April 23, 2009 – Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)

Asia News: “Taliban attack Christians in Karachi”
— Asia News reports:
— “Armed men yesterday attacked a group of Christians in Taiser Town, near Karachi. They set ablaze six Christian houses and injured three Christians, including an 11-year-old boy, who is in critical condition in the hospital, Fr Richard D’Souza told AsiaNews. Taiser Town, which is home to about 750 Christian families including 300 Catholic families, is part of the Parish of St Jude in the Archdiocese of Karachi.”
— “Two police officials, who spoke to AsiaNews on condition of anonymity, said that Qudoos Masih, one of the people injured in the incident, filed an initial report at the Sarjani Town police against unknown persons.”
— “The police confirmed that seven suspects were arrested with heavy weapons on them. Police is still conducting its investigation and does not know who is behind the violence.”
— “A policeman said that only three Christians were injured, including a minor who is in critical conditions. A Muslim from the group of attackers was also hurt.”
— “Fr Pervez Khalid, assistant parish priest at St Jude’s Parish Church, told AsiaNews that no one was killed in the attack but that six people had gunshot wounds.”
— “The situation is now under control, he added. Rangers and police and were patrolling the streets. Still people are very scared and dare not go out, especially after police advised them to stay in-door.”
— “Father D’Souza, parish priest at St Jude’s, visited the area where the attack took place. There, he saw graffiti on the walls of the area’s two churches, saying ‘Taliban zindabad’ (Live long Taliban), ‘Islam zindabad’ (Live long Islam), ‘Christians Islam qabol karo’ (Christians, convert to Islam).”
— “He also visited the torched Christian houses and saw that everything was burnt, including the residents’ Bibles.”
— “He said that yesterday morning people who saw the graffiti came together to stage a street protest. As soon as they did so, they were attacked by a group of armed men who set the houses on fire and then walked down the streets damaging electrical wires and gas meters.”
— “‘The men who attacked the Christians came from outside; none of our faithful knew them,’ Father D’Souza said.”
— “Kiran Sobya, a 28-year-old Catholic woman living in the area, told AsiaNews that the situation had been tense for some time. In fact when she was setting off for Tuesday Mass she was told that the service had been cancelled.”
— “A bank teller by profession, she did not go to work today because of the tense situation. She did however confirm that yesterday many women and some men and children staged a protest against the anti-Christian graffiti on the churches’ walls.”
— “The area has three churches, all built by the government to serve the different confessions (Catholic and Protestants).”
— “The Catholic parish priest or his assistant usually visit the area to celebrate Mass every Tuesday.”
— “Sources said that most members of the local congregation are very poor.”

April 28, 2009 – Asia News: “Boy wounded in Taliban attack near Karachi dies”

May 1, 2009 – Dawn: “They will burn us alive”

Hate Graffiti on Karachi - Taiser Town Area Church in Pakistan -- after Christian homes burned, Christians attaked, boy killed -- graffiti included calls for Christians to "convert to Islam"

North Korea Freedom Week 2009 – April 26-May 2, 2009 – Washington, D.C.
See schedule of events

Sunday, April 26

“6:00 pm Candlelight Vigil to remember and pray for all repatriated North Koreans who have been beaten to death and publicly executed in North Korea because of China’s repatriation policy”

“Location: International Calvary Church, 5700 Hanover Avenue, Springfield, Virginia”

“7:00 pm Prayer Service for North Korea and for the visiting North Korea defector delegation”

“Location: International Calvary Church, 5700 Hanover Avenue, Springfield, Virginia”

Monday, April 27

“All Day: North Korea Genocide Exhibit will be on display at Columbus Circle across from Union Station”

“AFT: Special Capitol Hill Screening of Crossing especially for Congressional staff, but open to public”

“2:00-4:00 pm Department of State: DRL North Korea Funding Information Session As the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor continues to dedicate more resources to the promotion of human rights and democracy in North Korea, DRL will host this special informational session to offer an information session to introduce potential partner organizations to the DRL solicitation process including how grant proposals are evaluated and monitored.”

“Host: Department of State DRL Bureau”

“To Participate, email turnerje@state.gov by April 10 with full name, date of birth, country of citizenship and passport or driver’s license number.”

