This is Olenka Frenkiel’s BBC documentary on North Korea, which first televised the reports of the gas chambers in Camp 22. It will play on Discovery Times (channel 112 in the Washington, DC area) at 8 PM Eastern Standard Time. Listings here.
This is Olenka Frenkiel’s BBC documentary on North Korea, which first televised the reports of the gas chambers in Camp 22. It will play on Discovery Times (channel 112 in the Washington, DC area) at 8 PM Eastern Standard Time. Listings here.
I just received this press release from LiNK in Seoul. They have already organized a protest in front of the Chinese U.N. Mission in New York, along with a virtual protest by phone, fax, and e-mail. At the post immediately below this one, I have added a sample letter you can copy, paste, and send to Chinese officials. As always, you’re free to edit, but when it comes to authoritarian governments, the “nice” approach works a lot better than what I’m actually thinking now.
You haven’t heard the last of LiNK. They are a supremely confident, competent, and connected group of people, in spite of the fact that most of them are still in their 20s.
And of course, there’s still time to write Congress.
Time: Monday, November 1, 1:00 pm [U.S. Eastern Standard Time]
Place: China Mission to the UN
Address: 350 East 35th Street, New York, NY 10016
Virtual Protest: 1:00 pm [U.S. Eastern Standard Time] email, fax, phone campaign(contacts below)
On Monday November 1st at 1:00 pm EST leading human rights groups for North Korea will rally in New York City in front of the permanent Chinese mission to the UN. They will be protesting China’s arrest on October 26th of 2 South Korean humanitarian aid workers and 62 North Korean refugees. Activists nationwide will also coordinate a simultaneous email, fax and telephone protest campaign to the Chinese diplomatic officials in the US.
My apologies for the small type, to conserve space. Snail mail addresses, names, and phone numbers here.
Your Excellency,
I am writing to you to express my concern about the Chinese government’s arrest of 65 North Korean refugees and two South Koreans near Beijing on October 26th. Among those arrested were 11 teenagers and one person over 70 years of age. I respectfully ask that your government abide by the terms of the 1951 U.N. Convention on Refugees and send all 67 of those arrested to South Korea at the earliest date possible.
The expulsion of such a refugee shall be only in pursuance of a decision reached in accordance with due process of law. Except where compelling reasons of national security otherwise require, the refugee shall be allowed to submit evidence to clear himself, and to appeal to and be represented for the purpose before competent authority or a person or persons specially designated by the competent authority.
This article also requires your government to give refugees a reasonable amount of time to seek legal admission into another country. Article 33 states that–
No Contracting State shall expel or return (”refouler”) a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.
China thus has an obligation to allow these refugees to freely state the reasons why they are seeking refuge and permit them to apply to travel to South Korea.
The argument that North Koreans are economic migrants is inapplicable because North Korea specifically uses the deprivation of food as a tool of political discrimination and oppression against members of particular families and social groups. I refer you to Amnesty International’s recent report, entitled, “Starved of Rights.”
North Korean refugees who are repatriated to their country of origin are usually sent to concentration camps. This case of of particular concern because these 65 North Koreans were caught in the company of South Korean activists. Such refugees normally face much harsher treatment, which may include immediate execution or placement in a camp where they will be worked or starved to death. If any of the refugee women are pregnant, the North Koreans will perform forced abortions on them. It is also the North Koreans’ practice to murder any prisoners’ babies that are born alive. There is abundant evidence to show that these North Koreans face certain persecution and probable death if your government repatriates them to North Korea in violation of Article 33.
I respectfully urge you to carry out your nation’s obligations under international law by permitting all of the detained persons a free choice to apply to travel to South Korea, which considers them citizens of its own country and would therefore accept them immediately.
I just received this press release from LiNK in Seoul. They have already organized a protest in front of the Chinese U.N. Mission in New York, along with a virtual protest by phone, fax, and e-mail. At the post immediately below this one, I have added a sample letter you can copy, paste, and send to Chinese officials. As always, you’re free to edit, but when it comes to authoritarian governments, the “nice” approach works a lot better than what I’m actually thinking now.
You haven’t heard the last of LiNK. They are a supremely confident, competent, and connected group of people, in spite of the fact that most of them are still in their 20s.
