(Clearwisdo.net) Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Zhou Xuefei had been abducted and sentenced to three years in a labor camp. Her handing out flyers about the truth of Falun Gong on a street in Shenzhen City in November 2000 prompted the arrest. On November 15, 2003, the three-year term had come to an end. However, because Zhou Xuefei refused to renounce her belief, like many other Falun Gong practitioners who hold firmly to their belief in "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance," the labor camp officials illegally extended Xuefei's term for another three months. Under the pressure from the international community, Ms. Zhou Xuefei was eventually released after a two-months extended detention.
Envoys from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou all had written letters to related departments, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China and Guangdong Provincial Office of Foreign Affairs, to express their diplomatic concern over Zhou Xuefei's detention. After Zhou Xuefei was released, the U.S. consular officials in Guangzhou wrote two additional letters to Zhou Xuefei's husband to express their willingness to continue to do whatever is necessary to help Zhou Xuefei come to the U.S. to reunite with her family.
In a letter written to Zhou Xuefei's husband in the U.S. this January, an official from the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou said they were very pleased to know that Zhou Xuefei was released from the forced labor camp. They hope to get her information from her husband in order to help her obtain a passport and leave China.
In his February letter, the official from U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou said they will continue to help Zhou Xuefei.
At the same time, U.S. senator Mr. Miller had written to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing to ask the officials in the embassy to help Zhou Xuefei come to the U.S. Ambassador Mr. Raid, the U.S. envoy in China, has repeatedly stated in his previous letters that the consular officials have been concerned over the human rights violations Falun Gong practitioners have suffered and will continue to urge China to improve human rights and religious freedom.
The well-known international human rights organization, International Rescue Committee, has submitted an application to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to help Zhou Xuefei come to the U.S. On February 13, Zhou Xuefei's husband met the head of the INS Office of International affairs in Washington DC. He was told INS would form a dedicated group to process Zhou Xuefei's application.
Zhou Xuefei has endured all kinds of physical and mental torment during her 38 months of detention. When Xuefei's family members learned about her sufferings in the labor camp, they were exasperated and vowed to bring those who have tortured Xuefei to justice. Although Xuefei had suffered unimaginable torture, she firmly holds on to her belief in Falun Dafa. Some policemen described her "as solid as a rock."
We call on all related departments and organs in China to make a clear distinction between right and wrong and to obey the laws so that Xuefei will be soon able to come to the U.S. to reunite with her family.