US citizen and Falun Gong practitioner Charles Lee, who is being detained at Nanjing City Prison was recently forced into slave labour 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 labour. Some lawyers have volunteered to write letters to the US government and seek help for Charles.
It's a common occurrence in Chinese labour camps that Falun Gong practitioners are forced to perform slave labour. Many of the products made with forced labour 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' labour being exploited in Chinese labour camps. The report reveals evidence and facts that some labour camps in China force detained Falun Gong practitioners to do slave labour. The report includes the case of 57-year-old Falun Gong practitioner Wan Guifu, who was held at No. 1 Detention Centre 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 labour 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 labour products on the international market also has a great impact on the stability of world labour 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.
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/3/11/69668.html
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