And of course, there’s still time to write Congress.
Time: Monday, November 1, 1:00 pm [U.S. Eastern Standard Time]
Place: China Mission to the UN
Address: 350 East 35th Street, New York, NY 10016
Virtual Protest: 1:00 pm [U.S. Eastern Standard Time] email, fax, phone campaign(contacts below)
On Monday November 1st at 1:00 pm EST leading human rights groups for North Korea will rally in New York City in front of the permanent Chinese mission to the UN. They will be protesting China’s arrest on October 26th of 2 South Korean humanitarian aid workers and 62 North Korean refugees. Activists nationwide will also coordinate a simultaneous email, fax and telephone protest campaign to the Chinese diplomatic officials in the US.
I just received this press release from LiNK in Seoul. They have already organized a protest in front of the Chinese U.N. Mission in New York, along with a virtual protest by phone, fax, and e-mail. At the post immediately below this one, I have added a sample letter you can copy, paste, and send to Chinese officials. As always, you’re free to edit, but when it comes to authoritarian governments, the “nice” approach works a lot better than what I’m actually thinking now.
You haven’t heard the last of LiNK. They are a supremely confident, competent, and connected group of people, in spite of the fact that most of them are still in their 20s.
And of course, there’s still time to write Congress.
Time: Monday, November 1, 1:00 pm [U.S. Eastern Standard Time]
Place: China Mission to the UN
Address: 350 East 35th Street, New York, NY 10016
Virtual Protest: 1:00 pm [U.S. Eastern Standard Time] email, fax, phone campaign(contacts below)
On Monday November 1st at 1:00 pm EST leading human rights groups for North Korea will rally in New York City in front of the permanent Chinese mission to the UN. They will be protesting China’s arrest on October 26th of 2 South Korean humanitarian aid workers and 62 North Korean refugees. Activists nationwide will also coordinate a simultaneous email, fax and telephone protest campaign to the Chinese diplomatic officials in the US.
My apologies for the small type, to conserve space. Snail mail addresses, names, and phone numbers here.
Your Excellency,
I am writing to you to express my concern about the Chinese government’s arrest of 65 North Korean refugees and two South Koreans near Beijing on October 26th. Among those arrested were 11 teenagers and one person over 70 years of age. I respectfully ask that your government abide by the terms of the 1951 U.N. Convention on Refugees and send all 67 of those arrested to South Korea at the earliest date possible.
The expulsion of such a refugee shall be only in pursuance of a decision reached in accordance with due process of law. Except where compelling reasons of national security otherwise require, the refugee shall be allowed to submit evidence to clear himself, and to appeal to and be represented for the purpose before competent authority or a person or persons specially designated by the competent authority.
This article also requires your government to give refugees a reasonable amount of time to seek legal admission into another country. Article 33 states that–
No Contracting State shall expel or return (”refouler”) a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.
China thus has an obligation to allow these refugees to freely state the reasons why they are seeking refuge and permit them to apply to travel to South Korea.
The argument that North Koreans are economic migrants is inapplicable because North Korea specifically uses the deprivation of food as a tool of political discrimination and oppression against members of particular families and social groups. I refer you to Amnesty International’s recent report, entitled, “Starved of Rights.”
North Korean refugees who are repatriated to their country of origin are usually sent to concentration camps. This case of of particular concern because these 65 North Koreans were caught in the company of South Korean activists. Such refugees normally face much harsher treatment, which may include immediate execution or placement in a camp where they will be worked or starved to death. If any of the refugee women are pregnant, the North Koreans will perform forced abortions on them. It is also the North Koreans’ practice to murder any prisoners’ babies that are born alive. There is abundant evidence to show that these North Koreans face certain persecution and probable death if your government repatriates them to North Korea in violation of Article 33.
I respectfully urge you to carry out your nation’s obligations under international law by permitting all of the detained persons a free choice to apply to travel to South Korea, which considers them citizens of its own country and would therefore accept them immediately.
I would not be happy if my country provided the Chinese with the cattle prods they used on the terrified women and kids at the South Korean school the other day.
