Issued by Clearwisdom Net

On February 22, 2007, Ms. Zhang Cuiying, a renowned artist of traditional Chinese paintings from Sydney, held a press conference in front of the Supreme Court and urged the public to pay attention to the upcoming hearing in the Supreme Court of New South Wales in a lawsuit against the former Chinese dictator, Jiang Zemin, for genocide, torture, and crimes against humanity. She urged the Australia justice system to resist interference from the Chinese Communist regime and to require the court to extend the time for a summons to be served for another six months. In addition, she urged the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to deliver the summons to the defendants in accordance with the commands of the court.

 The press conference in front of the Sydney Supreme

Representatives of the Falun Dafa Association of New South Wales; the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong(CIPFG), Australia Branch; the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong(WOIPFG); and Dr. Wang Lian, who just fled to Australia from Hong Kong, all made comments to support Ms. Zhang.

Ms. Zhang Cuiying read from an open letter in which she announced that she had filed a lawsuit against the former Chinese dictator, Jiang Zemin, and the 610 Office for genocide and torture on September 15, 2004. However, the summons has not been served to the defendants for over one year due to interference from the Chinese Communist regime.

The plaintiff delivered the summons to the defendants by a substitute method and got a receipt, but the New South Wales Supreme Court judge ruled that Jiang Zemin was covered by "Head of State Immunity." Thus the summons should be served by a diplomatic channel rather than the substitute method. Accordingly, the Supreme Court sent the summons to the Ministry of Law through which the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was required to deliver the summons to the defendants by a diplomatic channel. However, the Federal government did not cooperate with the court, and instead they deliberately tried to delay the application of the court order, which led to the expiration of the summons. So in February 2006, the plaintiff asked the court to extend the time for the summons to be served for a reasonable period. Only after one year--on February 26, 2007--did the court decide to hold a hearing on the requirement .

Ms. Zhang noted that, based on 21 files obained through the Free Legal Information Act, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has contacted the Chinese regime eight times since 2003. Although most of the contents of the files have been deleted, it is still clear that the Australia government made use of every possible measure in the legal system to make sure that this case would not be a "problem" in its relationship with China, and assured the Chinese government that they would take care of their "concerns". This information confirmed the reliability of the allegation by Mr. Chen Yonglin and The Australian that the Department of Foreign Affair and Trade offered legal advice and help to the Chinese government regarding this lawsuit. She urged the public to resist the interference by the Chinese Communist regime and to uphold the independence of the Australian justice system.

Mr. John Deller, director of the Falun Dafa Association of New South Wales, added that The Australian has reported that Chinese Ambassador Ms. Fu Ying went to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra several times to pressure the Australian Government with economic and diplomatic issues to dismiss the case. Former Chinese diplomat Mr. Chen Yonglin also disclosed that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade privately provided legal advice and help to the Chinese regime.

Mr. Deller further noted that illegal organ harvesting from Chinese Falun Gong practitioners is an unprecedented massacre of innocent Chinese people by the Communist regime and that Jiang Zemin was the General Secretary of the CCP and Chairman of China in 2004 when the persecution of Falun Gong hit its peak, so Jiang Zemin should be held responsible for the genocide of Falun Gong practitioners.

Mr. Deller also noted that the progress of this lawsuit is a direct test for the Australian government and legal system as to whether or not it will protect the human rights of its citizens in the face of economic pressure. "It is dangerous for everyone and every nation to keep silent about evil," he said

In a phone interview, Ms. Chu Wanchi, the chief of the Human Rights Law Foundation, Asian Branch, said that from 2002 to 2007, Falun Gong practitioners filed criminal or civil lawsuits in over 15 countries against former Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin, which caused a great stir in the world. The criminal accusations include inhuman torture and genocide, which is regarded as the most notorious human rights infringement since World War II. These lawsuits clearly prove the existence of the persecution of Falun Gong in China. They also reveal the brutality and severity of the persecution. So far, over 70 attorneys from more than 30 countries have been involved in the lawsuits against Jiang Zemin. She thought that the most significant aspect of the lawsuits is that they serve as a wake up call and constant reminder to the international community to recognize the human rights infringements behind the economic benefits when trading with the Chinese Communist regime. This infringement not only affects the human rights, lives, liberty, and property of the Chinese people, it also endangers the safety of the international community.

