Following is the letter issued by International Advocates for Justice to Wu Aiying, China's Ministry of Justice, along with list of signatories. Text and graphics versions of the letter are included.
INTERNATIONAL ADVOCATES FOR JUSTICE
95-60 Queens Boulevard, Unit 127
Rego Park, NY 11374
November 20, 2005
Wu Aiying
Ministry of Justice, People's Republic of China
10 Nan Da Jie, Chaoyang Men
Zip 100020
Dear Minister Wu Aiying:
We the undersigned write as human rights advocates, including law professors, attorneys and barristers, as well as UN special rapporteurs, to raise an issue with you that we find very distressing. We refer to the decision of the Chinese government a week ago to shut down the law firm of GAO Zhisheng. Although we are aware of your government's position that the firm was closed because it had failed to re-register with the authorities after moving into a new office, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom disputes this assertion. In a letter dated November 9, 2005, to President Bush, the Commission alleges that the firm was discriminated against because some of its clients included practitioners of the Falun Gung religion as well as an unregistered Protestant pastor. Amnesty International claims that the move to close the firm came shortly after the firm's director sent an open letter to President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabo urging them to end the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. We urge you to take note of the fact that lawyers all around the world and from time immemorial have issued statements and written letters on behalf of their clients, inasmuch as the practice of law is not confined to isolated courtrooms but instead takes place against a political background and context that implicate their clients' beliefs and practices.
We believe that lawyers have a professional obligation to defend accused persons no matter what the accusation might be. If the accused person is convicted, then the government benefits by being protected against accusations of violations of due process of law by pointing to the fact that the person had the services of legal counsel in mounting his or her defense. We write to you out of our conviction that defense of the rule of law is in your interest as a government just as it is in our interest as attorneys or members of organizations dedicated to the rule of law.
You are of course well aware of the international rules of law protecting religious freedom and a citizen's right to legal counsel of his or her choice. These principles and norms are affirmed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers and other relevant human rights instruments.
As the industrial and economic power of China grows, we believe that genuine respect for the political rights and religious freedoms of individuals will contribute to that growth through the autonomous workings of the market. Your own citizens will increasingly become the main consumers of products that you now trade to other countries, and China will become all the stronger because of it. When there is true diversity and freedom among consumers, they will feel a competitive urge to compete with each other in the market for goods and services. Your government's decision to allow Chinese citizens to buy gold for private use and savings is a model for all other governments to follow. It gives citizens a proprietary stake in the economic well-being of all of China. The same thing is true of extending to your citizens the full panoply of human rights and religious freedoms.
We feel a fundamental empathy with the ten lawyers who have been shut of work by the closing of GAO Zhisheng's law firm. These lawyers are truly "officers of the court" who have a professional obligation to serve not the client but the client's legitimate interests. We urge you to reconsider your decision and reinstate Mr. GAO's law firm's licence to practice law.
Sincerely,
Lana Han
Executive Director
International Advocates for Justice
Theresa Chu
Director
International Advocates for Justice
Copies to:
Fan Fangping
Duan Zhengkun
Zhang Sujun
Vice Ministers
Enclosures: List of Signatories
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(549 x 610 px, 1 dpi)
LIST OF SIGNATORIES:
WILLIAM ACEVES is Secretary of the Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA) Board of Directors and a Professor of Law at California Western School of Law, where he teaches Civil Procedure, Human Rights Law, Foreign Affairs Law, and Comparative Law. He is a member of Amnesty International USA's Legal Support Network Steering Committee, and is a Consulting Attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the American Branch of the International Law Association. Professor Aceves has represented several human rights organizations as counsel of record in cases before the First, Fifth, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits, and the U.S. Supreme Court. He writes extensively on international law and human rights, and is the principal author of the 2002 Amnesty International USA report, The United States: A Safe Haven for Torturers?
CLIVE ANSLEY holds law degrees from the University of Windsor and the University of London. He has practiced with law firms in Vancouver, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Shanghai, with 19 years of practice in Asia. Mr. Ansley speaks and reads Mandarin. His areas of specialization include commercial litigation, constitutional and human rights, international investment and trade law, maritime law, shipbuilding contracts, business law, immigration, and criminal law. In 1985 he became the first foreign lawyer to establish an office in Shanghai. Mr. Ansley taught Chinese Law for six years at the University of Windsor and the University of British Columbia. He also taught in the Law Faculty of Shanghai's Fudan University in 1984 and still holds the title of Advising Professor at that institution. More recently, he taught International Economic Law at Shanghai's Tongji University. Mr. Ansley has studied the new Chinese legal system since its inception in 1979, and has published and lectured widely on Chinese law. He has also appeared in a number of foreign court proceedings as a recognized expert on Chinese law. He now dedicates most of his working time to his lifelong interest in human rights.
