Category: Totalitarianism

North Korea: AP reports US reporters Laura Ling and Euna Lee not yet in North Korean prison labor camp

(North Korea) Report: 2 US journalists in North Korea guest house
— AP reports: “North Korea has delayed sending two convicted U.S. journalists to a prison labor camp, in a possible attempt to seek talks with Washington on their release, a scholar who visited the North said in an interview published Friday.”

North Korea: US reporter jailed in North Korea calls sister

US reporter jailed in NKorea calls sister
— AFP reports: “One of the two US reporters jailed in North Korea made a telephone call to her US-based sister, Lisa Ling said in an interview broadcast on Thursday.”
— “‘It was a tremendous relief to hear Laura’s voice last night,’ Lisa Ling told CNN affiliate KOVR in California.”
— “Border guards detained American TV reporters Laura Ling and Euna Lee on March 17 along the frontier with China while they were researching a story about refugees fleeing North Korea.”
— “A court on June 8 sentenced Ling, 32, and Lee, 36, to 12 years of ‘reform through labor’ for an illegal border crossing and an unspecified ‘grave crime.'”
— “Laura Ling ‘was very specific about the message she was communicating and she said, ‘look, we violated North Korean law and we need our government to help us. We’re sorry about everything that happened but now we need diplomacy,’ Lisa Ling told KOVR.”
— “Without actually seeing her sister ‘and without people actually seeing her physically, it’s very difficult to tell’ how she is doing in prison, Lisa Ling said.”

July 19: DC Rally for Freedom in China and Freedom for Falun Gong

Web Site
http://www.millionminutesofmeditation.org/events/

“Falun Gong community asks supporters to donate meditation in support of human rights in China”

“Tenth years of persecution in China to be commemorated with meditation, music, and messages of hope on the National Mall”

“WASHINGTON, D.C.— Thousands of supporters and practitioners of Falun Gong will gather in the U.S. capital this month to mark the tenth anniversary since the Chinese regime initiated a campaign of imprisonment, defamation, and torture against adherents of the ancient spiritual practice.”

“Among the events planned to commemorate the anniversary is a thousands-strong  meditation event on the National Mall, to be held on July 19. The event is part of the Million Minutes of Meditation campaign, launched online in May 2009,  which seeks to raise one million minutes of meditation to help bring an end to the persecution in China.”

“‘The idea is simple,’ says Jared Pearman, the event’s organizer. ‘In China, people are being imprisoned, tortured and killed for peacefully practicing meditation and seeking to live in accordance with Falun Gong’s principles of truth, compassion, and tolerance. A powerful way to show solidarity and support is for everyone — regardless of your faith or background — to exercise those same rights. Find your own version of inner peace, and donate some of that time to bring peace to China.'”

“The campaign asks people to ‘sit, pray, or meditate’ in contemplation of the meaning of human rights and freedom,  or to reflect on what the principles of truth, compassion, and tolerance mean to them. Meditation minutes can be donated on the National Mall on July 19th,  or online at www.MillionMinutesofMeditation.org.”

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Rally Specifics:

Sunday, July 19

“National Mall, Between 3rd and 4th St.”

“11:00am – 3:00pm : Million Minutes of Meditation”

“3:00pm – 6:00pm : Freedom for Falun Gong Rally”

—  NOTE:  China Support Network’s John Kusumi to speak during 3 to 6 PM rally

“Sponsored by Friends of Falun Gong”

“Contact: Jared Pearman — (202) 441 0317”

“Background:

“Falun Gong, a Buddhist system of meditation and moral self-improvement guided by the tenets of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. After it attracted tens of million adherents in Mainland China through the 1990s, China’s rulers began to perceive Falun Gong as ideological competition. The practice was banned on July 20, 1999, and a campaign of intimidation, arbitrary imprisonment, torture, and violent reeducation ensued, continuing to this day.”

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June 5, 2009 – U.S.: John Kusumi, founder of the China Support Network, calls for Chinese people to rise up

Washington, DC Vigil For Journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee – imprisoned in North Korea

Washington, DC Vigil For Journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee

Date: Thursday, July 9, 2009
Time: 6:30pm – 7:30pm
Location: Dupont Circle – by the fountain
City/Town: Washington, DC
Email:     LiberateLauraDC@gmail.com

— Communist North Korea sentences two US reporters to 12 years of labor camp
— North Korea: Petition Calling for Freedom of Euna Lee and Laura Ling After Sentence of 12 Years in NK “Labor” Camp

North Korean “labor camp” survivor calls for end to isolation of the population

Daily Telegraph:  North Korean labour camp survivor calls for end to isolation of the population
— Mr. Chol-Hwan: “the humanitarian issue is key. Leaders should put pressure on the regime by increasing information to the people… f they challenged the system directly, people could be saved and starvation prevented…. Even sending balloons in from South Korea with bags of rice would make a difference. Making people more aware of the outside world would put further pressure on the regime.”