96 letters down

Actually, it's 97 with Kurt's late-in-the-game last-ditch effort for one more concerned and active citizen in the Eckhardt.

So. 97 letters down. 97 voices for 30 million (30,000,000) oppressed and hurting North Koreans. Tables opened next to the SAC dance sales while the Grille opened for evening service and Praise and Worship began warming up and running sound check - it wasn't the entirety of campus, but there was an interesting, quivering and stark overlap of demographics and ritual.

The sad of the celebration, of our student body community's efforts today, is that there are 1,300 literate students at this school. Still 97 voices that responded to a gathering of open tables, borrowed pens, loose-leaf notebook paper, scribbled addresses and tired shoulders.

Let's call this a start, yes?

Please add to the count. Here are the very basics for what you need to start. If you would like us to quiet you down for Joel to stand on a chair and yell at you, feel free to make a request.

Sample Letter

(Your Name)

(Your Address)

December 9, 2009

The Honorable (Representative's Name)

(Representative's Address)

Dear Senator/Representative ________

[Part I: Introduction]

I am writing to you today about the ongoing human rights crisis in North Korea. While this crisis does not receive a great deal of coverage in the news media, it is of great importance to me as a voter.

[Part II: The Problem]

North Korea is ruled by a regime that denies its citizens the most basic liberties, and traps them in intolerable economic conditions. Millions of North Koreans have died of starvation or been killed by their government since the 1990s. The North Korean government currently holds 200,000 political prisoners - men, women, and children - in its prison camps.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans have risked their lives to flee into China, where they are hunted by the Chinese government and returned to North Korea if caught. If returned to North Korea, they face torture and perhaps execution. These actions put China in direct violation of the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees.

[Part III: Request for action]

I am writing to ask you to do everything in your power to address this crisis. Specifically, I want the United States to put pressure on the Chinese government to protect North Korean refugees, and to make human rights a central part of its engagement with North Korea. I would appreciate it if you wrote back to me explaining what you, as my senator/representative, are doing about the North Korean crisis, especially regarding the full implementation of the 2008 North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act.

[Part IV: Polite finish]

Thank you for your time, and for representing my [state/district] in the [Senate/House of Representatives].

Sincerely,

(your name)

North Korea Facts

- North Koreans are denied freedom of speech, religion, the press, travel, thought, and association.

- Millions of North Koreans have died of famine since the 1990s.

- 37% of North Korean children have stunted growth, 23% are underweight, and 7% are wasted.

- 200,000 North Koreans are serving life sentences in prison camps for political "crimes" committed by them or their family members. (Three generations of each prisoner's family are held responsible for political "crimes.")

- Prisoners in these camps are frequently subjected to summary execution, torture, hard labor, forced abortions, and other atrocities.

- Between 50,000 and 400,000 North Koreans have fled across the border to China in the hopes of reaching freedom. In violation of the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees, China hunts these refugees and returns them to North Korea if they are caught, where they face probable torture and execution.

Source: Liberty in North Korea, http://linkglobal.org