She said, "We hope the international lawsuits will serve as a reminder to the international community that the so-called 'Immunity' or 'Immunity protection' should not be extended to Jiang Zemin or to those who were exploited by Jiang to persecute Falun Gong practitioners regardless of loopholes in the legal system or ignorance of human rights infringement by the international community. The victims should be treated fairly and with appropriate legal assistance." She hopes the Australian legal system, with hundreds of years of tradition, will uphold justice and make an objective and fair judgment in this case.

Mr. John Fuai, the former chairman of the Australian Christian Kyros Organization, said in an address at the press conference that organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners is an appalling evil. He also said he supported and encouraged Falun Gong practitioners to defend their beliefs and bring the persecutors to justice. Senator Chris Bowen also sent his letter of support letter to the press conference.

WOIPFG notes that the lawsuit itself is not only an individual action to pursue justice, but also a start to disclose and sentence the most brutal crimes of human rights infringement in history. WOIPFG expressed its support of Ms. Zhang's legal action and urged everyone, every government, and officials in legal systems everywhere to speak out and uphold justice.

Canadian renowned human rights lawyer David Matas was invited by the Ethical Society of Philadelphia and The Ethical Action Committee to make a featured speech at a forum held at 2:00 p.m. on March 11, 2007 at the auditorium of the society. The theme of the forum was "Organ Harvesting & Human Rights Violations in China." The forum was hosted by leader of the ethical society Richard Kiniry. Other speakers also included Mr. Zhang Erping, Executive Director of the Association for Asian Research in New York City, representative of the Doctors Against Organ Harvesting (DAOH) Dr. Torsten Trey, Dr. John Haas, President of the National Catholic Bioethics Center.

David Matas makes a speech at Ethical Society of Philadelphia

Richard Kiniry, leader of the Ethical Society of Philadelphia makes an opening speech

Zhang Erping, Dr. Torsten Trey, M.D., Stephen Napier, Ph.D and David Matas Esq.

Matas first addressed the audience the background of his participation in this matter. Since the Epoch Times revealed the atrocities, and after listening to the testimony of a military doctor's ex-wife and suspected arguments on this matter, Matas and David Kilgour decided to take over the investigation. At the beginning of their investigation, they actually wanted to verify that the alleged crimes against Falun Gong practitioners are untrue.

Matas stressed that the basic approach for such kind of investigation usually requires two independent witnesses to make the same judgment over the same thing. But it was impossible to do so with live organ harvesting, because the victims have their organs removed and are thereby murdered, their bodies are cremated, and they are therefore unable to testify. Doctors involved are obviously not willing to testify. Therefore, they adopted over a dozen approaches of "proof" and "disproof," to investigate this matter. Just as pointed out in the investigative report by Matas and Kilgour, all "proof" approaches revealed more profound and more direct evidence that support the allegations, and all "disproof" approaches could not provide convincing rebuttal evidence. Moreover, they made a comprehensive analysis of evidence, such as health care costs, the CCP's policy of persecuting Falun Gong, military involvement, the history of executed prisoners having their organs harvested, how 2,000 executed prisoners sentenced to death each year provides 10,000 organ transplants, why patients wait for organs in other countries, but in China organs wait for patients, forced blood tests for arrested Falun Gong practitioners, and recorded telephone conversations with hospitals in China, and so on, Matas and Kilgour concluded that the allegations of live organ harvesting are true.

