gong religious group."
Suing chief culprits, Jiang and Luo became the accused
During Luo Gan's visit to Argentina on December 12, 2005, Argentina Falun Dafa Association Chairperson Ms. Fu Liwei entrusted lawyers Adolfo Casabal Elas and Alejandro Guillermo Cowes to file a lawsuit against Luo Gan with the Federal Court for Criminal Punishment, No. 9 Court. The charges against Luo were crimes of genocide and torture. The Argentine Federal Court accepted the suit, and Judge Octavio Araoz de Lamadrid handled the case.
While handling the case, the judge found Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan's superior, was the initiator of the persecution of Falun Gong. He, therefore, included Jiang Zemin in Luo's case and handled the two cases together. The persecution facts about Jiang were also added to his documents. He charged Jiang with the same crimes as Luo Gan.
The CCP has taken all kinds of means to interfere with the case, including exerting pressure on the plaintiff's lawyers, but all its attempts failed to prevent the case from proceeding. Judge Lamadrid spent four years investigating and collecting evidence, and then made a decision to order the arrest of Jiang and Luo and bring them before the court.
To investigate the facts about the persecution, the Judge traveled in person to the U.S. to collect evidence
The Argentine Federal Criminal Court No. 9 began investigating Luo Gan's crimes against Falun Gong in China early 2006. Judge Lamadrid collected evidence from multiple sources regarding the case.
During this time, Falun Gong practitioners from different countries went to Argentina to testify; non-practitioners also went to Argentina to testify, such as Mr. Kilgour and Dr. Matas from Canada. The Judge gathered testimony from nine witnesses at the federal court in Buenos Aires between April 3, 2006 and March 26, 2008.
Judge Lamadrid went to New York to meet with more victims in April 2008 with the approval and financial assistance from the Supreme Court of Argentina. Because most of the victims were seeking asylum after fleeing China, they did not have passports to go to Argentina to testify. On April 28 to May 5, 2008, the Judge went to the Consulate General of Argentina in New York and collected evidence from ten witnesses who lived in the U.S.
During the investigation, the Judge also included investigative reports by the United Nations and many organizations regarding Jiang and Luo's persecution of Falun Gong in his files.
The CCP tried with as many rogue means as possible during this time to stop the case from proceeding, but Judge Lamadrid persisted and ultimately completed his investigation and made an official decision to order the two defendants arrested.
Plaintiff's Lawyer: Proud of fighting for freedom and truth
One of the plaintiff's lawyers, Alejandro G. Cowes, said that before he took this case, he heard a Romanian Ambassador to Argentina say that people who have not lived under a Communist dictatorship have no idea what that means.
Lawyer Cowes said, "My personal experience of all this during the four-year investigation, helps me truly understand what the Ambassador said." "I am proud of myself for taking up this case at the crucial moment, fighting for freedom and truth, and exposing Communism's brutality," he said.
He continued that Judge Lamadrid has investigated and handled the case based on moral principles, "It is not handling a crime committed decades ago, neither is it seeking justice regarding a crime that has happened, but regarding a crime that has happened and is ongoing."
"This will be the beginning of stopping the brutal persecution, and the persecution must be stopped."
Argentina Falun Dafa Association Chairperson: The chief culprits of the persecution must be brought to justice
Ms. Fu Liwei said that Jiang Zemin and Luo Gan have committed monstrous crimes in the persecution of Falun Gong, but China's legal and judiciary systems have become a persecution tool for the CCP, assisting evildoers in committing crimes. In such a circumstance, we are very pleased to see the Argentina judge's righteous act, and the eternal truth of righteousness triumphing over evil prevail in the international community.
She continued, "We thank this Argentina Judge who upholds conscience and justice, as well as all righteous people participating in this case and all those who stand up to stop the CCP from persecuting Falun Gong!"
"The Argentina Judge's decision follows a similar decision in Spain last month, where five top communist leaders were indicted for their roles in the persecution of Falun Gong by the Spanish National Court. It's another breakthrough in the legal procedure in the lawsuits against Jiang. All chief perpetrators who have been involved in the persecution of Falun Gong will be brought to justice," she concluded.
Background Information
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a traditional Chinese spiritual discipline for mind and body. The practice involves slow, gentle movements and meditation. It is easy to learn, enjoyable to practice, and free of charge. Its principles are based on Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. The practice began in China in 1992 and quickly spread by word of mouth throughout China and then beyond. Its beneficial effects in uplifting an individual's physical health, spiritual well-being and moral character, not to mention its positive influence in the community and society as a whole, have been undeniable. In fact, Falun Gong is practiced by over 100 million people in 110 countries. The main works of Falun Gong are available in over 30 languages.
On July 20, 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched a brutal persecution of Falun Gong. The persecution has followed genocidal policies such as "defame their reputation, bankrupt them financially, destroy them physically" and "beating them to death counts as suicide." More than 3,000 practitioners have been confirmed to have died as a result of the persecution in the past ten years, and countless more practitioners have been subjected to detention, torture, disappearances and even having their organs harvested.
The United Nations and many international human rights organizations have conducted in-depth investigation, and have confirmed the evidence of the CCP's brutal torture of Falun Gong practitioners to be true. There have been at least 55 lawsuits in over 30 countries against Jiang Zemin and other chief culprits in the persecution of Falun Gong.
In November 2009, Spanish National Court indicted five high-ranking CCP officials including Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan, Bo Xilai, Jia Qinglin and Wu Guanzheng for their role in the persecution of Falun Gong. The charges against them were genocide and torture. The court's notification stated that if the crimes are established, the defendants will face up to at least 20 years in prison with additional financial punishment.
On December 17, 2009, Argentina Judge Lamadrid ordered the arrest of Jiang Zemin and Luo Gan.
With the widespread news about Falun Gong and the persecution, lawsuits against Jiang and other chief culprits in many countries will have more substantial breakthroughs, and ultimately, Jiang and his clique will be brought to justice.
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Category: Lawyers and Lawsuits