Tuesday, April 28 Rally Date and Anniversary of the First North Korea Freedom Day

“All Day: North Korea Genocide Exhibit will be on display West Front of US Capitol”

“10:00 am Demonstration by the Democracy Network Against the North Korean Gulag at the Raoul Wallenberg Place across from the Holocaust Museum”

Capitol Hill Rally for North Korea Freedom and Human Rights, West Front of the U.S. Capitol

“11:00 am Music Starts with the Pyongyang Musical Mission Troupe and our own Jeff Park and the Seoul Presbyterian Church Praise Band”

“12:00 noon Program with Confirmed speakers (so far): South Korean Human Rights Ambassador Jhe Seong Ho, Senator Sam Brownback, Congressman Ed Royce, NED President Carl Gershman, Freedom House Executive Director Jennifer Windsor, Amnesty International Asia Advocacy Director T. Kumar, Dr. Hyunuk Kim, President of the International Forum for Foreign Policy and National Security, Kim Seung Min Director of Free North Korea Radio, representatives from the Japanese Rescue Movement and all North Korean defector organizations…”

“Afternoon: Rally participants will visit their Senators and Congressmen. If you would like to participate, please RSVP here: nkfreedom.org/index.php

“3:00-5:00 pm Panel Session on North Korea human rights sponsored by the Korea Economic Institute”

“Host: Ambassador Jack Pritchard and the Korea Economic Institute”

“Location: 1800 K Street, N.W., Suite 1010, Washington DC, 20006”

Wednesday, April 29

“10:00 am Panel Session Focusing on Survey of North Korean Refugees”

“Host: Marcus Noland and the Peterson Institute”

“Location: C. Fred Bergsten Conference Center, 1750 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036”

“6:00 pm Special Screening of KIMJONGILIA which premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival with the film’s director and producer N.C. Heikin. KIMJONGILIA is the first film documentary to expose the horrible human rights abuses by Kim Jong-il through defector’s stories, North Korea’s propaganda and original performance.”

“Host and sponsor: Congressman Trent Franks and Tina Ramirez”

“Location: Capitol Visitors Center – North Theatre”

“RSVP Required (limited seating):” RSVP at http://www.nkfreedom.org/index.php?id=30

Thursday, April 30

“10:00 AM Congressional briefing on Humanitarian Situation and What Can Be Done to Help the North Korean People”

“Host: Congressional Human Rights Commission”

“Location: To Be Determined”

“1:00-4:00 PM (exact time to be finalized soon) Panel Session hosted by the Heritage Foundation on North Korean Human Rights: Recommendations for President Obama and the U.S. Congress”

“Confirmed speakers: NED President Carl Gershman, Joel Charney of Refugees International, Jared Genser of Freedom Now”

“Host: Bruce Klingner and the Heritage Foundation”

“Location: Heritage Foundation, 214 Massachusetts Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20002”

“6:30-8:30 pm PSCORE (People for Successful Corean Reunification) Special Event”

“Confirmed speakers include: Ana Jang, former New York Times reporter Laura E. Pohl, PSCORE founder Kim Young-il, and Han Young Jin”

“Host: Ana Jang and the Georgetown Public Policy Institute, GPPI IPD Track, GU Korean Student Society, PS CORE ”

“Location: Student Lounge at Georgetown Public Policy Institute”

Friday, May 1

“12:00 noon Capitol Hill Forum in honor of North Korean Defectors hosted by the Defense Forum Foundation”

“Rayburn House Office Building, Capitol Hill”

“Host: Defense Forum Foundation”

“Location: B-339 Rayburn”

RSVP required (limited seating): henry@defenseforum.org

Saturday, May 2

“12:00 noon Protest at the new Chinese embassy against the PRC’s violent treatment of North Korean refugees”

“3505 International Place, NW, Washington, DC — note this is a new embassy address!!”

See North Korea Freedom Coalition’s Fact Sheet

North Korea Freedom Coalition

JOIN US FOR NORTH KOREA FREEDOM WEEK APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2009!

“With a new U.S. President and administration as well as many new Members of Congress, with the uncertainty and speculation about North Korea’s current “Dear Leader”, and with governments continually sidelining human rights concerns to try to resolve the nuclear issue, this year’s North Korea Freedom Week is more critical than ever before as we raise our voices to advocate for a people more isolated and arguably more persecuted than any in the world today.”

Full Schedule of Events & Flyers Here

RSVP: KIMJONGILIA ON APRIL 29

RSVP: LOBBY PARTICIPATION ON APRIL 28

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Two American Journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, were arrested by North Korean authorities on March 17 & are being indicted for “illegal entry” into North Korea and carrying out “hostile” activities.

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Why Get Involved?

“An estimated 2 million North Koreans have perished under North Korea’s brutal dictatorial regime since the mid-1990s. Families continue to starve to death as the North Korean government withholds food rations to entire regions of the nation. The government arbitrarily detains, tortures, and executes its citizens, including children, in a large network of concentration camps. Hundreds of thousands of North Koreans have fled to China to survive, however they live in fear of forced repatriation and imprisonment. Children whose parents have died or been separated from them wander the streets in search of food and protection. We must act now to bring relief!!”

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the DPRK, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Feb 24, 2009

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Read NKFC’s letter to President Obama (02.12.2009, pdf)

Read NKFC’s letter to Secretary Clinton (02.02.2009, jpg)

Read Suzanne Scholte’s Op-Ed published in The Korea Times (01.20.2009, pdf)