Buenos Aires: Plaintiff Discusses Landmark Case Against Chinese Officials

In Buenos Aires on Tuesday (December 22), a press conference was held to discuss a landmark ruling in an Argentine court. The ruling calls for the extradition of two former top Chinese Communist Party officials—Jiang Zemin and Luo Gan. They would face charges of crimes against humanity for their role in launching a brutal 10-year persecution of Falun Gong.

Argentina Federal Court judge Octavio Araoz de Lamadrid also called on the local Interpol department to seek out and arrest the two Chinese officials.

[Liwei Fu, Plaintiff]:
“The significance of this judgment is very important for the Chinese [Falun Gong] practitioners in China. Of course for those who are in prison, they will not get the news so fast, but we know they will get it, and it will be a great encouragement for them.  And for practitioners who are not in jail, they will also be motivated, feeling that hope is around the corner, and this persecution will be stopped.”

Lawyer for the plaintiff Alejandro Cowes says this case sets a precedent for bringing other human rights abusers to justice in the future.

[Alejandro Cowes, Lawyer for Plaintiff]:
“The great merit of this judgment is that the judge opened the universal jurisdiction for the prosecution of crimes committed extraterritorially by a state in which the victims cannot defend themselves.”

The Human Rights Law Foundation wrote to judge de Lamadrid, saying, quote: “This case will be a credit to Argentina as a leader in international human rights law.”

They further wrote that, the “Argentine court is addressing some of the most widespread and systematic rights abuses occurring in the world today.”

Practitioners of Falun Gong—a Chinese spiritual practice—have brought similar lawsuits against Chinese officials in other countries.

NTD News, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

(NTDTV)