(Clearwisdom.net) Attorney Terri Marsh, Executive Director of the Human Rights Law Foundation, submitted a legal document to the United States Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit Court on March 10, 2008. The document pointed out that China Central Television (CCTV), which was sued two years ago, should not have foreign immunity.
On January 23, 2006, the International Judicial Association, the American World Human Rights Organization and International Human Rights Legal Project jointly submitted a petition to the United States District Court of the Southern District of New York, suing CCTV for aiding, instigating, inciting, coordinating crimes, ordering, planning, encouraging and promoting torture and genocide of Falun Gong practitioners. This programming was initiated and planned by the CCP and its prime culprits Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan, Li Lanqing, Bo Xilai, Ye Xiaowen and Wang Xudong and others. The plaintiffs are five Falun Gong practitioners including Wang Huimin and Chen Gang.
This civil dispute over suing CCTV is mainly based on the "Alien Tort Claim Act" and "Torture Victims Protection Act". Precisely because of these two bills, Party Committee Secretary Liu Qi from Beijing and Deputy Governor Xia Deren from Liaoning Province have already been announced guilty by the American court.
Chen Gang and other plaintiffs pointed out in their petition that the defendant adopted the same behavior as Nazi Germany did in World War II when reporting in its media and TV programs. They are using the exact same propaganda as during the genocide of Rwanda's Tutsi by the Hutu, and the "ethnic cleansing" in Yugoslavia by Slobodan Milosevic. In the occurrence of all these violent attacks and slaughter, slanderous propaganda played an important role, enabling evildoing to occur and continue.
Such propaganda techniques are exposed on the Chinese Communist Party's website, Chinese Anti-Cult Association (CACA): "First decide who the terrorist is, then choose suitable measures." (From the Xinhua website, one of the Chinese Communist Party's main official mouthpieces). The CCTV repeatedly describes terrorists, criminal offenders, psychopaths, and other criminals as being Falun Gong practitioners in its news reports, documentary films and interview programs. Through massively distributed and sedulously produced lies, the CCP incites hatred and deceives the public, police and security system to arrest and detain Falun Gong practitioners. Those practitioners are then illegally interrogated and tortured, and subjected to brutal brainwashing, with the aim of forcing practitioners to give up their belief. On many occasions, Falun Gong practitioners have lost their life for holding on to their belief.
The extent of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and its degree of severity is nationwide and the persecution of Falun Gong in every province in China has been verified and recorded in detail in US State Department reports on Human Rights Practices, especially in the annual report of the US State Department on international religion freedom. Also, non-governmental human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have records regarding the persecution. The US State Department's 2006 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices pointed out: "Among 250,000 prisoners in forced labor camps in China, at least half of them are Falun Gong practitioners. UN Special Rapporteur Manfred Nowak said in his report, at least two thirds of torture victims in China's prisons are Falun Gong practitioners."
Attorney Terri Marsh wrote in her legal document submitted to the United States Court of Appeals of the 2nd Circuit Court on March 10, 2008:
"A careful reading of the complaint and especially the testimonials of the Plaintiffs reveals the depravity of the persecutory acts that Defendant China Central Television perpetrated through its anti-Falun Gong broadcasts in the United States on CCTV channel 4 and in China on CCTV channel 1. Like the torturer described by the Second Circuit Court in Filartiga v. Pena Irala, 630 F.2d 876, 890 (2d Cir. 1980) as the "hostis humani generis" ("enemy of all mankind"), those who make such acts possible and those without whom such acts could not take place also situate themselves outside of the community of man, and, they must not be permitted to perpetrate these crimes with impunity."
On legal procedure, this case is under appeal in the 2nd Circuit Court (intermediate court). Besides the "China Bar Association" representing the CCP's attempted interference in the case as a third party, defendant CCTV has not responded in any form to the charges. The primary court rejected intervention of the "China Bar Association," but mistakenly ruled that the defendant has immunity under "Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act" (FSIA). Attorney Marsh said that the CCTV does not have any immunity rights under the "Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act," and she believes that the appeals court will announce a correct verdict that benefits the plaintiffs, and return this case to the primary court for further hearing and assessment. The local court will eventually issue, and should issue a verdict in favor of the plaintiffs.
Note: Filártiga v. Peña-Irala,630 F.2d 876 (2d Cir. 1980)is a historical case in the American law and international law. The case opens the precedent of American law punishing non-American citizens for crimes of torture violated outside of the US. This case expands the American judicial jurisdiction to a global scope in torture crimes. This case was ruled by several US 2nd Circuit Court judges in 1980.
Category: Karma & Virtue
