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COMMITTEE OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS

March 16, 2000

The Honorable Janet Reno
Attorney General
Department of Justice
Tenth Street and Constitution Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20530

Dear Attorney General Reno:

We write to you on behalf of the Committee of Concerned Scientists regarding the case of Dr. Wen Ho Lee, formerly of the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The Committee, established 28 years ago, has worked to protect the human rights of scientists, physicians and engineers around the world.

We recognize that Dr. Lee has been charged with serious crimes, and trust that he will be given a fair trial to determine the validity of these charges. In this letter we wish to address his current, pre-trial treatment.

Dr. Lee is being held in very restrictive conditions. These have included isolation and shackling when he has been outside his cell. We recognize that your Department is concerned about possible breaches of national security secrets and that you have directed that all necessary measures be taken to eliminate the possibility of such breaches, but we do not understand how shackling is in any way necessary to guard against national security breaches. Surely more humane and dignified treatment is possible without compromising security.

We are pleased to learn that your Department has made it possible for him to speak to his family in Chinese by providing a Chinese-speaking monitor. We believe that alternatives to shackling, and to other such restrictive measures, can be found as well.

We hope that Dr. Lee will soon be given the trial to which he is entitled. We ask that, as he awaits his trial, Dr. Lee be treated with the highest possible standards of humanity and dignity, consistent with the presumption of innocence.

Sincerely yours,