(Clearwisdom.net) Ottawa ¨C On Tuesday, January 20, 2004, renowned international human rights lawyer Mr. David Matas and representatives of the Falun Dafa Association of Canada held a press conference in Parliament to release information about recent cooperation with Canada's Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Program (CAHWCP) in holding the persecutors of Falun Gong accountable. Mr. Alex Neve, Secretary General of Amnesty International, and Mr. Rob Anders, Member of Parliament, expressed their support in their written statements.

The CAHWCP allows for procedures in Canada that may lead to denial of visas, barring from entry, deportation, and prosecution of perpetrators of crimes against humanity.

Last September, the Falun Dafa Association of Canada (FDAC) submitted the names of 15 people ¨C including China's former Chairman, Jiang Zemin ¨C along with evidence of their crimes to the officials in the CAHWCP. FDAC requested that the identified individuals be denied entry to Canada. 30 more names of perpetrators and evidence of their crimes were submitted today.

CAHWCP confirmed that a file specifically on Falun Gong has been opened. In the event that a perpetrator of atrocities against Falun Gong practitioners lands in Canada, the War Crimes Unit will be ready to conduct prompt investigations..

"The RCMP and immigration officers will continue to receive more names and evidence from FDAC, for the number of Chinese officials, police, and guards who participate in the systematic elimination of Falun Gong practitioners are in the tens of thousands," said Xun Li, President of Falun Dafa Association of Canada.

Mr. Matas wrote to the Minister responsible for the CAHWCP to express that Canada should bar Jiang Zemin, former Chinese Chairman, and other perpetrators against Falun Gong, from entry into Canada. "The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act renders inadmissible to Canada any person who there is reasonable grounds to believe has committed a crime against humanity outside Canada [sections 35(1)(a) and 33]", said Mr. Matas. "It is my view that the evidence presented is sufficient", said Matas. He continued, "Indeed, the evidence indicates that Jiang Zemin and the others listed were instigators of the offences."

"And it is a global responsibility. All nations have a responsibility to stand up for and deliver justice, no matter where human rights violations have taken place." expressed by Mr. Neve.

Mr. Anders stated, "Senior officials responsible for the persecution of Falun Gong [practitioners] in China should be indicted for crimes against humanity."

Approximately a hundred Falun Gong practitioners rallied all morning showing support.

According to CAHWCP's fifth annual report (http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pub/war2002/), for 2001-2002, the policy of the Canadian government is unequivocal that Canada is not and will not become a safe haven for persons who have committed war crimes, crimes against humanity, or other reprehensible acts, regardless of when or where they were committed.

Since the mid-1980's Canada has undertaken significant measures, both within and outside of its borders, to break the cycle of impunity enjoyed by persons who have committed atrocities.

During the fiscal year 2001-2002 alone, 445 individuals have been barred entry into Canada, 46 persons were removed from Canada, and 3,983 cases are under investigation.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a practice of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." Practiced in over 50 countries worldwide, Falun Gong has roots in traditional Chinese culture.

Since July 1999, Amnesty International, other human rights groups, and various world media have widely reported the inhumane persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. The former leader of China, Jiang Zemin, has implemented a policy against Falun Gong practitioners of "destroy their reputation, bankrupt them financially, and annihilate them physically" in Mainland China--a campaign of genocide.

With government estimates of as many as 100 million practicing Falun Gong, Jiang Zemin created the notorious "6-10 Office," a state terrorist organization, specifically to eradicate the peaceful practice. This body, established on June 10, 1999 ("6-10" refers to the date of its creation), exists at all levels of government, from state to municipal. Its authority supersedes that of all legal, judicial, and governmental bodies and utilizes every facet of society, including schools, communities, and workplaces, to harass, arrest, torture, and brainwash Falun Gong practitioners inside China and spread defamatory propaganda throughout China and abroad.

The entire state-run media apparatus, legal system, police force, and administrative structure, including work units and local community groups, are forced to take part in the persecution and to propagate hatred towards Falun Gong. Appalling torture and brainwashing tactics--including the use of psychiatric hospitals that employ electric shock treatments and injections of nerve-damaging drugs--are applied in an attempt to force innocent and law-abiding people to give up their belief in Falun Gong. Even babies, pregnant women, and senior citizens have not been spared from the torture. The lives of millions of Falun Gong families have been destroyed.

The Falun Dafa Information Center has verified details of 865 deaths since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. In October 2001, however, government officials inside China reported that the actual death toll was well over 1,600. Expert sources now estimate that figure to be much higher. Hundreds of thousands have been detained, with more than 100,000 being sentenced to forced labor camps without trial.

Last September, the Falun Dafa Association of Canada and World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong submitted the names of 15 people, including former Chinese Chairman Jiang Zemin, together with evidence of their crimes, to Canadian authorities from Canada's Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Program.

The persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and the suppression of their moral and spiritual belief of "Truth-Compassion-Forbearance" ordered by Jiang Zemin, has escalated for over four years. This systematic eradication of Falun Gong through hate-incitement, economic devastation, torture and killing is a genocide campaign and constitutes serious crimes against humanity and conscience.

However, due to the Chinese regime's massive cover-up of the facts by fabricating and framing up Falun Gong and its practitioners, as well as inciting hatred against Falun Gong on a large scale, the severity and the scale of the persecution is still less known to the international community.

Therefore, we are encouraged by the confirmation from RCMP's War Crimes Unit that they have opened a file on Falun Gong. In the event that a perpetrator of atrocities against Falun Gong practitioners lands in Canada, prompt investigations will be conducted.

This is just our first step in cooperating with the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Program. We will continue to make diligent efforts to facilitate the implementation of the relevant laws, and to submit additional names and evidence of persecutors, likely to number in the tens of thousands. Even this figure is still just the tip of the iceberg in comparison to the massive systematic scale of the persecution.

Currently, in China, the judiciary is not able to provide legal redress to Falun Gong practitioners, instead, the judicial system in itself is an integral instrument in the campaign to eradicate Falun Gong from Jiang Zemin's regime. In this lawless environment of persecuting Falun Gong, those persecutors are in fact blindly violating true Chinese law, international law, and the laws of mankind and heaven.

Therefore, the implementation of Canada's Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Program to aid Falun Gong terrifies and sends a strong message to those persecutors in China that the international community is prepared to take action on the side of justice, and when human rights abusers against Falun Gong realize that they must pay the price, their misdeeds will be refrained.