Executive Director of the Association of Asian Research in New York City gave a brief account of basic information about Falun Gong and the CCP's nearly eight-year continued persecution. Dr. Torsten Trey, representative of Doctors Against Organ Harvesting presented a series of investigations conducted by the organization. He pointed out that the number of organ transplant operations made in one hospital of a city in China is more than the number of transplants in the whole of Germany. A Chinese rebutted Dr. Torsten Trey's argument by saying that many Chinese people suffer hepatitis, it is normal that there are many organ transplants. While Dr. Torsten Trey pointed out that this argument shows that because there are many hepatitis patients in China, the qualified livers should be insufficient. It is not normal to do so many transplants. Dr. John Haas from the National Catholic Bioethics Center introduced some basic principles, assumptions and strict standard for implementation on organ transplants in the United States, so as to guarantee against abuse.

The audience was deeply moved by the speeches. At the forum's end, Mr. Kiniry, leader of the Ethical Society asked all the speakers to offer recommendations "of what we, as Americans can do."

Matas suggested people appeal to congressmen, government officials and staff in medical field to widely spread the fact about "a new form of evil on the planet."

A Philadelphia journalist's mother went to China two years ago for a liver transplant, and died one year after. The journalist said that he had gone to China first for his mother's liver transplant. He also said that his 59 year-old mother might not have died so quickly if she had not had a transplant. Moreover, if they had learned that the organ harvesting atrocities were going on, they might not have gone at all.

Ms. Fang, a Chinese doctor in Philadelphia introduced to the audience that she still remembered when she received medical training in China, and when they received fresh corpses for anatomy labs, there was not the slightest respect for the body. She had made some changes and had humanitarian awareness since she came to the US to continue her study. She believes in China there is no change in the situation, and that live organ harvesting could indeed occur in China's medical field.

After the forum, many in the audience continued inquiring and discussing while surrounding Matas and other speakers. They expressed their outrage, sympathy and shock. They did not leave until Matas had to leave for the airport to return to Canada.

Joseph Lung, whose parents are from Guangdong Province in China, said that he learned from the forum that there have occurred many things that should not have happened. The Chinese government (CCP) has been too cruel. He said he cried when reading these reports. It is inconceivable that thousands of people have had their organs harvested when they were still alive. Hitler slaughtered Jews in Germany during the Second World War and China [the CCP] is killing its people right now. It is very wrong!

Dr. Wang Congshu, visiting scholar of Bioethics at the Medical Institute of the University of Pennsylvania, said that he was glad to have the opportunity to attend the forum, believing that the subject was well addressed. He had heard about organ transplants, but had never expected that the situation was so serious, and it has gone so far as to harvest organs from live Falun Gong practitioners.

Freelancer Aisha Mhmed for the University City Review in Philadelphia said that he was pondering what Americans can do to help, and how to have more people learn about the atrocities. It is very clear that this is happening, it is human rights violation. Though it was not the first time that he heard about it, the media seemed to have been drawn by other human rights issues, such as Iraq, Sudan, and so on. Live organ harvesting has not become the topic arousing wide concern.

The Ethical Society of Philadelphia is a member organization of the American Ethical Union, a religious organization. Its members are a group of humanists or humanitarians.

On February 27th and 28th, 2007, invited by the Human Rights Committee of the Irish Parliament, David Matas visited Ireland. Mr. Matas is an international human rights lawyer in Canada, one of the authors of "Bloody Harvest - a Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting from Falun Gong Practitioners in China." Mr. Matas held news briefings, met officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, held a hearing at the Human Rights Committee of the Irish Parliament and made a public speech at well known Trinity College. New evidence of organ harvesting atrocities disclosed in the report aroused great attention from all circles in Ireland.

On the afternoon of February 27th, Mr. David Matas held a news briefing at Trinity College, introduced the latest report and answered questions by reporters. Senator David Norris made a speech. Zhao Ming and Dai Dongxue, Falun Gong practitioners told about how they themselves and their family members were persecuted by the CCP because of their practicing Falun Gong.

