\doc\web\99\17\ocaspy.txt Subject: Fw: FW: Wen Ho Lee - JOINT PRESS
STATEMENT BY ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN ORGANIZATIONS
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From: Organization of Chinese Americans <Oca@ocanatl.org
To: Organization of Chinese Americans <Oca@ocanatl.org

Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 16:27:59 -0500
Subject: FW: Wen Ho Lee - JOINT PRESS STATEMENT BY ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN
ORGANIZATIONS
Message-ID: <7FC00220FB5AD311983900508B4A80A203DDDE@ocas1


 This is a copy of the statement that the Organization of Chinese
 Americans is jointly releasing with our colleagues in the Asian
 Pacific American community about the Wen Ho Lee case.
 
 
 
 JOINT PRESS STATEMENT BY ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN ORGANIZATIONS
 
 
 For Release: 5:00pm, EST, December 16, 1999
 
 Contact:  See Attached List Below
 
 	This is a joint statement on behalf of the undersigned Asian
 Pacific American organizations in response to the December 10
 indictment of Dr. Wen Ho Lee and the position of the Department of
 Justice in relation to Dr. Lee's case.
 
 	We are deeply disturbed about the Justice Department's manner in
 investigating and prosecuting Dr. Wen Ho Lee, a Chinese American
 scientist formerly employed at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New
 Mexico, and the negative effects of this case upon the Asian Pacific
 American community in the United States.  Our concerns are the
 following:
 
 First, the government's investigation that led to Dr. Lee's indictment
 was flawed by  negative ethnic stereotypes and fueled by anti-Chinese
 hysteria.  
 
 Second, Dr. Lee has been unfairly singled out in an unusual, if not
 unprecedented, criminal prosecution for conduct when it appears
 non-Chinese American government employees who have mishandled
 classified information have not been similarly charged.  
 
 Third, there is an apparent lack of due process and abuse of
 discretion in the government's decision to oppose Dr. Lee's release on
 bail during the pretrial phase of this case.  
 
 Fourth, there is persistent and misleading media coverage which
 continues to portray this case as one of "Chinese espionage,"
 involving an alleged "Chinese spy" when, by its selection of charges
 in the indictment, the government has not charged that Dr. Lee
 disclosed U.S. classified information to any other person, much less
 to anyone connected to China.  
 
 	Robert Vrooman, former security chief at the Los Alamos National
 Laboratory and a central figure in the Lee investigation, has publicly
 acknowledged that Dr. Lee was selected as the target of the
 investigation because of his ethnicity.  We condemn racial profiling
 in such government investigations.
 
 	The Justice Department's decision to prosecute Dr. Lee under 42
 U.S.C. 2276, 42 U.S.C. 2275 and 18 U.S.C. 793(c) and (e), is highly
 unusual, if not unprecedented.  Dr. Lee has not been charged with
 disclosing classified information to a third person.  To our
 knowledge, no other person in U.S. history has ever been charged with
 these felonies (several of which carry a potential life sentence as
 the maximum penalty) merely for mishandling classified information,
 without any claim that the person actually disclosed or even sought to
 disclose such information to a foreign government.  There are also
 multiple reported cases of non-Chinese American government employees
 who have mishandled classified information and yet who have not
 suffered any government sanction, much less prosecution under these
 statutes.  The government's motives and its commitment to fairness in
 Dr. Lee's case are questionable.
 
 	The Bill of Rights guarantees fundamental due process to all
 criminal defendants, and the Eighth Amendment forbids excessive bail
 in criminal cases. Yet Dr. Lee has been held in jail since his arrest
 on December 10 despite the willingness of Dr. Lee and his supporters
 to post reasonable bail for his pretrial release. With his wife and
 children, he has deep roots in the New Mexico community, where they
 have lived for more than 20 years.  He has been in failing health.  He
 voluntarily surrendered his U.S. passport many months ago.  The
 isolation of Dr. Lee from his family and attorneys is thus an abuse of
 discretion, applying unfair tactical pressure upon Dr. Lee and his
 defense counsel.  His continued pretrial detention compromises Dr.
 Lee's due process rights in defending himself against such grave
 criminal charges, particularly in a case where the pretrial
 proceedings may last more than a year.    
 
