Totalitarianism – Page 10 – Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)

North Korea Freedom Coalition Releases Report on North Korea and the Universal Declaration for Human Rights

PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release

North Korea Freedom Coalition Releases Report on North Korea and the Universal Declaration for Human Rights; Calls for North Koreans to Have Copies of Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Washington, DC (December 8, 2009)…On the eve of the 61st anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the North Korea Freedom Coalition (NKFC) is releasing a report entitled “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and North Korea” and is calling for copies of the Declaration to be made available to the North Korean people.

“When the General Assembly of the United Nation’s adopted this Declaration on December 10, 1948, it cited in the preamble that ‘disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind,’ explained NKFC Chairman, Suzanne Scholte. “This statement is certainly descriptive of what is happening in North Korea every day, and we hope by releasing this report on how North Korea fares under the 30 Articles of this Universal Declaration that it will outrage the conscience of mankind to press for human rights for the citizens of North Korea.”

Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center added, “The Nazi Holocaust and other horrors of World War II were the historic motivation behind the crafting of this declaration in 1948, which was meant to ensure that future generations would never again have to suffer from atrocities that are being committed against the North Korean people.”

The year of 1948 when the Declaration was adopted is especially significant to Korea for that was the year that two separate governments were established for the people of the North and for the people of the South.

Because North Korea is among the most isolated countries in the world and its citizens have no understanding of the concept of ‘human rights’, NKFC is calling for five specific actions to be taken:

1) For UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and other diplomats to make a special effort to make this document known to the people of North Korea as was called for in the Preamble of the Declaration when it was adopted in 1948;
2) For those broadcasting into North Korea to highlight this document and report about its contents;
3) For those launching balloons into North Korea to include this document in future launches;
4) To make copies of the Declaration available at the North Korean defector resettlement facility of Hanawon; and
5) For all people who enjoy these rights to use them to help the North Korean people gain theirs.

Already, Seoul-based Free North Korea Radio has pledged to begin a special program based on the Declaration and include findings from the NKFC report. Fighters for a Free North Korea have pledged to include the Declaration in future balloon launches, while the NKFC is reaching out to the Unification Ministry of South Korea to ensure that the document is available at Hanawon.

Attached is the NKFC’s letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and the NKFC report which cites each of the 30 Articles of the Declaration and how the citizens of North Korea fare in regards to these universally accepted human rights. An excerpt of the report follows below.

For further information, contact the North Korea Freedom Coalition at nkfreedom.org or call 202-341-6767.

Excerpts from the report entitled (full report attached):
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and North Korea

Article 1.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.
But in North Korea…
“One’s Songbun (class background) is either good or bad, and detailed records are kept by party cadre and security officials of the degree of goodness or badness of everyone’s songbun. There is really no way to escape one’s songbun.” The favored group constitutes about 25 to 30 percent of the population. “Ranked below them in descending order are forty-seven distinct groups in what must be the most class-differentiated society in the world today….North Korea’s population can be broken down into three main groups, roughly equal in size. The preferred class…is given every advantage; with hard work, individuals in this group can easily rise to the top. The middle 40 percent of the population-the ordinary people-hope for a lucky break…There is no hope, however, of a college education or a profession career. The bottom 30 percent of the population –the ‘undesirables’ are treated like a pariah class; all doors to advancement, the army, the higher schools of education are closed to them.”
-Kim Il Sung’s North Korea by Helen Louise Hunter

North Korea prioritizes the masses before the individual. North Korea also discriminates against people based on their genealogical background…those of the ‘hostile class’ face direct discrimination.”
-Survey of North Korean Human Rights Conditions 2008
_________________________________________________________________

Article 4. No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

BUT IN NORTH KOREA…

“There have been widespread reports of trafficking in North Korean women and young girls into China. Some are sold by their families or by kidnappers as wives or concubines to men in China; others flee to escape starvation and deprivation in North Korea. Many such women, unable to speak Chinese, are held as virtual prisoners and some are forced to work as prostitutes…”

– Cammarota, P., Crace, J., Worly, K., & Zaltzman, H. (2007). Legal Strategies for Protecting Human Rights in North Korea. Washington, DC: U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea
____________________________________________________________________

Article 15. (1) Everyone has the right to a nationality. (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

BUT IN NORTH KOREA…

“North Korea handed down a death sentence by firing squad for a woman who expressed the desire to go to South Korea and live in freedom…”

