Chinese activist Harry Wu will focus on the conditions within labor camps in China and Tibet at a speech Tuesday, Sept. 9 at 8 p.m. in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union.

Wu, who is known for his criticism of the Chinese Communist Party, was arrested in 1960.

He was held captive for 19 years in 12 different forced labor camps in China.

Since being released, Wu has continued to speak out against the treatment of the Chinese government to its people, Ryan Bergman, president of Iowa State’s Students for a Free Tibet, said.

In 1985, Wu came to the United States as a visiting professor of geology at the University of California, Berkeley.

In 1994, Wu became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

He is executive director and founder of the Laogai Research Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to documenting the Chinese Laogai (forced labor) system.

According to information released by Amnesty International, Wu’s primary focus is on “publicizing information about political imprisonment and human rights abuses in China.”

Bergman said that Wu is active in monitoring prison camps in China and Tibet and will be showing films during his speech on the conditions within the camps.

He lives in San Francisco, Calif.