PETER BERGQUIST, Swedish human rights lawyer and advocate of universal jurisdiction, is one of the pioneers in Sweden committed to the principle that rule-of-thelaw should be applied even to dictators who commit serious crimes. In 1998, he appealed to a Swedish prosecutor to request the extradition of Pinochet to Sweden on charges of murder and abduction. He was also the legal counsel in another attempt to extradite the Argentinean admiral Afredo Aztis for the abduction of Dagmar Hagelin. Representing the Swedish Falun Dafa Association, Mr. Bergquist filed a complaint on June 13th 2005 against the former Chinese head of state Jiang Zemin and leaders of the "6-10 Office", alleging they have participated in crimes of murder and torture of Falun Gong practitioners in China. The lawsuit was filed at Kungsholmsgatan police station in Stockholm.
ANDREA BIANCHI is Professor of International Law at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva since 2002. Other academic positions held are: Full Professor at the Catholic University, Milan; Associate Professor at the University of Parma; Assistant Professor at the University of Siena. He was also Professorial Lecturer in International Law at the Bologna Center of the John Hopkins University until 2001. His publications range from international human rights, international economic law, the law of jurisdiction and jurisdictional immunities to international environmental law, state responsibility and the law of treaties. He writes extensively in professional law journals.
JULIAN BURNSIDE, QC completed his Bachelor of Economics and Bachelor of Law at Monash University. He has worked as a barrister since 1976 and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1989. Well known for his work supporting asylum seekers, Mr. Burnside serves as Patron for Australians for Just Refugee Programs and has acted as legal counsel for the Woomera escapees and for Liberty Victoria in relation to the Tampa asylum seekers. He is one of the leading human rights advocates in Australia.
OBIORA CHINEDU OKAFOR teaches at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University in Toronto, Canada. Before that he held faculty positions at the University of Nigeria and Carleton University. He has served as an SSRC-MacArthur Foundation Visiting Scholar at Harvard Law School's Human Rights Program and was recently named a Canada-US Fulbright Scholar at MIT. His doctoral dissertation at the University of British Columbia received the Governor General's Gold Medal (the university prize for best dissertation). He is currently working on a funded study relating to human rights activism in Nigeria, as well as on a project examining the character of refugee law/refugeehood post 9/11. Professor Okafor has published extensively in the fields of international human rights law and refugee law, as well as general public international law. He is the author of several books and a frequent contributor for several law publications around the world.
THERESA CHU, a member of the New York Bar, is Taiwan's spokesperson for the Attorney Group for Bring Jiang to Justice, a legal initiative to hold China's former head of state accountable for his crimes committed against practitioners of Falun Gong, and Taiwan's representative of Global Coalition Against Article 23 Legislation. Ms. Chu has been invited to participate in a task force for Taiwan's Admission to the International Criminal Court. She has worked as a Legal Specialist in the Treaties and Legal Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taiwan. Ms. Chu is presently working with other attorneys on Taiwan's first ever genocide lawsuit – the case against Jiang Zemin, and the heads of the 6-10 Office, Li Lanqing and Luo Gan, an office in charge of persecuting practitioners of Falun Gong in China. She also serves as Director of International Advocates for Justice, a global international advocacy group that supports victims of torture by providing legal and educational resources, and litigation support.
OWEN DAKA, a lawyer from South Africa, has worked on several high profile human rights cases for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. As a well known human rights attorney with an international reputation, he has handled many landmark human rights cases, including a landmark case filed in South Africa against a high ranking Chinese official for her role in the persecution of Falun Gong.
ANTHONY D'AMATO is the Leighton Professor of Law at Northwestern University School of Law, where he teaches courses in international law, international human rights, analytic jurisprudence, and justice. He received his law degree from Harvard Law School and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. He is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Tax Court, and several U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal, and is a member of the New York Bar. Professor D'Amato was the first American lawyer to argue (and win) a case before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, and he has litigated a number of human rights cases around the world. He is the author of over 20 books and over 110 articles. Biographies of Professor D'Amato can be found in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Education, and Who's Who in American Law.
JOEL ETIENNE, Canadian attorney in private practice in both civil and common law. He concentrates his efforts in the fields of human rights and immigration law specializing in refugee matters. He is currently a Board Member of his Synagogue, the Beth Lida Orthodox Shule in Forrest Hill, Ontario. He is Co-Founder of Friends of Falung Gong Association of Canada. Mr. Etienne is also a frequent contributor to CBC French Radio News Information Programs on legal matters.
