FORMER U.S. ARMY CHAPLAIN JAMES YEE TO SPEAK

IN LITTLE TOKYO OCTOBER 23

Chinese American Muslim who served as Chaplain at Guantanamo Bay

Was Falsely Accused of Aiding Terrorists

Former U.S. Army Chaplain and West Point graduate James Yee will tour the southland October 20-27 to promote his much awaited book, “For God and Country – Faith and Patriotism Under Fire”. Mr. Yee will speak on October 23 at 2:00 p.m. at the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center in Little Tokyo. The book signing program is sponsored by Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress (NCRR) which is involved in civil rights and social justice issues.

No longer under a military gag order, Yee has recently appeared in the national media, including the New York Times and CNN, speaking out for the first time about the treatment of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and his own case. Arrested on charges of espionage in 2003, Yee was blindfolded, placed in manacles and hauled off to a military brig where he spent 76 days in solitary confinement and was threatened with the death penalty. Eventually all charges were dropped but not before his proud military career was destroyed and his personal life damaged.

After his graduation from West Point in 1990, James Yee, a third generation Chinese American, became interested in Islam. He pursued this interest during the Gulf War when he was stationed in Saudi Arabia as an Army lieutenant and Patriot missile officer. He later converted to Islam and, realizing there were no Muslim chaplains to serve the growing number of Muslim soldiers in the U.S. armed services, he decided to take a leave from active service to learn Arabic and pursue Islamic studies in Syria. After returning to the U.S., Yee was accepted as a military chaplain and in 2002 was assigned to the Guantanamo Bay detention center.

At Guantanamo, Yee’s duties included ministering to the religious needs of some 600 Muslim detainees. He often heard of detainees being beaten and humiliated during interrogation sessions and personally witnessed the mental and emotional deterioration of detainees as they became depressed and suicidal. Yee began to voice concerns about their treatment to his superiors and believes the charges brought against him were in retaliation for speaking up.

The October 23rd program is co-sponsored by the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, Council on American Islamic Relations – Civil Rights Fund, the Japanese American Citizens League PSWD, Muslim Public Affairs Council, the Organization of Chinese Americans (LA and Orange County chapters), the Southern California Library and the Islamic Shura Council.

NCRR co-chair Kathy Masaoka points out, “The Japanese American community has a special interest in what happened to Chaplain Yee. Today’s pervasive anti-Muslim sentiment is reminiscent of the anti-Japanese hysteria we faced during World War II. We support Chaplain Yee’s efforts to win a formal apology from the U.S. military and want to help him get his story heard.” In addition to a formal apology, Yee hopes to raise enough funds to purchase copies of For God and Country to distribute to members of Congress. Currently Congress is debating an amendment to the military spending bill that would prohibit “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment” of detainees in U.S. military custody. Yee hopes his book will have a positive impact on the debate and enlighten lawmakers about the conditions detainees face.

In addition to Little Tokyo, Yee will speak at the Southern California Library, 6120 S. Vermont Ave., on October 22 @ 2:00 p.m., KPFK (90.7 FM) on October 25 at 8:00 a.m., and at campuses throughout the southland (see schedule). For details about Mr. Yee’s tour, contact NCRR at (213) 680-3484 or log on to www.ncrr-la.org.