Laogai Research Foundation Executive Director Harry Wu Testifies Before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on “The State of Global Internet Freedom.”

Washington, D.C.- Harry Wu, Founder and Executive Director of the Laogai Research Foundation, testified this morning before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the United States House of Representatives.

In a hearing entitled, “The State of Global Internet Freedom,” Wu stated, “In many ways, the Internet has become the new battlefront for freedom and democracy in China. Sadly, I fear it is a war that the Chinese government is slowly winning.”

Wu also addressed the underlying trade issues with censorship technology made by US companies, such as Cisco Systems, and subsequently utilized by authoritarian regimes like China and Iran. “A number of other US technology companies have also marketed hi-tech surveillance products to the security organs in China, including facial and voice recognition software that could be very useful for identifying and detaining dissidents. Such sales certainly seem to violate the spirit, if not the letter of the Tiananmen sanctions prohibiting the export of crime control or detection instruments or equipment to China.”

A common theme echoed among panelists this morning was the need to pass H.R.2271, The Global Online Freedom Act. The bill introduced by Representative Chris Smith of New Jersey and Representative Frank Wolf of Virginia seeks, “To promote freedom of expression on the Internet, to protect United States businesses from coercion to participate in repression by authoritarian foreign governments, and for other purposes.”

Other panelists testifying before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission this morning included: T. Kumar of Amnesty International, Lucie Morillion of Reporters without Borders, Daniel Calingart of Freedom House, and Mehdi Khalaji of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

The Laogai Research Foundation is a not-for-profit organization founded by former political prisoner Harry Wu in 1992. Its mission is to gather information on and raise public awareness of the Laogai—China’s extensive system of forced-labor prison camps.

For further information, email laogai@laogai.org or call 202-408-8300.

www.laogai.org 1109 M Street NW, Washington DC, 20005 laogai@laogai.org
Tel: 202.408.8300 Fax: 202.408.8302