The scene of a news briefing: David Matas second on the right, Dai Dongxue first on left, Gerald O'Connor second on the left, Zhao Ming first on the right

At the news briefing, Mr. Matas said that his visit was a followup to a visit by David Kilgour, co-author of the report, who visited Ireland last November. He said that after publishing the report on July 6th 2006, the two investigators visited over thirty countries in the following six months and interviewed those who had their organs transplanted in many countries. They have now obtained new evidence and counter evidence. Mr. Matas said, "This new evidence has reinforced their conclusion: The crime of removing organs from live Falun Gong practitioners for sale does exist in China. The military in China have extensively participated in it and tried to gain sudden huge profits from it. The report calls on all governments to discourage their people from going to China and having their organs transplanted, forbid rejection medicine for transplant from going to China and suggests that international communities should press the CCP to stop its atrocity by making use of the Olympic Games."

He continued, "The new report has added much more recording of the evidence of investigators telephoning hospitals in China and publicized statistics. M, the investigator phoned doctors specialized in organ transplant in over eighty hospitals in all over China. Doctors in ten hospitals admitted using organs from live Falun Gong practitioners; five hospitals claimed they could obtain organs of Falun Gong practitioners; fourteen hospitals admitted the organ providers were prisoners and ten hospitals said that the organ resources were state secrets which could not be revealed on the phone."

He gave an example: "The investigator phoned hospitals in China asking if they had organs, prices, how long it would take to get a one and organ resources. The reply he got was, "Yes, it takes two weeks for you to obtain the right organ. The organ is from a person who practices Falun Gong and he is healthy.'"

Mr. Matas added, "They interviewed Falun Gong practitioners in many countries in the world who used to be locked up in China. The conclusion was that all of them had ever been physically checked, their blood taken and organs checked systematically. Yet some other prisoners do not have such physical checks. Several Falun Gong practitioners were set free when they were told that their organs were not healthy.

"A new finding in the latest report is that the army in China has been involved in removing organs from live people. Many surgical operations are done by military surgeons."

Mr. Matas went on, "Although Ireland is a small country, together with the European Union, she can forbid her people from going to China and receiving organs transplant. We can not just come to conclusions and look on, we must restrain the atrocity."

Senator David Norris also participated in the news briefing. He said, "It is too cruel, too inhuman that a group of people believing in "Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance" whose organ are being removed when they are still alive, which can never be tolerated in this world. We must immediately stop the atrocity. He added, Jan Otto, MP, his colleague, gave his regards to Mr. Matas and Mr. Kilgour, and wished the visit of Mr. Matas a success!"

David Norris makes a speech at the news briefing

On the afternoon of 27th February, Mr. Matas met officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On the morning of 28th February, Mr. Matas held a hearing at the Human Rights Committee of the Irish Parliament telling about the investigation, the new evidence and the report. He put forward his suggestion to the Parliament and answered questions by members of the Parliament. Gerald O'Connor, Falun Gong practitioner and chief executive of the Epoch Times introduced the persecution of Falun Gong to the Human Rights Committee. Members of the Committee had a discussion of how to investigate into and how to stop the CCP's atrocity and raised suggestions such as, by legislating, checking those people going to China for organ transplant, checking organ transplant medication exports to China and making investigations into those who have already had their organs transplanted in China but they do not know where these organs resources are.

Burt Karin, MP, advised that the government could take measures influencing medical experts and other enterprises. Katherine Maffey, MP, suggested that Parliament should interview those who have been to China and had organ transplants which should be a part of the investigation. Paul Braford, chairman of the Human Rights Committee, said: Considering the seriousness of the motion, the Human Rights Committee will try their utmost to investigate into it and stop the atrocities. We will bring forward a report to the government to be elected and give a quick reply. At the same time, we will raise the question of the Olympic Games to be held in Beijing in 2008.

On the evening of 28th February, Mr. Matas spoke to an audience at Trinity College. People from all circles were in attendance. Many people asked questions expressing great concern over the situation.

David Matas first on the right makes a speech at Trinity College

Mr. Matas' visit aroused attention from the Irish media. Media such as FM Radio, RTE National Radio, The Irish Times newspaper, the Irish Supervision and Q102 Radio Station Dublin, all reported the atrocities.