(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa Association in Canada submitted a list of human rights violators to François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Foreign Affairs, on July 15, calling for an investigation of them for their involvement in the persecution of Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) in China.
Falun Gong is a meditation system based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. The nationwide persecution policy was implemented through a Gestapo-type organization 610 Office, which was launched under Jiang’s order on June 10, 1999.
At the top of the list was former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Jiang Zemin, who ordered the suppression of Falun Dafa in July 1999, according to Li Xu from the Falun Dafa Association in Canada. Nearly 300 pages of evidence collected against Jiang and 13 other individuals were also submitted.
In his letter addressed to Champagne, Li summarized the 21-year-long brutality against innocent practitioners. “In the campaign against Falun Gong, the CCP exercised and continues to exercise extralegal powers to bring about arbitrary arrests, torture, killing, and even forced organ harvesting of Falun Gong adherents on a large scale,” the letter wrote.
In particular, Li recommended taking action against these key perpetrators according to the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, a Canadian version of Magnitsky legislation passed in October 2017.
Numerous parliament members in Canada support using the Act to hold accountable China's human rights violators and consider it critical to the Canadian government to oppose the totalitarian regime of the CCP.
Defending Human Rights
“Canada must use this legislation to sanction the communist government officials who are committing the gross human rights violations of imprisonment, organ harvesting, and murder of Falun Dafa members,” said Conservative MP James Bezan, one of the champions of Canada’s Magnitsky legislation.
Conservative Senator Thanh Hai Ngo agrees. “The time has come for Canada to reclaim its leadership as a defender of human rights on the world stage by imposing Magnitsky sanctions on Chinese officials,” he said.
Holding Perpetrators Accountable
Irwin Cotler, former minister of justice and former attorney general of Canada, also urged to impose Magnitsky sanctions on Chinese officials. He said Falun Gong practitioners have been victims of “extrajudicial killings and torture in a CCP-orchestrated ‘eradication’ movement—for nothing other than espousing ancient spiritual values of truth, compassion, and tolerance.”
“We encourage the Canadian government to use the Magnitsky Act to sanction, at the very least, 14 Chinese government officials identified and responsible for gross human rights violations,” said Conservative MP Peter Kent, the co-chair of Parliamentary Friends of Falun Gong.
Magnistsky legislation is laws that mandate government sanctions against foreign individuals for human rights abuse or significant corruption. First passed by the United States in 2012, it was later adopted by numerous countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom.
A Long List of Crimes
Many of the 14 individuals on the list were affiliated with the Political and Legal Affairs Committee (PLAC) as well as the 610 Office, the key supervising agency that drives the massive persecution of Falun Gong. Some were key leaders of the justice system or the healthcare systems responsible for the brutality including forced organ harvesting.
Li said their actions met criteria described in the Canadian Magnistsky legislation for sanction:
4 (1) The Governor in Council may, if the Governor in Council is of the opinion that any of the circumstances described in subsection (2) has occurred,...Marginal note:(2) The circumstances referred to in subsection (1) are the following:
(a) a foreign national is responsible for, or complicit in, extrajudicial killings, torture or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights committed against individuals in any foreign state who seek(i) to expose illegal activity carried out by foreign public officials, or(ii) to obtain, exercise, defend or promote internationally recognized human rights and freedoms, such as freedom of conscience, religion, thought, belief, opinion, expression, peaceful assembly and association, and the right to a fair trial and democratic elections;
These 14 individuals are:Jiang Zemin (江泽民): former General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)Luo Gan (罗干): former Political and Legal Affairs Committee (PLAC)Liu Jing (刘京): former head of the 610 OfficeZhou Yongkang (周永康): former Minister of Public Security and former Party Secretary of PLACBo Xilai (薄熙来): former governor of Liaoning Province and former Chongqing Party SecretaryLi Lanqing (李岚清): former head of Central 610 Leadership TeamWu Guanzheng (吴官正): former Party Secretary of Shandong ProvinceLi Dongsheng (李东生): former Vice Minister of Public Security and former head of 610 OfficeQiang Wei (强卫): former Party Secretary of Jiangxi ProvinceHuang Jiefu (黄洁夫): former Vice Minister of HealthZheng Shusen (郑树森): Hepatobiliary surgeon and former Chair of Zhejiang Province Anti-Cult AssociationWang Lijun (王立军): former chief for Department of Public Security in Chongqing and former deputy mayor of ChongqingZhang Chaoying (张超英): former president of Masanjia Labor Camp in Liaoning ProvinceJia Chunwang (贾春旺): former Minister of Public Security
Among them, Jiang and Luo were sued in Argentina for the crime of anti-humanity, where an arrest warrant was issued in December 2009. Jiang, Luo, Wu, and two officials were indicted in a Spanish court also in 2009 for the crimes of torture and genocide.
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