(Clearwisdom.net) Recently, Amnesty International of the United States launched an urgent campaign of sending letters and faxes to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and other government officials, demanding that the Chinese Government immediately release Ms. Liu Yawen, a Falun Gong practitioner who was illegally taken into custody.

According to an announcement by Amnesty International of the United States, 56- year-old Ms. Liu Yawen was arrested on March 31 in Beijing when she was distributing VCDs containing information about Falun Gong. She was detained in isolation and subjected to interrogation in the Xuanwu Detention Center of Beijing City. It is likely that she was also brutally tortured. We have learned that officials at the detention center won't allow Ms. Liu's family members to visit her. In the meantime, officials from the neighborhood committee and the police station went to search Ms. Liu's house.

Ms. Liu Yawen started to practice Falun Gong in 2002. Before retiring, she was a clerk at a machinery import/export company in Beijing. After she started practicing Falun Dafa, Ms. Liu became a much happier person. After the persecution began, she always took the risk of explaining the truth about Falun Gong to relatives and friends. Ms. Liu strongly believes in "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance" and has a sincere desire to help others. For this reason, she risked her life distributing Falun Gong related VCDs and helping strangers understand the truth about Falun Dafa.

Ms. Liu's daughter, Ms. Liu Fang who is currently a student in Germany, was inspired by her mother to read many articles on the Falun Gong websites about the truth of the persecution of Falun Gong in China. She was shocked to find out the extent of the persecution and became ever more concerned about her mother's safety. Now, Ms. Liu Fang is seeking help from the German authorities to rescue her mother.

Amnesty International suggests that an intense rescue campaign be launched immediately and wrote a letter expressing concern about Ms. Liu Yawen's arrest, as she was merely peacefully practicing her right to freedom of belief. They demanded that China's regime release her immediately and unconditionally and assure the safety of her life.

At the same time, Amnesty International is appealing to people worldwide to show concern for the malicious arrests, brutal torture, and mistreatment of Falun Gong practitioners, which is widespread in China. Amnesty International requests that the perpetrators who apply torture be punished according to law.