Center for Justice and Accountability Sues Mayor of Beijing

Center for Justice and Accountability

"People who engage in serious violations of internationally recognized human rights can and will be held accountable by the courts of the United States."

Bay Area human-rights activism, the politics of the Olympic Games and touchy U.S.-Chinese relations all converged briefly and dramatically last month at a San Francisco International Airport gate.

On the afternoon of Feb. 7, the Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA) brought a civil suit in U.S. District Court against Mayor Liu Qi of Beijing. Filed on behalf of several members of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement, the suit charges Liu with torture, cruel or degrading treatment, arbitrary detention, crimes against humanity and interference with religion and belief.

The Chinese government banned Falun Gong in 1999 and launched a crackdown that has led to widely report human-rights abuses. According to press reports, Liu, who is also president of the Beijing Organizing Committee of the 2008 Olympic Games, publicly stated at a rally in 2000 that he intended to "resolutely smash and crack down on Falun Gong and other evil cults" to prepare the city for the Games.

On the evening of Feb. 7, Liu was on his way to Salt Lake City to attend the Winter Olympics. Before he could board his plane, however, a group of Falun Gong practitioners served him papers.

Because it is a civil, not criminal suit, Liu will not face arrest or fine should he fail to appear in court. But part of the purpose of such suits, activists say, is simply to put human-rights violators on notice. According to CJA, any victim of torture or other human-rights abuse in another country, and his or her relatives, may bring a lawsuit in U.S. federal court against responsible parties who set foot in the United States.

"CJA is involved in this lawsuit in order to send the message that people who engage in serious violations of internationally ecognized human rights can and will be held accountable by the courts of the United States if they choose to visit here," said Sandra Colver, CJA's executive director. "They may have impunity within the borders of their own country, but they cannot visit the U.S. without running the risk that their victims will find and sue them."

The Chinese foreign ministry officially responded to the incident, just weeks before an official visit to China by President Bush, by calling it "a nasty trick by Falun Gong" intended to "sow discord and harm improvements in bilateral relations."

For more information, contact Sandra Coliver, (415) 544-0444 or scoliver@cja.org.