Per Suzanne Sholte: “The families of Laura Ling and Euna Lee made the decision to go public and appeared on NBC’s Today Show http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/31042445#31042445 and Larry King Live yesterday http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2009/06/01/lkl.ling.family.cnn about the detention of their loved ones, two courageous reporters who were trying to report about the situation facing North Korean refugees in China. Please join these candlelight vigils tomorrow evening, June 3, for Laura Ling and Euna Lee who were seized near the China/North Korea border on March 17 by North Korean border guards and forcibly taken to Pyongyang where they have been separately held in detention accused of “hostile acts.” The vigils are scheduled to be held at the time they will be on trial in North Korea on June 4.”
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JUNE 3rd
PUBLIC VIGILS
June 3rd in the States is June 4th in North Korea, the day the trial starts.
VIGIL LOCATIONS:
Washington, D.C. VIGIL Organizers: Asia Liu, Max Neubauer, Wesley Della Volla, Daniel Beckmann, Joseph Hong
WHEN: Weds., June 3, 2009
TIME: 6 -8 PM.
WHERE: Freedom Plaza-Washington, DC (14th St. and Pennsylvania Ave., NW) http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=81896567681
***NEW*** SACRAMENTO, CA MOMENTOF SILENCE:
Where: L Wine Lunge & Restaurant
Address: 1801 L Street, Sacramento, CA
Phone: (916) 443-6970
Time: 6:30-8pm (This is the same time as the Portland vigil)
Organizer: Beth Diebels
National Organizer: Brendan McShane Creamer
Email address: blove73@msn.com
Phone 215.699.4338
Please bring candles for the vigils.
We hope you can make it.
At the June 4 rally at the Communist China embassy, we will read out the names of those known individuals killed in the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, and we will be continue to be a voice for those who have called for democracy and freedom in China. We will remember those who stood for freedom against tanks, soldiers, and even against their own government.
Finally, we will not claim, as some do, that we should only look to the “progress” in Communist China while human beings continue to suffer under oppression. We will not be silent while our fellow human beings continued to be denied freedom and liberty. We will not be silent while there are an estimated 1,045 forced labor camps holding an estimated 6.8 million prisoners, and while Communist China continues its inhuman practices of organ harvesting of prisoners, the forced abortions, and the affront to the dignity of human bodies by selling and displaying human corpses.
We will continue to speak for those who don’t have the freedom to speak. We will continue to tell the Communist China government “Long Live Democracy!” and “Free China Now!” We will continue to stand in defense of humanity’s universal human rights, just like some of us did in front of the Communist China embassy on June 4, 1989, 20 years ago. Our love and support of our fellow human beings must be consistent and steadfast in the face of all anti-freedom ideologies.
Location: The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
3505 International Place, NW
Washington, DC 20008 (Important note – this is not where the old embassy used to be – it is a new location for those who have not been there in a while.)
Planned Rally Date and Times: Thursday, June 4 – 1 to 5 PM ET
Rally Site:
We will be at the red brick walkway in the small “park” directly across the street from the Communist China embassy. If we get a significant turnout, we may be going up the stairs at that park to accommodate individuals. See the image below taken from this walkway in the “park” that shows where we are relative to the Communist China embassy.
"Park" Walkway in Front of Communist China Embassy
Getting There and Travel Logistics:
It is recommended that rally attendees come by the Washington subway (“metro”) system to the Van Ness-UDC metro stop and walk over to the embassy. The parking near the embassies specifically states that such parking is by permit only. However, there are public parking facilities on nearby Connecticut Avenue NW and Veazey Terrace NW a block north of the Van Ness-UDC metro stop as an alternative. Details on the subway and parking options are provided in the following paragraphs.
VAN NESS-UDC METRO STATION to INTERNATIONAL PL NW:
1. Exit station through WEST SIDE OF CONNETICUT AVE NW & VEAZY ST entrance.
2. Walk approx. 1 block SE on Connecticut Ave NW.
3. Turn right on Van Ness St NW.
4. Walk approx. 1 block W on Van Ness St NW.
5. Turn left on International Dr NW.
6. Walk a short distance S on International Dr NW.
7. Turn right on International Pl NW.
8. Walk a short distance W on International Pl NW.
The Communist China embassy is in basically a courtyard that links International Drive and International Place together. You will see other embassies as you walk, and you will see the Communist China embassy notable by its distinct architecture and the red flag with yellow stars of Communist China.