After sounding steadfast after his talks with China and South Korea, Colin Powell sounded decidedly wobbly on human rights in North Korea today, specifically regarding how aggressively he will comply with the North Korean Human Rights Act:
Addressing a separate matter, Mr. Powell said that in response to a recently enacted Congressional resolution on North Korea, the Bush administration would press for human rights concerns there to be discussed “by the international community” but that no plans had been set to make that issue a part of the nuclear talks.
The North Korean Human Rights Act, signed into law earlier in the week, links any economic aid to North Korea with progress on political prisoners, free speech and other human rights, and it says that concerns about human rights must become part of the talks on North Korea’s nuclear programs.
The law has been denounced by North Korea and has met with skepticism in China and South Korea, where some officials say it might complicate the drive to get cooperation from the highly secretive and suspicious government in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.
Mr. Powell said that human rights is “something we should talk about” and that he had assured sponsors of the resolution that the United States would do so, but that he and his aides had not yet decided on how best to approach the subject.
The human rights law also authorizes expenditures for aid for civilians and for North Korean refugees, and to private groups pressing for reform in North Korea. Some Asian experts say such steps could prompt charges of inappropriate interference by North Korea, but there is also a strong constituency in Congress for not overlooking the problem of North Korea’s dictatorship in any solution on the nuclear issue.
I missed this Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal when it was new, but it’s still worth discussion.
It argues persuasively that some form of engagement with North Korea modeled on the Helsinki framework could be effective at improving conditions there. The fact that the signatories include people like Michael Horowitz (major force behind the NKHRA) and Max Kampelman (veteran of negotiating with Gorbachev and Schevardnadze) makes me pause to consider it. Many of the ideas are well-reasoned and show a sound grasp of how we won the Cold War, but alas, I ultimately conclude that (1) this strategy underestimates the unique depravity of the North Korean regime; and (2) things have gotten worse in the 18 or so months since this was written.
Check out this interesting interview of Tarik Radwan, who is another important player in helping the North Korean people. I understand that he lives and teaches law in Seoul today.
Now, I hate to make Mario Puzo references to a man as devout and sincere as Mr. Radwan obviously is, so I’ll just say that a good lawyer or two has enormous potential to do the North Korean regime economic damage.
Finally, Best of the Web links to this interesting story about a South Korean who defected North; Taranto calls him “Wrong Way Koreagan.” (chortle)
I would not be happy if my country provided the Chinese with the cattle prods they used on the terrified women and kids at the South Korean school the other day.
After sounding steadfast after his talks with China and South Korea, Colin Powell sounded decidedly wobbly on human rights in North Korea today, specifically regarding how aggressively he will comply with the North Korean Human Rights Act:
Addressing a separate matter, Mr. Powell said that in response to a recently enacted Congressional resolution on North Korea, the Bush administration would press for human rights concerns there to be discussed “by the international community” but that no plans had been set to make that issue a part of the nuclear talks.
The North Korean Human Rights Act, signed into law earlier in the week, links any economic aid to North Korea with progress on political prisoners, free speech and other human rights, and it says that concerns about human rights must become part of the talks on North Korea’s nuclear programs.
The law has been denounced by North Korea and has met with skepticism in China and South Korea, where some officials say it might complicate the drive to get cooperation from the highly secretive and suspicious government in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.
Mr. Powell said that human rights is “something we should talk about” and that he had assured sponsors of the resolution that the United States would do so, but that he and his aides had not yet decided on how best to approach the subject.
The human rights law also authorizes expenditures for aid for civilians and for North Korean refugees, and to private groups pressing for reform in North Korea. Some Asian experts say such steps could prompt charges of inappropriate interference by North Korea, but there is also a strong constituency in Congress for not overlooking the problem of North Korea’s dictatorship in any solution on the nuclear issue.
I missed this Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal when it was new, but it’s still worth discussion.
It argues persuasively that some form of engagement with North Korea modeled on the Helsinki framework could be effective at improving conditions there. The fact that the signatories include people like Michael Horowitz (major force behind the NKHRA) and Max Kampelman (veteran of negotiating with Gorbachev and Schevardnadze) makes me pause to consider it. Many of the ideas are well-reasoned and show a sound grasp of how we won the Cold War, but alas, I ultimately conclude that (1) this strategy underestimates the unique depravity of the North Korean regime; and (2) things have gotten worse in the 18 or so months since this was written.