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US Citizen Charles Lee Forced to Do Slave Labor in Nanjing City Prison
(Clearwisdom.net) US citizen and Falun Gong practitioner Charles Lee,
who is being detained at Nanjing City Prison was recently forced into slave
labor in addition to attending brainwashing sessions. According to Charles Lee's fiancée, Fu Yeong-ching, who is currently living in
California, as early as December 2003, Charles was forced to do slave labor
making shoes. He had told a US consular official in Shanghai that the glue used
in shoe production smelled terrible and made him feel sick. Fu Yeong-ching contacts US consular officials in Shanghai monthly According to an Epoch Times report from March 9, 2004, Stuart Pat,
spokesman for the Bureau of Consular Affairs, US Department of State, had
confirmed that Charles Lee was forced to work in a factory. The officials from
the US Department of State had previously said on numerous occasions that they
wanted to make sure Charles is not being mistreated and his health is protected. Ms. Zhang Xuerong, one of the founders of an organization called Friends
of Charles Lee based in California said many people in legal circles were
shocked to learn that Charles was forced to do slave labor. Some lawyers have
volunteered to write letters to the US government and seek help for Charles. It's a common occurrence in Chinese labor camps that Falun Gong practitioners
are forced to perform slave labor. Many of the products made with forced labor
are exported to European, American and Asian markets and sold at very low
prices. On November 7, 2003, the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution
of Falun Gong published an investigative report on Falun Gong practitioners'
labor being exploited in Chinese labor camps. The report reveals evidence and
facts that some labor camps in China force detained Falun Gong practitioners to
do slave labor. The report includes the case of 57-year-old Falun Gong
practitioner Wan Guifu, who was held at No. 1 Detention Center in Lanzhou City.
The police forced him to work 20 hours a day with other inmates, using their
teeth to crack and remove the shells of big watermelon seeds.
Because of his age, Wan Guifu could not fulfill his work quota. With silent
approval from Lu Jun, the head of Division Four, the inmates from Cell Nine
often beat him brutally, which led to his death. The report also pointed out that slave labor is not only a violation of the
detainee's basic human rights, it also brings the persecutors tremendous profit
and therefore incites the guards and police officers to further abuse the
detainees. Due to their abnormally low prices, the dumping of slave labor
products on the international market also has a great impact on the stability of
world labor and financial markets. Because the Chinese government strictly blocks information and prohibits
investigations into the persecution, the cases that have been exposed constitute
only the tip of an iceberg. More cases are still being investigated.
Posting date: 3/16/2004 |