Charged with being ethnic Chinese

Here is an ad by Chinese for Affirmative Action in San Francisco:

http://www.caasf.org/PDFs/adforweb2.pdf
WEN HO LEE & THE NUCLEAR WITCHHUNT
Why is American scientist Dr. Wen Ho Lee still languishing in prison?

He is not charged with espionage. Early news leaks to the contrary, the FBI cleared Dr. Lee of sharing warhead information with any foreign government. Today, the sole allegation is that Dr. Lee downloaded data onto computer disks at Los Alamos. The data was unclassified when he downloaded it. The government classified it as “secret” only after his dismissal.

Ex-CIA director John Deutch allegedly downloaded classified information into his home computers. Other Los Alamos staffers apparently misplaced hard drives with classified information. None has been criminally indicted or is in custody. Dr. Lee alone faces criminal charges.

The 60-year-old Taiwan-born American scientist, employed at Los Alamos for two decades, has been held in solitary confinement in a federal prison, without bail, for eight months. Contact with his family is restricted and monitored. He is shackled hand and foot on the rare occasions he is taken from his cell. Why?

The chief of Los Alamos counterintelligence says that Dr. Lee was singled out for investigation because of his “ethnicity.”

The search warrant for his home was obtained on the U.S. Attorney’s affidavit that Dr. Lee is “overseas ethnic Chinese.”

Charged with being ethnic Chinese, how can he prove his innocence? And why, of all Americans, should he be forced to?

Caught up in a classic witch hunt built on racist stereotypes and racial profiling, Dr. Lee faces life in prison because of domestic politics, not international intrigue. The 1950’s-style nuclear security hysteria whipped up in Congress last year made Dr. Lee the scapegoat because he is ethnic Chinese, and for that reason alone.

It should chill us all that our government is still persecuting Dr. Lee and bankrupting his family long after any basis for prosecution has evaporated.

As Americans — we demand justice. Drop all charges. Free Dr. Wen Ho Lee now.

Chinese for Affirmative Action, 17 Walter U. Lum Place, San Francisco, California 94108
To learn more, please visit www.caasf.org.