– North Korea Today: Research Institute for North Korean Society, January 2008

SEE FULL REPORT ATTACHED OR VISIT NKFREEDOM.ORG

Communist China: China dissident begins second year in detention – Liu Xiaobo

China dissident begins second year in detention
— London Times report on Liu Xiaobo: “Detained with no formal charges against him”

Twitter Campaign to Free Chinese Human Rights Advocate Liu Xiaobo

For Immediate Release: Laogai Research Foundation Launches Twitter Campaign to Free Liu Xiaobo

Washington, DC, December 4, 2009- The Laogai Research Foundation has launched a Twitter campaign to free noted scholar and human rights advocate to Liu Xiaobo. Liu was one of the primary authors of Charter 08,, a peaceful online manifesto calling for practical democratic reform in China with over 10,000 signatories. To mark the one-year anniversary of Liu’s detention and the release of Charter ’08, LRF has launched a ten day Twitter campaign calling on advocates around the world to follow @freeliuxiaobo and re-tweet quotes from Charter ’08, in both English and Mandarin. At the conclusion of the campaign, the number of followers and re-tweets will be sent in a letter to President Obama, President Hu Jintao, the Chinese Embassy, and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate of China, calling for the release of Liu Xiaobo.

Building on momentum from October 1, 2009, when the U.S. House of Representatives (with the Senate concurring) passed House Congressional Resolution 151 stating, “That it is the sense of Congress that China’s Government immediately release Liu Xiaobo and begin making strides toward true representative democracy,” LRF hopes to spur global activism on behalf of Liu and Charter ’08. LRF Executive Director Harry Wu said the following of Liu, “Liu’s writings and criticisms of the CCP were pursued in a peaceful manner, and we cannot tolerate his detention.”

For more information on the campaign to free Liu Xiaobo, go to http://www.laogai.org/blog/free-liu-xiaobo and www.twitter.com/freeliuxiaobo.

For further inquiry please contact Laogai@laogai.org or (202) 408-8300. You can also follow the Laogai Research Foundation on Twitter @laogai.

The Laogai Research Foundation is a not-for-profit organization founded by former political prisoner Harry Wu in 1992. Its mission is to gather information on and raise public awareness of the Laogai–China’s extensive system of forced labor prison camps. For more information, please visit www.laogai.org, e-mail Laogai@laogai.org, or call +1-202-408-8300.

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The Laogai Research Foundation is launching a ten day Twitter campaign to advocate the release of Liu Xiaobo. A Chinese dissident who has long advocated for human rights and democracy inside China, Liu was one of the primary authors of Charter 08, an online manifesto promoting peaceful political reform in China that has accumulated 10,000 signatures since its initial launch on December 10, 2008. Liu was detained on December 8, 200, two days before the release of Charter 08, and held without charge until June of 2009, when he was charged with “Incitement to subversion of the state.” To this day Liu has not been granted a trial.

To mark the one year anniversary of Liu’s detention, we have initiated a ten day Twitter campaign. To join the campaign, click here and click retweet. We also encourage you to share this with your friends via Facebook, email, your personal blogs, even in person! At midnight on December 10, in honor of the one year anniversary of the release of Charter 08, we will count the number of retweets and followers we’ve had, and include that number in a letter advocating Liu Xiaobo’s release. The letter will be sent on December 11 to President Obama, President Hu Jintao of China, the Chinese Embassy, and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate of China.

Please help Liu Xiaobo by joining our campaign and spreading the word!

Liu Xiaobo, Chinese Human Rights Activist, Arrested December 8, 2008

劳改基金会发起”释放刘晓波”Twitter运动

2009年12月4日华盛顿— 劳改基金会发起了一项Twitter运动，旨在敦促中国政府释放著名学者、人权活动家刘晓波。刘是著名网络民主宣言《08宪章》的主要起草人之一，该宣言的签署人数现已超过一万。为纪念刘晓波被中国政府拘捕和《08宪章》发表一周年，劳改基金会发起了一个为期10天的Twitter运动，以中、英双语呼吁国际社会积极响应@freeliuxiaobo 并转载《08宪章》的部分引文。在运动结束后，支持者人数将记录在一封公开呼吁信中，递交美国总统奥巴马、中国国家主席胡锦涛、中国驻美大使馆和中国最高人民检察院，敦促中方释放刘晓波。

