Deep Concern Expressed Over Lack of Progress in North Korea Human Rights
In a letter addressed to Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday, members of congress expressed ''deep concern'' over the unchanging situation for the people of North Korea.
The signing of the North Korean Human Rights Act in October 2004 was a landmark step in the advancement of human rights in North Korea, but congressmen and senators have “deep concern” over the unchanging situation for the people of North Korea.
In a letter addressed to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday, members of congress said, "We are writing to express our deep concern for the lack of progress in funding and implementing the key provisions of the North Korean Human Rights Act."
According to the North Korea Freedom Coalition, the letter was spurred on by the dramatic testimonies given by North Korean defectors at a hearing in October 2005.
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A copy of a testimony delivered by human rights activist Tim Peters of Helping Hands Korea, a Christian mission in Seoul, alongside three other refugee women was enclosed with the letter to expose the unimproved situation for asylum seekers and the denied assistance for refugees seeking help at the United States Embassy in China, Vietnam and Thailand.
Cosigners of the letter urged "the State Department to play a leadership role in resolving this refugee crisis" by establishing a first asylum policy for North Koreans and calling China "at the highest levels" to end the repatriation of the defectors and jailing of humanitarian workers, which many times include Korean Christians and pastors.
The North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 authorizes funding for programs to promote human rights and democracy in the oppressive regime, including funds to increase the availability of information sources not controlled by the North Korean government. At last year's hearing, however, radio programs Voice of America and Radio Free Asia laid bare the continual difficulties of broadcasting to the people of North Korea and the lack of funding to expand their network and operations.
The legislation also provides increased funding for humanitarian assistance to refugees, orphans and trafficking victims and specifically promotes the protection of refugees, particularly in China. Such protection has yet to reach the defecting population, as was testified by Ma Soon-Hee, Cha Kyeong-Sook and Kim Seung-Min, who were victims and witnesses to human trafficking in their attempts to escape North Korea.
"With the deplorable human rights conditions and continuing starvation inside North Korea," stated the congressional letter, which recognized the exclusion of the act in the FY2007 budget request, "we urge you to act as quickly as possible to aid those who have fled and those who will be fleeing, particularly during these winter months, by quickly funding and implementing the North Korean Human Rights Act."
Human rights activists, Christian leaders, and all those concerned for the hundreds of thousands suffering under the oppressive regime of North Korea will gather in Washington, D.C., on Apr. 22-30 to support freedom and human rights for the North Korean people. North Korea Freedom Week will be marked with a series of major events in conjunction with North Korea Freedom Day on Apr. 28.
Cosigners of the congressional letter are:
Members of Congress
Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.)
Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.)
Tom Lantos (D-Calif.)
Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.)
Eni F. H. Faleomavaega (D-AS)
James A. Leach (R-Iowa)
Joseph R. Pitts (R-Pa.)
U.S. Senators
Sam Brownback (R-Kan.)
Evan Bayh (D-Ind.)
