(Clearwisdom.net) minghui.ca correspondent Wang Ying reports from San Francisco --January 22, 2005 marks the second anniversary of American Falun Gong practitioner Charles Lee's unlawful imprisonment in China. On noon on January 29, "Friends of Charles Lee" held a rally on Union Square in San Francisco to call upon the Chinese government to immediately release Charles. California Congressman Tom Lantos sent a supportive statement to the rally. He pointed out in his statement that we must make our stand clear to the Chinese government: We refuse to accept the unjust treatment of Charles Lee; we refuse to accept the unjust treatment received by hundreds of thousands of peaceful Falun Gong practitioners in China, and we demand that they all be released.

Rally host: Dean

Margery Farai, a representative of Congressman Tom Lantos, reading the supportive statement

Steve reading the supportive letter from the President of Massachusetts general hospital

Signing the petition letter calling for the rescue of Charles Lee

San Francisco's TV Channel 2 running an on-site interview

People viewing truth-clarifying posters

Demonstrating the Falun Gong exercises

Spectators learning the Falun Gong exercises

Spectators learning the Falun Gong exercises

According to a spokesperson from the U.S. State Department, after visiting Charles Lee, an American Consulate official in Shanghai said that he looks very tired. Charles told the U.S. Consul in Shanghai that he has shortness of breath and perhaps he has some heart problems. The prison is watching his heart condition.

The rally to rescue Charles Lee began at noon. Rally host Dean said that Dr. Charles Lee sacrificed his own freedom to uphold the Chinese people's human rights and their right of personal belief. In January 2003, Dr. Lee went to China to tell the Chinese people the real story of Falun Gong, but he was arrested at the Guangzhou Airport by Chinese police. Since his arrest, Charles has endured various kinds of mistreatment, force-feeding, brainwashing attempts and other types of physical and mental torture. He is forced to make shoes for the prison in an environment full of toxic materials. He is forced to work overtime.

Dean said that Charles Lee, who is only around 40 years old, has encountered heart problems, and people are very concerned about his situation in prison. Charles' friends are especially concerned about his health. Dean continued by saying that many Chinese Falun Gong practitioners are suffering physical and mental persecution in prisons in China. Many have even been tortured to death. Falun Gong practitioners and people of conscience demand the Chinese government to immediately release Charles Lee unconditionally.

Congressman Tom Lantos, Co-Chair of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, sent a statement calling for the rescue of Charles Lee and sent his representative, Ms. Margery Farai, to support the rescue campaign. Ms. Farai said that U.S. Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi also supports Congressmen Eshoo and Lantos' effort to rescue Charles Lee and hopes the Chinese government will release Charles. Then Ms. Farai read Congressman Lantos' statement.

Ms. Farai said that over the past two years, U.S. citizen Charles Lee has suffered unendurable physical and mental tortures, which have damaged his health. As a Falun Gong practitioner, Charles Lee represents hundreds of thousands of Chinese people who are facing brutal mistreatment by the Chinese authorities because they peacefully cultivate and practice the principles of Falun Gong.

Ms. Farai said that Congressman Lantos was shocked by the inhuman treatment that Charles Lee received in prison. The mistreatment included force-feeding, brainwashing attempts, physical and mental pressure, and labor involving toxic materials. These tortures worsened Dr. Lee's health and damaged his heart. According to documents provided by many witnesses, the torture and maltreatments encountered by hundreds of thousands of Chinese Falun Gong practitioners are even crueler than what Dr. Lee has experienced.

Ms. Farai reiterated Congressman Lantos' statement that we must make our stand clear with the Chinese government, we must speak out against the unjust treatment of Charles Lee and demand his, and all other practitioners', release.

Dr. Charles Lee once did research on molecular imaging at the Massachusetts General Hospital. In the rally, Falun Gong practitioner Steve read an appeal letter from Peter Slavin, President of Massachusetts General Hospital, to Senator Richard Lugar, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Mr. Slavin wrote in his letter that he learned from Charles's fiancée, Ms. Yeong-ching Foo, that Dr. Charles Lee is not in good health. He hoped that Senator Lugar could have Charles released, and he expressed his appreciation of such efforts.

Ms. Sherry Zhang, founder of the organization, "Friends of Charles Lee" said, "In China, the Chinese communist regime has utilized the media to defame Falun Gong in order to incite people's hatred toward Falun Gong. Innocent people are misled by the propaganda. Charles Lee was very concerned with this. In order to allow the general public in China to learn the truth of the persecution encountered by Falun Gong in China, so that they would not be deceived by those lies, he went to China to expose the facts and tell people that practitioners who follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance are being persecuted and killed in China."

Ms. Zhang continued, "However, Charles was immediately arrested upon arriving in China. He was beaten up and imprisoned. He was deprived of sleep. He has been forced to make Christmas lights, he has been forced to undergo brainwashing in attempts to coerce him to give up his practice of Falun Gong. When a reporter from Epoch Times interviewed Charles Lee last November during the Thanksgiving holiday, Charles did not have any physical problems. On December 9, within a short period of less than a month, Charles had developed a heart problem. One could imagine what kind of base means the Nanjing Prison has adopted in trying to coerce Charles to give up his belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance."

Sherry Zhang added, "As friends of Charles Lee, we really appreciate the support of our elected representatives in Congress. We hope that people will work with us to have Charles regain his freedom. We hope attendees of this rally will sign the appeal letter to rescue Charles. Let's work together to rescue Charles Lee and let him go home."

Another old friend of Charles, Ms. Chen Zhao, said that she has known Charles since 1988 when she was in China. She said, "I'm familiar with China's prisons. Because of my practice of Falun Gong, I had been detained for two weeks in 1999 in China. Two weeks is a relatively short period of time. But to me, it seemed that each day was as long as a year. One could imagine how much Charles Lee has gone through during the two years he has been in prison. Charles has encountered physical and mental tortures and he has been forced to do slave labor for a long period of time."

Chen Zhao continued, "Yesterday, Charles' fiancée Yeong-Ching Foo disclosed that Charles' mother passed away on January 25 at home. His mother was not in a good health state for quite some time. In addition, she had constantly received pressure from the Chinese communist authorities. Her son was unable to see her before she died. When Charles hurried home from Nanjing Prison, his mother had passed away already. After only a few minutes, Charles was forced to leave his mother, whose remains were scarcely cold yet. We call upon the Chinese government to immediately stop the persecution of Falun Gong and immediately release Charles Lee."

Falun Gong practitioner Lu Hui who attended the rally said, "Charles Lee is my friend. He is also a member of Amnesty International. Today, through this activity, we hope that more people will learn about Falun Gong and the Jiang regime's persecution of Falun Gong in China. We hope to rescue Charles Lee through the signature drive." He said that a good number of people reached out their helping hands today and signed the petition calling for the rescue of Charles Lee. He said that if more people learned about the truth, people will work together to stop this persecution.