2009年10月1日，美国国会众议院通过（参议院附议）的151号决议指出，”国会认为中国政府应立即释放刘晓波，并开始真正的代议制民主”。劳改基金会希望藉此发起一场声援刘晓波和《08宪章》的全球运动。劳改基金会执行主任吴弘达说：”刘晓波的著作和对中共的批评都采取和平的方式，我们不能容忍中国政府对他进行拘押。”

欲了解更多有关”释放刘晓波”的Twitter运动信息，请访问 http://www.laogai.org/blog/free-liu-xiaobo和www.twitter.com / freeliuxiaobo连接。

如有任何问题，请联系Laogai@laogai.org或（202）408-8300。您也可以在
Twitter @laogai上支持劳改基金会。

劳改基金会是一个非营利性组织，由中国前政治犯吴弘达于1992年创立。它的任务是收集劳改资料和提高公众对此问题的关注。欲了解更多信息，请访问www.laogai.org，电子邮件laogai@laogai.org，或致电+1-202-408-8300。

R.E.A.L. Postings on Liu Xiaobo

Chinese intellectuals speak up for dissident Liu Xiaobo

Communist China accuses pro-democracy activist Liu Xiabo of inciting a rebellion

Communist China: Dissident writer Liu Xiaobo held after sentence ends

Communist China: Arrested Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo to receive prestigious award

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China Charter 08 – December 10, 2008

R.E.A.L. Reports on China

R.E.A.L. Reports on Totalitarianism

Communist China: Chinese Human Rights Lawyer Sentenced to Seven Years – Wang Yonghang

Chinese Human Rights Lawyer Sentenced to Seven Years
— The Epoch Times reports: “A human rights lawyer, Wang Yonghang, has been sentenced to seven years in prison by the Chinese court over allegations that he published articles on the Internet sites outside of China.”

Human rights lawyer Wang Yonghang sentenced to seven years in prison. (New Tang Dynasty Television)

— Transforming Closed Societies by Freeing the Internet

Communist China: 5 More Church Leaders Sentenced to Prison Without Trial

China Aid reports: “5 Linfen-Fushan Church Leaders Sentenced to Re-Education through Labor Without Trial”

“SHANXI–After the Chinese government sentenced five church leaders to 3 to 7 years criminal detention on Wednesday, November 25th, ChinaAid learned that on November 30, 2009, five more church leaders from Linfen Church, Shanxi, were each sentenced to two years in re-education through labor camps–an arbitrary administrative sentence by the Public Security Bureau enacted so the leaders would not be ‘required’ to go through the court and prosecution system. The sentence was said to be effective from November 11th, when they were already detained.”

“The five Christian leaders are Mr. Li Shuangping, Ms. Yang Hongzhen, Ms. Yang Caizhen (whose husband, Pastor Yang Xuan received 3 years sentence by the court on November 25), Ms. Gao Qin (also known as Gao Fuqin), and Ms. Zhao Guoai. Among the five, ChinaAid has confirmed three members’ 2-year re-education through labor sentences through family members, including Yang Caizhen, Yang Hongzhen and Mr. Li Shuangping.”

“The other two members’ sentences were confirmed indirectly by Linfen-Fushan church leaders. These two latter cases were very difficult to confirm definitively at the time, because the family members have been held under severe government surveillance. The five church leaders were accused of “gathering people to disturb the public order,” referring to their organization of a one-thousand-believer prayer rally held on September 14, the day after the church was attacked by over 400 military police. (Click here to view the video of the Prayer rally held on 9/14/2009.) 17 church buildings were destroyed and over 30 believers were seriously wounded during the unprecedented mob attack in the early morning of Sunday, September 13. Linfen House Church Christians continue to be monitored by Chinese military police, including neighboring Golden Lampstand Church (Jin Dongtai) in Linfen City.”

Sister Yang Caizhen (L) was one of 5 sentenced to 2-years Re-education through Labor, for organizing the Sept. 14 prayer rally. (ChinaAid)

Communist China: Church Leaders Complaining About Church Destruction Get 7 and 3 Years in Prison

China Aid reports: “Fushan House Church Christian Sentenced to 7-Years in Prison”

“Senior Pastors Yang Rongli and Wang Xiaoguang were sentenced to 7 and 3 years in prison respectively, at the show trial.”