Getting There by Car:
The embassy “courtyard” of International Drive and International Place can be reached by driving towards Connecticut Avenue NW, then turning onto Van Ness Street NW, and then from Van Ness Street NW you are able to turn onto either International Place or International Drive. The embassy address is 3505 International Place, NW, in Washington DC. Remember the parking by the embassy is by permit only, as previously mentioned.
In terms of parking, we found that if go up Connecticut about half a block from the Van Ness-UDC metro stop (4201 Connecticut Avenue), that there is parking on the right of Connecticut Avenue going North when you turn right onto Veazey Terrace NW. There is a public parking lot called the Van Ness Center parking lot that is next to a Giant food store. The Van Ness Center lot is run by Landmark Parking, and it shows an address of 4301 Connecticut Avenue NW, but my GPS said that it was 3046 Veazey Terrace NW. (There is also another lot advertised on that block of Connecticut Avenue next to an “Embassy Cleaners.”)
Walking back down the Connecticut Avenue from the parking lot exit, you will see a Pizza Hut, Jerry’s Sub shop and Bank of America on the corner. Then basically follow the walking directions from the Van Ness-UDC Metro stop above.
Assembly Plan and Coordination with Authorities: Washington DC Metropolitan Police Dept received our Assembly Plan on April 10; we have confirmed this. They have stated thus far they have no problem with our assembly plan. Their official rules are to notify us no later than 4 days before an event. We have also contacted the U.S. Secret Service to make them aware of our detailed plans.
Note to Other Human Rights Groups: — We have an assembly plan from 12 Noon to 7 PM ET, and we can accommodate other times beyond the core 1 to 5 PM rally time if some are interested.
1. Exit station through 12TH & JEFFERSON (THE MALL) entrance.
2. Walk approx. 2 blocks W on Jefferson Dr SW.
3. Turn right on 14th St NW.
4. Walk approx. 1 block N on 14th St NW.
VAN NESS-UDC METRO STATION to INTERNATIONAL PL NW:
1. Exit station through WEST SIDE OF CONNETICUT AVE NW & VEAZY ST entrance.
2. Walk approx. 1 block SE on Connecticut Ave NW.
3. Turn right on Van Ness St NW.
4. Walk approx. 1 block W on Van Ness St NW.
5. Turn left on International Dr NW.
6. Walk a short distance S on International Dr NW.
7. Turn right on International Pl NW.
8. Walk a short distance W on International Pl NW.
— For the National Presbyterian Church event, locations and directions are as follows:
— N 38° 56.541′ W 077° 04.875′ Elevation 440
— Printable Metro and Driving Directions
— Online Map — ADC Map Coordinates 4-C-6 — Metro Red Line Tenleytown-AU Station — Metro Bus M4 and N2 Routes (no bus service on Saturday or Sunday)
— Free parking on the Church grounds at Nebraska Avenue and Van Ness Street.
— Via subway:
—- From the Tenleytown-AU Station on the Red Line.
—- Exit to the west side of Wisconsin Avenue.
—- Turn right down Wisconsin to Tenley Circle.
—- Turn right on Nebraska Avenue for ¼ mile.
—- See the Tower of Faith ahead on the left.
—- Cross Nebraska at Van Ness Street.
—- (walking time from rail platform to NPC: 15 minutes
(Communist China) Kidnappers swoop on China’s girls — “The state’s one-baby policy has led to a shortage of females that gangs are ruthlessly exploiting”
— “Small boys have long been abducted for sale in China, but in recent years the country’s strict birth control policy, which has led to abortions of girls in families intent on having a boy, has left the countryside short of female babies.”
(North Korea) Leaders live in luxury while North Koreans starve to pay for nuclear bomb
— “Satellite images of North Korea have revealed the luxury lifestyle of dictator Kim Jong Il and his inner circle, replete with palaces, golf courses and swimming pools with giant waterslides”
— “The privileges of Pyongyang’s select few are unheard of for most ordinary citizens in North Korea, whose government’s disastrous economic polices have left millions reliant on foreign food aid handouts”
US journalists’ trial begins in North Korea this week — trial for U.S. journalist Laura Ling and Euna Lee to begin this week in North Korea.
— AP: “North Korean guards detained Laura Ling and Euna Lee, reporters for former Vice President Al Gore’s Current TV media venture, at the northeastern border with China on March 17. Activists who helped organize their trip say they had been reporting on North Korean women and children who fled to China for an uncertain life as refugees.”
— “two American journalists seized nearly three months ago face a trial this week in Pyongyang on charges that could land them in one of the country’s notorious labor camps.”
