October 7, 2018 Washington, DC
According to the midnight news on the website of China’s State Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection on October 7, Meng Hongwei, who had been missing for 12 days, is suspected of breaking the law and is currently under the investigation of the State Supervision Commission. Citizen Power Initiatives for China has expressed strong concern about this incident.
Meng Hongwei is one of the heads of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He is a deputy minister of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security. He also has a compelling identity — the first Chinese chairman of Interpol.
On October 5, Meng Hongwei’s wife, Grace Meng, reported in Lyon, France, where the headquarters of Interpol is located, that Meng Hongwei had disappeared after returning to China in late September. Before the official announcement about Meng Hongwei on October 7, the Interpol website also posted a notice of “Man Lost” to search for its current chairman.
This incident has greatly reduced the authority and credibility of Interpol. The head of Interpol was arrested by the CCP and has become a prisoner! It is reported that the CCP spent 60 million Euros of people’s hard-earned money on buying his position — Chairman of Interpol. The CCP, an evil gang which is well known for its arbitrary arrest, detention, jail, torture, and trial, actually convened the Conference of International Criminal Organization “victoriously” in Beijing last year. All this constitutes a ridiculous story!
On October 7, Interpol received a letter of resignation from Meng Hongwei. Citizen Power Initiatives for China demands that Interpol re-examine the Red Notices issued by the international organization during Meng Hongwei’s chairmanship.
Meng Hongwei’s wife said at the press conference held in Lyon, France on October: “From now on, I have turned from grief and fear to pursuing truth, justice and historical responsibility, for my beloved husband, for my little children, for Chinese people, for all mothers and children whose husbands or fathers would no longer disappear.”
We believe that Meng Hongwei’s wife has made the right choice, and support her brave public activism. With the sensitive and critical role of Meng Hongwei in the dictatorship system of the Chinese Communist Party and the cruelty of killing each other within the CCP, Meng’s wife is willing to step out of sorrow and fear and become the first family member of the CCP’s high-ranking officials to stand up and say “no” to the Xi Jinping regime. This spirit is commendable. It is even more remarkable that her concern for her husband’s fate has been extended to the pursuit of truth, justice and historical responsibility and to the concern for the fate of fathers, mothers and children in China.
Since the establishment of the Chinese Communist Party in mainland China, China’s judicial system has always been practicing the unwritten tenet “the winner takes it all” in political struggles. If a country’s judicial system cannot reflect the independence, impartiality and dignity of the law, and if it cannot get rid of the control and interference of political power, then the universal justice of this society will not be guaranteed, and the rights of citizens will not be effectively protected. This country will always be in the social state of the barbaric “jungle law”, and thus no one is safe under this authoritarian system. When the victors of political struggles play the role of justice in their political struggles, it seems that the victims are just the politicians who have lost, but in fact, in such a brutal political struggle system, every member of this society is inevitably has become a victim, and this fact will not change because the losers of the political struggle are embraced by the people or cast aside by the people. This has created a “mutual harm” society in which everyone cannot be protected. In such a brutal system, even the basic rights of high-ranking officials like Gao Gang （高岗）, Rao Shushi（饶漱石）, Peng Dehuai（彭德怀）, Liu Shaoqi（刘少奇）, Lin Biao（林彪）, Jiang Qing（江青）, Zhao Ziyang（赵紫阳）, Hu Yaobang（胡耀邦）, Zhou Yongkang（周永康） and Bo Xilai（薄熙来）could not be protected, let alone the basic rights of the general public. Citizen Power Initiatives for China has long defended and advocated the basic human rights, adhered to the principle of equality before the law, and resolutely opposed the different human rights standards to different people. As a high-ranking official, Meng Hongwei must be legally tried if he has a crime, and as a prisoner, his basic rights must be protected by law. Our principle will not change because Meng Hongwei used to be one of the talons of the Chinese Communist regime.
Therefore, Citizen Power Initiatives for China calls on the Chinese judiciary to strictly abide by the Criminal Procedure Law, investigate and collect evidence according to law, and guarantee the legitimate rights of the criminal suspect such as the right of choosing his own defense lawyer so as to allow him to defend himself fully against the alleged crimes in the future. We resolutely oppose “confessions by torture” or “self-incrimination”.
We noticed that Meng Hongwei’s disappearance from September 25 to midnight on October 7 was announced by the CCP under the pressure of international public opinion. He was illegally detained in these 12 days. The Chinese authorities did not give any explanation of this, which is another example of the underworld of the Chinese Communist regime. In view of the bad habits of the private use of “black boxes” by the CCP, Citizen Power Initiatives for China demands that the Chinese judicial department handle the Meng Hongwei case in strict accordance with the judicial procedures and will closely follow and supervise it in order that the fairness of the case can be realized and the rule of law can be improved in China.
At the same time, we appeal to all Chinese, regardless of your status today, to bear in mind the inscription on the Boston Jewish Massacre Monument:
“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”