“SHANXI–ChinaAid just learned that the trial of Linfen house church leaders in Shanxi province was held from 9:00 AM to about 10:00 PM on November 25 (Beijing time), lasting over 12 hours. Pastors Yang Rongli, Wang Xiaoguang, Yang Xuan, Cui Jiaxing, and Zhang Huamei have been been held in detention since their unwarranted arrests on Friday, September 25, 2009, when they attempted to travel to Beijing an lodge a formal complaint about the destruction of their church to the Central governing authorities. Their trial was held in the No. 12 Trial Room at People’s Court of Raodu District, Linfen City, Shanxi province.”

“The verdicts were severe and were announced immediately following the trial. Two criminal charges were used– the crime of “illegally occupying farming land” and “disturbing transportation order by gathering masses.” Sister Yang Rongli received 7 years severe sentence for both charges; Pastor Wang 3 yrs for the first charge, brother Yang Xuan, 3 and a half years, and Cui Jiaxing earned 4 and a half years for the first charge; Sister Zhang Huamei was found guilty of the second charge, and sentenced to 4 years in prison.”

“Sister Yang Rongli and Pastor Wang Xiaoguang’s son was able to briefly chat with his parents during one recess time near the bathroom outside the court room. Sister Yang and Pastor Wang encouraged their son to stand firm in his faith in Christ. Yang and Wang have led the Fushan church, part of the 50,000 members house church network in Linfen and the surrounding villages, for more than 30 years. The Fushan Church leaders unwarranted arrests, detentions, and severe sentences after the massive church destruction on September 13, marks one of the worst crackdown on house church leaders in the past decade.”

Fushan House Church Attack -- China Aid Report

Communist China: Video of Crackdown on Fushan Church

Germany: Human Rights Groups Call for EU to Suspend Preferential Trade to Communist China

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: LAOGAI RESEARCH FOUNDATION CALLS ON EU TO SUSPEND PREFERENTIAL TRADE ACCESS FOR CHINA UNDER THE GSP

Bredenbeck, Germany, December 1, 2009- The Laogai Research Foundation (LRF), in association with the International Society for Human Rights (Frankfurt), formally call on the European Commission to suspend the People’s Republic of China’s non-reciprocal preferential access to the EU market provided under the GSP scheme until China stops exporting products to the EU made in the Laogai, China’s vast system of forced labor prison camps.

The Laogai not only serves to suppress dissent; it also functions as a massive source of free labor. Inmates within the Laogai system are forced to labor long hours in abusive conditions. LRF has documented cases where inmates were working 16-18 hours a day in mines with no protective gear, handling battery acid with no gloves, and standing naked in vats of tanning chemicals. The Laogai Research Foundation has documented hundreds of businesses that advertise their products for export to the US and Europe, and Laogai-made goods find their way into these markets on a daily basis. Unfortunately, due to intentional deception on the part of Laogai enterprises, and a patchwork of incomplete and ineffective international regulations, these Laogai enterprises not only continue to operate, but also to profit handsomely by exporting goods made by prisoners who are not compensated for their labor. Although China officially banned the export of forced labor products, this law is not enforced, and international requests for inspections of suspected Laogai facilities are routinely denied.

For this reason, LRF calls on the European Commission to suspend China’s preferential GSP status until China enforces its own laws on the export of forced labor products. Additionally, we call on the EU to consider legislation to ban the import of forced labor products from China.

Peter E. Mueller, European Representative of the LAOGAI Research Foundation (LRF), Washington DC, has already met with several Members of the European Parliament, among them Edward McMillan-Scott, Vice-President of the EU-Parliament, Crescenzio Rivellini, head of the EU/China Delegation, Mrs. Helga Trüpel of the Green Party and Mr. Michael Gahler of the Christian Democrats, but foremost with Mrs. Heidi Hautala, Chairwoman of the EU Human Rights Committee. In these meetings, Mr. Mueller urged them to support the suspension of China’s preferential GSP status and consider a ban on the importation of Laogai-made products, noting that the Laogai system of forced labor camps is the PRC’s foremost tool of political repression.
LRF Executive Director Harry Wu commented, “The EU is typically ahead of the US when it comes to human rights, but on this issue they lag behind.” (The US has banned the importation of forced labor products since the 1930s.) Mr. Wu added further, “Basic human rights should not be left behind in the drive to improve economic relations between China and the EU.”