 	Continued media shorthand references to this prosecution as a
 "Chinese spy" case distort the facts, perpetuates anti-Asian
 stereotypes and threatens the civil rights of all Asian Pacific
 Americans.    According to the indictment, Dr. Lee has not been
 charged with "espionage" or "spying."  The government does not allege
 that Dr. Lee acted on behalf of, or passed any classified information
 to, any foreign government or any unauthorized person, a key fact not
 made clear in some accounts of the case or in print media headlines. 
 
 	In response to these four concerns, the undersigned
 organizations are pledged to two common objectives:  (1) to ensure
 that Dr. Lee receives the equal protection and due process of law to
 which he, like any other American, is entitled under the Bill of
 Rights; and (2) to be vigilant in the protection of all Asian Pacific
 Americans - particularly those working in our national laboratories
 and the defense industries - against pernicious "racial profiling" or
 any other racially driven discrimination.  Half a century ago, acting
 out decades of anti-Asian hysteria but also in the name of "national
 security," the United States government incarcerated 120,000 Japanese
 Americans based solely upon their racial identity and without due
 process of law. The Asian Pacific American community has sworn that
 such an egregious violation of our civil rights will never occur
 again, even to one Asian Pacific American, and our organizations will
 monitor the future handling of Dr. Lee's case in that light until his
 guilt or innocence is ultimately determined by the courts.  
 
 	Today, there are more than 150,000 Chinese American engineers
 and scientists working in industry, government and academia, including
 some 15,000 in the defense sector.  Chinese American scientists have
 won five Nobel prizes in physics and one in chemistry for the United
 States.  Asian Pacific American scientists and engineers now form the
 backbone of American high technology, accounting for perhaps one-third
 of all technical personnel in Silicon Valley alone, and have made our
 nation stronger, healthier and richer.  And yet, because of the manner
 in which the government has handled Dr. Lee's case, they are all at
 risk for being targeted as well.
 
 	We therefore urge the government and media to remember the
 invaluable contributions made by Chinese Americans and other Asian
 Pacific Americans. The use or tacit approval of racial profiling in
 government or in private sector defense-related employment will surely
 deter some of the very best and brightest engineers and scientists
 from serving our nation and helping to protect its future.  It would
 be the ultimate, bitter irony for America if - due to Dr. Lee's case
 and the current anti-Chinese hysteria in some quarters - our national
 security were to be damaged by the loss of these dedicated
 professionals to public service and to our own defense industries.
 We, the undersigned organizations, are pledged to ensure that all
 Americans - without regard to race, color or national origin - will
 have the full right to serve this country to the best of their
 abilities.
 
 
 Organizational Contact Information - 12/16/99		
 		
 Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund	

 Margaret Fung	212.966.5932
 
 Asian American Manufacturers Association	
 George Koo	    408.795.4688
 
 Asian Pacific American Legal Center	
 Stewart Kwoh	213.977.7500	
 Kathy Feng	     213.977.7500
 
 Association of Chinese-American Engineers and Scientists of New Mexico
 
 Chu Jong	505.890.4435
 
 Chinese American Citizens Alliance	
 Munson Kwok	310.336.5441
 
 Chinese American United for Self Empowerment
 Charles Woo	213.617.1353
 
 Chinese-American Engineers and Scientists Association of Southern
 California	
 Wei Kao	310.375.9643
 
 Committee of 100	
 Henry Tang	     212.371.6565
 Winnie Chan	212.371.6565
 
 Japanese American Citizens League	
 John Tateishi	415.921.5225 x33
 
 National Asian Pacific American Bar Association	
 Laura Hong	  216.479.8554
 Nancy Choy	  202.974.1030
 
 National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium	
 Karen Narasaki	  202.296. 2300
 
 NM Chinese American Action Committee	
 Y. S. Cheng
 	
 Organization of Chinese Americans	
 George Ong	      415.362.5150
 Daphne Kwok	202.223.5500
 
 Overseas Chinese Physics Association	
 C. Y. Wong	423.574.4582
 
 ==========================
 Organization of Chinese Americans
 1001 Connecticut Ave., NW #601
 Washington, DC 20036
 tel:202-223-5500 fax:202-296-0540
 E-mail: oca@ocanatl.org
 Web: http://www.ocanatl.org