On Friday, December 14, 2007, participants of the International
Conference on North Korean Human Rights Awareness in Tokyo, were
shocked by news that a North Korean refugee woman had committed
suicide two days earlier, while being held in a Chinese prison.
The tragic suicide following the woman's arrest is yet another
indicator of the stepped-up brutality and terror of official
dragnet operations aimed at North Korean refugees now being carried
out by Chinese police in the areas of Quin Hwang Dao, Hobei Province.
Kim Yong Ja, age 46 (born May 7, 1957), had been an ordinary
housewife before fleeing Kuwol Dong, Pyongsong City, Pyongan
Province in North Korea. But she had entered China, and now was
swept up with about 40 other North Korean refugees over five
days in and around Qin Huang Dau, Hubei Province. It was yet
another new government crackdown on North Korean refugees hiding
in China.
In an act protesting Chinese police brutality toward North Korean
Refugees, and reflecting her own great despair and fear as she
faced impending repatriation to North Korea, she slashed her
wrists and throat with a shard of broken glass from a prison
window.
In this context, the members of this International conference
wish to extend our deepest condolences to the family of Kim Young
Ja, and to condemn the Chinese government in the strongest possible
terms for the barbaric policy of hunting down North Korean refugees
and repatriating them to certain imprisonment, torture and, in
some cases, summary execution. Such actions are in utter defiance
of humanitarian practices and civilized international law. The
conference participants lodged a strong letter of protest with
the Chinese Ambassador in Tokyo on Friday, December 14, December.
Your full attention to this tragedy will be greatly appreciated
in the name of humanity, justice and peace for mankind.
On behalf of the International Conference
North Korean Human Rights Awareness Week
Dec. 15, 2007
Kato Hiroshi
Executive Director
Life Funds for North Korean
Refugees
A-101 2-2-8 Nishikata
Bunkyo-Ku
Tokyo, Japan
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Kotarou Miura
Represetative
The Society to Help Returnees
to North Korea
Tokyo, Japan |
Peter Tima
Catacombs, Korea & USA
Seoul, Korea
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Chul-Kyu Park
Human Rights Activist
Seoul, Korea |