LANA S. HAN is the Executive Director of International Advocates for Justice, an organization supporting the advocacy for the respect of human rights and the accountability of violations of fundamental human rights. Her areas of specialization include human rights, civil rights, commercial real estate, trademark and copyright, and international transactions. She is a member of the New York State Bar and an alumna of National Institute for Trial Advocacy. She has represented the victims of the escalating and well-reported persecution of Falun Gong. On behalf of such victims, she has worked with an international network of attorneys, organizations, and human rights activists in an effort to bring the perpetrators of crimes against human rights to justice.
CARLOS IGLESIAS JIMENEZ is a lawyer from Spain. During the 1980's and 1990's, Mr. Iglesias held advisory posts for a number of Ministries in the Spanish Government. Mr. Iglesias has dedicated the last several years to prosecuting individuals for violations of human rights taking place in Mainland China against Falun Gong practitioners. On October 15 2003, he filed a criminal lawsuit against Jiang Zemin and the vice director of the 6-10 Office, Luo Gan, accusing them of heading and organizing genocide and an illegal persecution of Falun Gong. More recently he filed a lawsuit against Bo Xilai, the former governor of Liaoning Province, for genocide and torture.
GEORGE HENRI BEAUTHIER is probably best known for his role in bringing charges against former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. He also brought the first successful case under Belgium's human rights laws against two individuals for their roles in the Rwandan genocide of 1994. Mr. Beauthier is chief counsel in a Belgian lawsuit charging former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin and two of his senior aides with genocide, torture and crimes against humanity. He is also co-counsel in a criminal lawsuit filed in France against former Chinese Vice-Premier, Li Lanqing, on behalf of Falun Gong practitioners.
WOLFGANG KALECK is a German lawyer based in Berlin. He first gained prominence for representing German victims of former Argentine President Jorge Videla who was charged with the torture and killing of thousands during his rule in the late 1970's and early 1980's. A Nuremberg Federal Court has recently issued an arrest warrant for Videla in connection with the lawsuit. Mr. Kaleck filed a lawsuit with the German Supreme Court against Jiang Zemin and other Chinese leaders on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity on behalf of Falun Gong practitioners.
PERRY LINK is a Professor of East Asian Studies at Princeton University as well as the Associate Director of Princeton in Beijing. His publications are voluminous and include the best study abroad language instruction program in China. Professor Link's "The Tiananmen Papers", provides a first-time look behind the scenes at Chinese government's decision making. Professor Link's stature as a China expert is especially evident from the wide range of articles and books on China and Chinese issues.
TERRI E MARSH, a human rights attorney, is the lead attorney representing Falun Gong practitioners in several legal cases against the perpetrators of torture and crimes against humanity in China. After a career as a college professor, Dr. Marsh turned to law and graduated from the NYU School of Law with a focus in international human rights. She worked as chief researcher for the Clinton Presidential Campaign, as a consultant at the Center for Law and Social Policy, and as Director of the Washington D.C. Youth Court. Since 2000, Dr. Marsh has dedicated herself to legal advocacy in the United States and around the world. She championed various legal cases on behalf of Falun Gong some of which have been resolved in favor of the plaintiffs. In October of 2001, she became the lead attorney for the case filed against the former president of China, Jiang Zemin, and the 6-10 Office for torture and genocide against Falun Gong.
DAVID MATAS is the Co-chair of the International Coalition Against Torture and Senior Legal Counsel of Amnesty International Canada and B'nai Brith Canada. In 1969, he became a Middle Temple United Kingdom Barrister, and he was called to Bar of Manitoba in 1971. Mr. Matas was special assistant to the Solicitor General of Canada in 1971-1972. He has also served as a member of the Canadian delegation to the United Nations Conference on an International Criminal Court in 1998, the Canadian Delegation to the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust, and since 1997 as the Director of the International Centre for Human Rights & Democratic Development. Mr. Matas has also taught constitutional law at McGill University, and Introductory Economics, Canadian Economic Problems, International Law, Civil Liberties, and Immigration and Refugee Law at the University of Manitoba.
NAOMI ROHT-ARRIAZA is a Professor at the University of California, Hastings College of Law in San Francisco. She teaches various international human rights courses as well as international and domestic environmental law, and a seminar in globalization, corporate responsibility, trade and social issues. She has written and lectured extensively on industry self-regulation in the environmental and labor rights areas. Her publications include Impunity and International Human Rights Law and Practice (Oxford University Press, 1995). She is a participant on several working groups of the American Society of International Law.