Chinese Aids activist Dr Gao ‘in exile in United States’

Communist China: Church Defies Police to Worship

— ChinaAid reports: “500 Wanbang Church Members Meet Despite Leaders’ Detentions”
— “SHANGHAI–On Sunday, November 22, Wanbang church pastors Cui Quan, Cui Longguo, Liu Quanqin, and Huang Yun were detained for over 8 hours and interrogated for allegedly “engaging in illegal organization and activities.” Two church deacons, Piao Longyi and Shi Weidong, were detained over Saturday night to prevent them from leading worship. Despite the detention of their leaders, over 500 dedicated church members assembled outdoors to hold the two scheduled morning worship services. Police tried to intimidate members and prevent them from worshipping, but they stood their ground and refused to stop singing. Shanghai PSB officers have interrogated and detained many of the 2,000 members of Wanbang Missionary Church, but the church continues to meet.”

— “Senior Pastor Cui Quan and the three other pastors were detained for over 8 hours to prevent their attendance. They were released at 2:30 PM on Sunday, Nov. 22. Pastor Liu Quanqin is still in discussion with the PSB station about the injury to his fingers and damage to his personal property, inflicted by the officers.”
— “Despite the detention of their leaders, over 500 dedicated church members assembled outdoors to hold the two scheduled morning worship services. Local authorities reportedly tried to intimidate members and prevent them from attending with threats, but were unsuccessful. Church members refused to stop singing and worshipping. This Sunday’s thwarted attempt to prevent worship was preceded by last weeks video-taped surveillance of the church’s meeting in the park.”

Communist China - despite Communist detention of pastors, 500 of Wanbang church continue to worship (ChinaAid)

Communist China Praises Role in “Convention on Children’s Rights” – While It Arrests Those Who Speak On Communist Forced Abortions

The Communist People’s Republic of China (PRC) today spoke out in support of its role as a “signatory” to the November 20, 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, a day after it arrested a human rights activist who gave testimony to the U.S. Congress on November 10, 2009 on the role of the Communist government in continuing forced and coercive abortions in Communist China.

While the PRC’s Xinhua called for Chinese “people to offer their love to all children,” just 10 days earlier at the U.S. House of Representatives, human right activists spoke on the horrific and systemic practice of forced abortion of babies and dehumanization of women by the People’s Republic of China. (You can read their testimony here.)

In Washington DC, on November 10, human rights activists testified to Communist China’s pride in “preventing 400 million births,” including the use of forced abortion. Human rights activists also spoke of the “abortion, abandonment, and infanticide of baby girls” due to Communist pressures and the “burgeoning black market in stolen children – 70,000 a year” created by Communist China’s official policies.

They described how women’s babies were treated like refuse. They described how Communist Chinese gynecologists and obstetricians discussed infanticide after induced labor. Women’s Rights without Frontiers’ Reggie Littlejohn provided a translation of the Communist Chinese web site discussions on infanticide, which are still online in Mandarin Chinese.

Such discussion of methods included:
— Damohuyang: posted “Over 90% of 35-week infants died under induced labor. Most of them died of skull puncture.” “Damohuyang” further described that some that were alive “would be left in trashcans. Some of them could still live for one to two days.”
— Xuexia: “Actually you should have punctured the fetus’ skull. By doing this there will be less damage and also you won’t get an infant born alive.”

Another women testified on November 10, 2009 on Captiol Hill how the Communist Chinese doctors forcibly removed and mutilated her baby from her womb.

The Communist Chinese government’s adoption of the Convention on Children’s Rights was based on the caveat that the Communist government “interprets the Convention as applicable only following a live birth.”

Others testified to how Communist Chinese policies had led to the development of a culture of abandoning those children that the Communist government prohibited, for fear of retribution.

Yet the Communist Chinese government today baldly and unashamedly uses the 20th anniversary of the Convention on Children’s Rights to claim its “love” of children.

For the real love of children, those of us Responsible for Equality And Liberty must condemn the inhuman and horrific violence against babies that has been rationalized by the Communist government and the astounding abuse of children in that Communist country.

The June 2009 U.S. State Department report on human trafficking states that “The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation.” According to this report, this includes the operation of an “extensive child forced labor network” in one province “with thousands of children as young as seven years old.” Earlier Congressional testimony on the Communist Chinese Laogai concentration camps deaths have included children and infants.

Communist China, Communist North Korea, and Communist Vietnam are some of the top offenders in human trafficking in the world, including trafficking of children.

Communist China: Baby Abandoned in the Street

Communist China: Girls Abandoned at Buddhist Orphanage