(Clearwisdom.net) At 12:30 p.m. on October 14, 2002, in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC, Falun Gong practitioners held a press conference to call for rescuing their family members persecuted in China and helping them return home. Through the press conference, a few Falun Gong practitioners who live in the Washington DC area exposed the persecution on their family members over the past three years in China. They hope that through the media the public will hear their appeal and help them rescue their family members who are suffering from brutal persecution.

Mr. Xu, a Ph.D. in engineering science, talking about the persecution his wife is enduring	Mr. Yu, host of the press conference, introducing the event	Falun Gong practitioners calling to stop Jiang's regime from persecuting Falun Gong

At the press conference, Dr. Xu, a Ph.D. in engineering science, described that his wife has been imprisoned in a re-education through labor camp in Beijing and has been forced to do hard labor and suffered various tortures. Ms. Zhao talked about her elder and younger sisters who are wrongfully sentenced in jail in China for practicing Falun Gong. Another practitioner, Ms. Tang, told the plight her mother experienced. The policemen ceaselessly harassed her mother even after she was released when her term was due. The policemen refused to issue her a passport and as a result, she was not able to come to the US to reunite with her daughter. These cases are only a few in the local area. More cases are being collected. Falun Gong practitioners expressed that they would continue to appeal to the public for help and support until all of their family members who are suffering from Jiang's regime's persecution are rescued.

This press conference held in Washington DC was part of the "Global Campaign of Rescuing Our Family Members." After the conference, some local practitioners whose family members were suffering from the persecution in China set off for Texas either by driving or by plane. They will join practitioners from other places in the US and Canada to appeal for rescuing their beloved ones. The campaign of rescuing family members also includes five driving tours towards Houston, which will set off from Boston, Washington DC, Atlanta, San Francisco, and Toronto, Canada, respectively.

Along their routes, practitioners will call on people from all walks of life to pay attention to this matter and help to end the Jiang's regime's persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and help to release all practitioners imprisoned in China.

Reporters from APTN TV net, Radio Free Asia, and Houston Chronicle came to conduct interviews.