His Excellency Hu Jintao
President, People’s Republic of China
c/o His Excellency Zhou Wenzhong
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20008

Dear Mr. President:

We are writing with an urgent request that your country not repatriate to North Korea the four North Korean refugees arrested on March 5, 2008, by the Chinese authorities and now being held in Shenyang Border Patrol Detention Center. The four include three women and one man identified as follows:
           Hahn Chang Kuk (male, aged 30),
           Lee Jong-Sun (female),
           Lee Kung-Shin (female, 30) and
           Lee Jong-Shin (female, 33).

As you know, there have been several recent incidents reported by the media of public executions by the North Korean authorities for North Koreans that were sent back to North Korea by South Korea and China. We believe that these four refugees will be executed if they are sent back to North Korea by the Chinese border patrol.

As we have stated in previous letters to you, we understand and respect China’s concerns about its borders with the influx of refugees from North Korea. We want to work with China to resolve this issue humanely working under international law and with respect for China and its border integrity.

We beg you to consider that these four refugees will be executed if returned by China to North Korea. They most certainly meet the conditions under the 1951 U.N. Convention on Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, which oblige China not to repatriate them.

We thank you in advance for considering our request and hope that you will protect these four individuals, whose lives are in your hands.

Sincerely,
(Signed)

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