The voices of 30 groups inside and outside Japan delivered to U.S. President Obama on June 1, 2009.
- “Pay attentions to the national crimes against humanity in the political prison camps in North Korean and practice strong human rights diplomacy.”
On June 1, 2009, NO FENCE delivered a PDF file (English letter) addressed to President Obama in the form of electronic mail to the Deputy Minister-Counselor for Political Affairs, Mr. Mark E. Napper, of the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, and requested that the letter be forwarded to President Obama. We hereby report that this is deemed the acceptance of the letter by the U.S. Embassy.
This letter has been submitted as the collection of the voices of NGOs from Japan, South Korea, North America, Europe, and other regions, expressing the demand for the efforts made to address the issue of human rights at the prison camps in North Korea.
The formal version of the English letter that has been submitted and the Japanese and Korean versions are the same in essence but slightly differ in the expressions used.
Human Rights Watch has endorsed the English version.
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President Barack Obama plans to visit Egypt on June 4th, Germany on June 5th, and France on June 6th. He will deliver an address in Egypt on the relationships between the U.S. and the Islamic world, and in Germany, he is going to visit the remains of the Nazi Buchenwald concentration camp.
It is likely that he will emphasize harmony with Islam in his speech and show consideration for Israel in his visit to the Nazi concentration camp.
NO FENCE hopes that President Obama’s message for peace to be delivered during his tour this time will include not only his interest in those countries with which the U.S. has a strategic relationship, but also a strong, unwavering will to protect humanity and human rights in Asia, including the crimes against humanity and human rights at the North Korean prison camps.
In this connection, we ask for individuals and groups that will approve and support our letter (a statement issued by NO FENCE) addressed to President Barack Obama. If you could join us, please contact NO FENCE at nfstaff@netlive.ne.jp.
"Are you willing to put what power you have at the service of what you
believe?"
- ..............................................................................................Jeffrey S. Irish
Internment Camps
I received a telephone call from a friend who bakes and sells bread.
“Can you translate some writing with regard to North Korea’s forced
internment camps for an international conference to be held in Tokyo?”
she asked. “I don’t have any money to pay for the translation, but I
can pay you in bread.”
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We can no longer wait!
- There could not be national security when the violation of human rights is ignored!
Democratic nations should expressly indicate that respect for human rights is imperative in the negotiations North Korea.
The Tokyo International Conference for the Abolition of North Korea Prison Camps Commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was held on December 7, 2008 by No Fence.
* This international conference was broadcasted live. The video is
available on the NetLive Website,
http://www.netlive.ne.jp/archive/event/081207.html.
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Prison Camp-related Information
- The Chinese authorities were already aware of the existence of North Korean prison camps!
A confidential report entitled Yanbian Prefecture, the Situation around the Chinese-Korean Border (Chinese) issued in June 2000 by the Ministry of State Security, an intelligence agency directly under the State Council (the government cabinet) of China, has revealed that more than a dozen political prison camps called the "farms" existed across North Korea, in which approximately 300,000 political prisoners and their family members were confined. (The Tokyo Shimbun, May 11, 2008 Morning)
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Testimony
- [Testimony on prison camps and Japanese and Koreans from Japan] delivered to No Fence
Ms. Yumiko Chiba moved to North Korea with her parents in the North Korean repatriation program when she was little. She lived there for 37 years and defected from the country. No Fence has received a letter from her who managed to return to Japan in 2005. In the letter, she testifies about the shocking fact that Japanese and North Koreans in Japan who moved to North Korea in the repatriation program were confined in the prison camps.
< Ms. Chiba traveled from Osaka to attend the No Fence opening ceremony on April 13 and joined us as a member on the same day. Two days later, her letter was delivered to the No Fence office. >
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Action Reports
- April 13, 2008, NO FENCE Inauguration was held at Seiryo Kaikan, Tokyo.
An event to commemorate the establishment of NO FENCE, Japan's first civic action group focusing on the issue of North Korean prison camps, was held at Seiryo Kaikan in Tokyo.
In this event, testimonial speeches were presented by eight individuals who had experienced the life in the North Korean prison camps.
Video Footage of Lectures
- April 13, 2008
NO FENCE Inauguration at Seiryo Kaikan, Tokyo
An address given by the No Fence administrators and testimonies and lectures presented by eight people who had been in the prison camps, including some members of Democracy Network against North Korea Gulag
Memoirs of Former Prisoners
- On March 29, 2008, a shocking memoir was published.
"Born in a Prison, I Don't Know What Love Is" (Japanese)
Born a child of prisoners and lived as a slave for 23 years.
Such tragedies do exist in this world.
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