TOKUNAGA, SHINICHI, is a professor at the Law School of Kyoto University, Japan. He is the leading lawyer in an HIV-tainted blood products lawsuit against a senior health ministry official. Mr. Tokunaga filed Japan's first ever lawsuit against Jiang Zemin, Li Lanqing and Luo Gan for their participation in the persecution of Falun Gong in China and against Chinese Consulate in Japan for its slander and libel against Falun Gong in April of 2005.
MORTON SKLAR is the Executive Director of the World Organization for Human Rights USA, an organization that represents victims of grave human rights abuse and monitors U.S. compliance with the Torture and Race Conventions. Mr. Sklar has served on the Board of Directors of Amnesty International USA, taught human rights law at Catholic University of America Law School, and participated in a yearlong UN factfinding mission to Burma to investigate forced labor there. Mr. Sklar's organization filed related lawsuits against the Deputy Governor of Liaoning Province, Xia Deren, and the former Governor of Liaoning Province, Bo Xilai.
STRAVOS TSAKYRAKIS is a Greek human rights law professor and attorney with an international reputation. He has appeared before the European Court of Human Rights on freedom of speech issues and related matters. He has lectured and published in the area of human rights and most recently filed a criminal lawsuit against Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan and Li Lanqing for the torture of Greek citizens and residents during their visit in Mainland China. He currently holds a faculty position in the School of Law, Economic and Political Sciences at the University of Athens.
ERPING ZHANG is a well-known human rights activist based in New York City, most notably known for advocating for Falun Gong spiritual movement and for prisoners of conscience in China. He holds an MPA from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He has published and testified on SARS in China before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission in the U.S. Senate, a subject he studies while completing his Masters degree at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 2003. He has spoken on a variety of issues related to China at U.S. Congress, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, European Parliament, UN Human Rights Commission, Italian Parliament, Swedish Parliament, Norwegian Parliament, World Summit on Information Society, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the universities of Harvard, Yale, MIT, Brown, Princeton, etc. He has also appeared on BBC, CNN, MSNBC, the Charlie Rose Show on PBS, ABC's Nightline, News hour, etc.
The letter has also been signed by the following human rights and civil attorneys and activists:
YOSHIDA AKIRA, Attorney, Japan
LISA ANGELO, Attorney, USA
EDMUND BON, Attorney, Malaysia
DOMINIC CHAN, Executive Officer, Human Rights Department, Bar Council Malaysia
DONNA CHEN, Attorney, Taiwan
KAREN CHEN, Attorney, Taiwan
FABRIZIO CUGIA DI SANT'ORSOLA, Attorney, Italy
ALFRED DODWALL, Attorney, Singapore
WALTER DOUGLAS STUBER, Attorney, Human Rights Institute of the International Bar Association (IBA), Brazil
JASON DZUBOW, Esq., Attorney, USA
LUZ ESTELLA NAGLE, Professor of Law, Stetson University College of Law, Florida, USA
HON. ROBERT FISHER QC, LL.D, AAMINZ, presently Queen's Counsel and a judge for 15 years in the High Court of New Zealand
TODD GALLINGER, Attorney, USA
LAWRENCE GREENSPON, Attorney, Ottawa, Canada
ROBERT W. HAMILTON, Professor Emeritus of Law, University of Texas School of Law, USA
SHI-YUAN HONG, Attorney, Taiwan
ADESINA IBRAHEEM, Attorney, Nigeria
CHRIS LAWRENCE, Attorney, New Zealand
STEPHEN MARKS, Attorney, USA
MARTIN MCMAHON, Attorney, USA
BIJAYA MISHRA, Journalist, Nepal
RICHARD OMA AHONARUOGHO, Attorney, Nigeria
CAROLE J. PETERSEN, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong
PASCAL QUADFLIEG, Attorney, Belgium
SIVARASA RASIAH, Attorney, Malaysia
FREDERICK RHINE, Attorney, USA
TERRY STENERSON, Attorney, USA
SONIA VELASCO, Attorney, Barcelona, Spain
Read more about Gao Zisheng:
They Say I'm a Fake—They Are Just Afraid
Gao Zhisheng's Law Firm Faces Permanent Closure
Why One of China's Top Attorneys Broke with the Communist Party
Gao Zhisheng Sends Another Open Letter Protesting Unjust Treatment
"My Only Regret Is I Did Too Little Too Late"
A Lawyer Struggles for Human Rights - Even His Own
Persecution against Falun Gong Must End, Says Lawyer
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