TO PREVENT ANOTHER MURDER LIKE
DARREN RUSSELL’S THE FOLLOWING STEPS
CAN AND SHOULD BE TAKEN IMMEDIATELY

1. An honest, complete and fully transparent investigation of the murder of Darren Russell, without political interference or distraction, should commence. This investigation should include full disclosure by Chinese authorities, subject to review by the appropriate investigative and prosecuting authorities in the United States.

2. All consular employees involved in the mishandling of his case – both before and after his death – should be questioned under oath, and, where appropriate, reprimanded and/or relieved of their duties.

3. All officials in the Department of State who have rebuffed the Russell family’s lawful requests for information, particularly with regard to Freedom of Information Act issues, should be questioned under oath, and, where, appropriate, reprimanded and/or relieved of their duties.

4. The US Embassy and its consulates in China should relieve all local, non-American employees contracted through the Chinese government’s Diplomatic Services Bureau of any duties in American diplomatic missions in China. That the Department of State submits to this mandate is against the interests of American national security and American citizens who find themselves in distress in that country.

5. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which is designed to prevent corrupt collusion between American and foreign enterprises and governments, should be specifically amended to include illegal schools, their operators, and US businesses and officials who knowingly ignore these operations.

6. The Chinese government must take responsibility for the operation of illegal schools in its country. Currently, there exists no regulation on national, provincial or local levels for English training schools. As this is a highly lucrative business dependent on American (and other foreign) participation, it is crucial that the Chinese government ensure that Americans who teach in that country are legally employed and therefore protected. Likewise, the US Department of State and/or US Department of Education should take a proactive role in overseeing and authenticating such oversight so American teachers do not find themselves in dangerous (and, in the case of Darren Russell, fatal) situations.

7. US Consulate operating procedures should be corrected, particularly in cases of illegal confiscation of American passports by Chinese authorities or illegal school operators. Unlike a lost or stolen passport, which usually occurs as the result of passport holder negligence, an illegally confiscated passport amounts to a theft of US property and seriously imperils any American in such a situation.  An American passport illegally in the hands of Chinese police is equal to unlawful American imprisonment in China.

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