(Clearwisdom.net) International law covers many areas, including politics, economy, military affairs, science, astronomy, human rights, etc. which are associated with many aspects of our daily lives. The International Human Rights Pact and Anti-torture Pact are important components of international law. These two pacts are receiving more and more attention from people around the world, since human life is so precious. As mankind moves toward a greater civilization, it should also enjoy more extensive human rights, as this is the symbol of a democratic, civilized and "ruled-by- law" society. Since China has signed these two pacts, it should govern its actions in accordance with them, blending in with the international community and becoming a member of the world family. The ruler of China shouts about democracy and law every day, yet at the same time he reinforces his dictatorship with whatever methods work, regardless of their legality. As he brags about building a civilized society, he actually brings the nation brutality and darkness through his crimes of persecuting people.
Important aspects of the International Human Rights Pact are the freedom of belief, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. Now let's take a look at how Jiang and Luo's group have carried out this international law during their persecution of Falun Gong.
After Falun Gong's public introduction in 1992, it became very popular due to its unique benefits in improving physical health and morality. Within several years, it attracted a hundred million practitioners in China and abroad who strictly conducted themselves according to the principles of "Truth-Compassion-Tolerance" and strove to become better people. They brought fresh air to a society in which morality was rapidly declining.
On July 20, 1999, out of jealousy and a dictator's unique fear of the people, Jiang started the brutal persecution of Falun Gong, completely ignoring the articles regarding freedom of belief and freedom of speech in the international pact. Many practitioners who legally appealed have been thrown into jails, forced labor camps, and even tortured to death simply because they said, "Falun Dafa is good" or "Falun Dafa is a righteous teaching." To date, the number of Falun Gong practitioners who have been tortured to death and whose names were verified and known to the outside world has reached 430. According to inside information from the Public Security people, as many as 1,600 practitioners have been tortured to death. This is simply a bloody massacre of the people and a brazen trampling of international law.
Jiang dealt double-handedly in regards to the Anti-Torture Pact. While on the surface he promised to decrease the use of torture, torture cases have actually increased in China. In the brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in particular, as many as 40 different kinds of torture have been used, which incorporate many cruel forms from both ancient and present times and from both China and abroad. The following are some examples:
Electric batons (used to shock practitioners on their mouths and armpits, and on their chest, breasts and sensitive parts, etc.) are used. Various types of handcuffs and shackles are used, such as the "smoke pipe handcuffs," "wolf-teeth handcuffs," and back cuffs [one hand stretched down from above one's shoulder and other hand stretched up from back]. Rubber sticks, spiked sticks, underground cells, Dead Person's Beds and the Sitting Board are all used as well. The whips the thugs use for torture include leather whips, brass wire whips, steel bars, thorny whips and bamboo sticks with spikes on them. Practitioners are also tied up with ropes, and iron nails are hammered into practitioners' fingers under their fingernails. They also use iron pincer pliers to twist practitioners' flesh and pull out their fingernails. Solitary confinement is also common. The iron chair is used and brutal force-feeding with spicy pepper sauce and human feces also occurs. They pour ice-cold water on practitioners' heads, strip off their clothes and freeze them outside in the winter or they force them to stand in the scorching sun in the summer. They disallow practitioners to use the restroom and disallow practitioners to sleep for as long as half a month at a time. They also inject practitioners with drugs that destroy the central nervous system and torture practitioners with high voltage electric needles, etc. [for illustrations of such tortures, visit http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/11/24/16156.html, http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2002/2/3/18368.html]
The fact that more than 1,600 Falun Gong practitioners have been tortured to death within a period of three years provides sufficient evidence of the excessive use of torture in China.
The increase of torture cases in China makes the United Nations feel uneasy. Although the United Nations torture inspection officers have requested on several occasions to conduct unrestricted investigations of torture cases in China, Jiang, afraid of being found out, has always refused their requests. At the same time, he admits that the Chinese officers in police and judicial systems are of low quality and says that he is willing to have them trained by the United Nations judiciary and law programs, in an attempt to relieve the tension and to justify his action.
Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported on November 9, 2001 that, "Mary Robinson, a United Nations high commissioner for human rights said on Friday that she was very concerned about the recent reports on China's excessive application of torture, including its brutal torture of Falun Gong spiritual movement members." [Translated from Chinese]
Mr. Nigel Rodney, a United Nations special investigator on torture and also a professor of law in England, said on November 6 when interviewed by Reuters News Agency, "Political and religious people, including members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, who are illegally detained in China are abused with torture." [Translated from Chinese] For a long time, Mr. Nigel Rodney tried to apply to the Chinese government for entry into China in order to investigate the long-term accusations of torture, but he didn't have any success.
Mr. Rodney is the former director of Amnesty International and a United Nations special reporter on torture. In 1999, the Chinese government invited Rodney to visit China, but Beijing refused to let him visit jails and police departments other than those designated by the Chinese government. As this was the basic request he had asked for during his visit, Rodney did not make the trip in the end.
As mentioned above, Jiang has had a long history of showing contempt for and trampling international law. However, after the Sinosat satellite incident, Jiang shamelessly talked about international law, as if the international law were a rug he could pull out for use when needed and hide when it was no longer needed.
Jiang monopolizes the state propaganda machinery in China and allows only one voice [his voice]. This fact itself is a violation of related articles on freedom of speech, freedom of publication and freedom of running broadcast and T.V stations. The courageous act of people with a sense of justice to clarify the truth via Sinosat satellite is an act of resistance to the Jiang regime's violation of international law.
We hope all people will be able to see the Jiang regime's true nature through his behavior of constantly violating international laws and pacts, and free themselves from the web of lies.
July 15, 2002
Category: Perspective
