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Joint Statement
by IPCNKR*
*International
Parliamentarians' Coalition
for North Korean Refugees
2nd General Meeting,
Tokyo, August 1, 2005
Article I of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, as adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution
217 A (III) of
10 December 1948, states that "All human beings are born
free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason
and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit
of brotherhood." Human rights for all must be assured to
protect the dignity of each individual wherever that person lives
in the world.
Parliamentarians of the United States of America, the United
Kingdom, Australia, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia and Japan
formed the International Parliamentarians' Coalition for North
Korean Refugees (IPCNKR) two years ago to advance the cause of
assuring universal human rights in North East Asia and rights
of North Korean refugees. The passage of the North Korean Human
Rights Act by the United States Congress and similar legislative
considerations in South Korea and Japan are some of the important
international efforts in which we have advocated the cause.
Despite such efforts, human rights and humanitarian violations
in North Korea have persisted. They are seen in North Korea's
oppression of its own people, human rights infringement in detention
camps, imposition of torture and other cruel punishments on escapees,
and the yet-unresolved issues of the past abductions of South
Korean and Japanese citizens by the North Korean government.
We, the International Parliamentarians' Coalition for North
Korean Refugees, declare our firm commitment, regardless of national
interests, party affiliations, and ideological differences, to
make every possible international effort to protect the lives
and to secure human rights of the North Korean people and refugees.
- We
demand the North Korean authorities immediately end all
humanitarian abuses, including violations of its citizens' human
rights, and take every possible concrete measure to improve the
human rights situation in North Korea.
- The
government of the People's Republic of China refuses
to recognize North Korean citizens, who cross the border between
North Korea and China in search of freedom and out of fear of
starvation and oppression, as convention refugees, instead arresting
and sending them back to North Korea, and moreover, unjustly
arresting and detaining those persons who are providing them
with humanitarian assistance. We urge the Chinese government
to provide refugees and aid workers with the appropriate humanitarian
and human rights protection in accordance with the international
treaties to which it is a signatory.
- We
demand the United Nations and other international organizations
investigate the state of general human rights in North Korea,
including actual conditions within detention camps, as
well as
the living and sanitary condition of the North Korean
refugees who are located near the border of North Korea and
China. We
request these organizations announce their findings to
the international community to bolster international efforts
to improve the human
rights situation of the North Korean people and North
Korean refugees. Rather than having all food and relief assistance
to
North Korea from all nations serve political and military
purposes, humanitarian aid must essentially be pursued for
promoting and
assisting the human rights of the North Korean people.
- We
urge the legislative bodies of the Republic of Korea, Japan and other
nations to approve a North Korean human rights
relief bill and to take all necessary actions to investigate
North Korean human rights violations including those
related to the abduction issues, to actively promote human
rights relief
efforts, and to assist international, governmental, and
non-governmental organizations carrying out work aimed at
improving the human
rights situation.
- We
urge the members of the Six-Party Talks to place North Korean humanitarian
concerns, including human rights violations
within North Korean detention camps and the abductions
issues, on its agenda with a strong and unified commitment
to resolve
them.
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