(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand have submitted a newly compiled list of perpetrators involved in the persecution of Falun Gong to their respective governments.
The practitioners who submitted the identical list are requesting their governments to deny visa approval and to freeze assets of individuals named on the list. This new joint effort follows an earlier submission of a list in late September 2019.
In November, it was learned from a renowned human rights organization based in Washington D.C. that the U.S. Department of State (DOS) was growing their staffing and prioritizing sanctions, including barring from entry and freezing assets of the concerned foreign nationals.
This human rights organization then invited DOS officials to give a seminar to various religious groups and human rights organizations to help them understand what laws can be used to deny visas and freeze assets, and how these non-government organizations may work with the DOS on this matter.
A DOS official told these organizations that various laws are applicable, with some having relatively stricter requirements than others. This official said the DOS welcomes the submission of lists of perpetrators involved in religious persecution and human rights violations, as long as there are documented persecution facts.
This official also said that the DOS will follow up with the most appropriate laws, which may apply not only to perpetrators themselves, but also their family members. Even if the perpetrators or their family members have already entered the U.S., their visas could be revoked, with these individuals being deported.
A Falun Gong practitioner in Washington D.C. told the DOS officials that these actions from the U.S. and other Western countries have made a big impact in China.
Many Chinese officials involved in the persecution of Falun Gong had their pictures and other information removed from bulletins, websites or other public display upon learning of the U.S. government's efforts against human rights violators. One police officer said when releasing a detained practitioner, “I did not beat you, so please do not report me since my children plan to go overseas later.”
More Countries Stop Being Safe Havens for Perpetrators
Reports in China showed that the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, and New Zealand are often considered safe havens by corrupt Chinese officials. This is because no extradition treaty exists or has taken effect yet between China and the five countries. Therefore, once these corrupt officials arrive in these places, they are unlikely to be extradited.
As Falun Gong practitioners submit lists of these perpetrators, these countries could deny visa approvals and freeze assets of these individuals and their family members, which would help block their paths to the safe haven.
The Dutch House of Representative passed a motion on November 21, 2019, requesting the Netherlands government to enact its own version of the Magnitsky Act, unless an EU version is passed by January 31, 2020. Other European countries are also planning similar legislation to curb human rights violations through visa denial and asset freezing. During the past summer, officials from Canada and the U.K. discussed these issues with the U.S. DOS on joint efforts to sanction human rights violators.
List of Over 100,000 Perpetrators
Since a Notice was published on Minghui.org in late May calling for information on officials responsible for the persecution of Falun Gong, a vast amount of information has been received, and with the updates, the number of perpetrators documented in the database maintained by Minghui Library (a subsite of Minghui.org) has exceeded 100,000 as of November 2019. Falun Gong practitioners will continuously select names from the database and submit them.
Because of space limitations, the detailed name lists will not be published on Minghui.org each time they are submitted. To find whether a name involves a perpetrator and could be submitted, one only needs to query the database in Minghui Library.
We hope that officials in China will stop blindly following the persecution policies; otherwise they would be held accountable for their actions. We also hope these officials will make up for the harm they have caused to Falun Gong practitioners.
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