Chinese torture survivor seeks former President's prosecution in Britain

Public Interest Lawyers (PIL) has today written to the Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecutions calling upon them to investigate and, if necessary, prosecute Jiang Zemin, the former President of China. Jiang is accused of subjecting thousands of practitioners of Falun Gong to years of persecution and sickening torture in China’s infamous labour camps.

PIL has asked Baroness Scotland and Keir Starmer QC to exercise their powers pursuant to the principle of “universal jurisdiction”, which allows for the prosecution in the UK courts of persons suspected of carrying out crimes against humanity. The UK not only has the power to bring such prosecutions, but also an absolute legal duty under the UN Convention Against Torture and the Criminal Justice Act 1998.

The Persecution of Falun Gong has, since July 1999, been an orchestrated campaign by the Communist Government (led by Jiang) to eradicate the practice in China. It is common knowledge that ideological conversion and extrajudicial coercion have been key tools in the Chinese Government’s armoury in attempting to stamp out what it sees as an “evil cult”, but what is in reality simply a system of spiritual beliefs and practices. Falun Gong has been banned in mainland China since 22 July 1999. Since then, thousands of adherents have been brutalised or killed in labour camps.

The torture of Falun Gong practioners often includes:

Organ harvesting;
Rape;
Branding;
Electric shocks;
Stress positions;
Force-feeding;
“Re-education” via forced labour;
Verbal and physical abuse;
Other forms of sexual abuse; and
Psychiatric abuse and brainwashing.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture has noted that the torture of Falung Gong practitioners is of a “harrowing” nature, and many non-governmental organisations such as Amnesty International have for many years reported at length on the serious human rights violations suffered by thousands of victims.

PIL acts on behalf of Feng Hollis, who is courageously fighting to bring Jiang Zemin to justice. Mrs Hollis is 47 years-old, and arrived in Britain in 2007 as a refugee having been imprisoned in a labour camp from 1 March 2005 until 1 September 2006. She was arrested in front of her sixteen year-old son during a house raid, having apparently been monitored by the Chinese Intelligence Services for three years due to her involvement in Falun Gong.

Mrs Hollis was deprived of food and water for long periods during that time, often in 40 degree heat. She was deprived of sleep for between 20 and 21 hours per day. Her tormentors were not always state officials, but usually drug addicts who were fellow prisoners whom the officials induced to carry out the torture and degradation of other detainees. She was physically abused in an effort to force her to sign a declaration renouncing her belief in Falun Gong but she refused to do so.

She recalls that many of her friends were severely beaten when they inevitably failed to maintain stress positions. One stress position to which she was repeatedly subjected involved being placed on what was known as the “high chair” – a narrow, uneven plastic seat designed to maximise the victim’s discomfort. Mrs Hollis would be forced to sit on this chair and maintain a strict sitting position for over 18 hours at a time. She would have to request permission from the drug addicts if she wanted to move, even slightly. Such permission was often denied.

The Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecutions now have 21 days in which to respond to the request. It is PIL’s position that if they comply with their clear domestic and international law obligations, an extradition request will be issued to China, demanding that it hand over its former head of state to stand trial in the UK.

Jim Duffy, one of the solicitors acting for Mrs Hollis, said today:

“Jiang Zemin stands accused of orchestrating an almost unimaginable campaign of violence against many thousands of his own people. The UK must now demonstrate its vehement opposition to torture wherever it takes place by making him answer to international legal norms.”


For further information, contact Jim Duffy or Phil Shiner on: 0121 515 5069.