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

North Korea Letter-Writing Night!

On November 11, the organization LiNK (Liberty in North Korea) came to Dordt to screen the documentary Seoul Train, about the human rights crisis in North Korea, and the plight of North Korean refugees trying to escape to freedom.  If you'd like to get involved in trying to end this crisis, come to a letter-writing event this Wednesday night at the Grille, from 8:30-10:00 PM.  We'll be writing our congressmen and senators, urging them to take action.  Fact sheets, sample letters, pens, paper, envelopes and stamps will be provided.  All we need is you - the citizens.

As an added bonus, feel free to come to the Campus Center Board Room beforehand to enjoy snacks and socializing with your student symposium representatives.

For more on the North Korean human rights crisis, go to the LiNK or Seoul Train links on the left, or see these posts.

North Korea: For Purposes of Comparison

Here is Camp 22 in North Korea, one of a string of prison camps across the country where political prisoners and their families (up to three generations) are held:

And here is Washington DC, shown at the same scale:

Want to know more? Come see Seoul Train Wednesday at 7 PM, in S101.

North Korea: Kingdom of Darkness

Since 1948, the nation of Korea has been divided into two states, North and South. The South has had its struggles and difficulties, but it has emerged as one of the world’s most prosperous democracies. Due to the secrecy of the North’s dictatorship, it’s sometimes difficult to get accurate information about the situation there. Fortunately for the oppressed of the world, we live in the age of satellite photography. This photo pretty much sums up the conditions of the two nations:

Hundreds of thousands of North Koreans have risked their lives to flee the grinding poverty and political oppression of the North for free countries. Find out more about how we can help them by coming to the screening of the Seoul Train documentary, Wednesday, November 11, at 7 PM, in room 101 of the Science Building.

North Korea Primer

Want to know more? Come see “Seoul Train,” Wednesday at 7 PM, in S101.

The Seoul Train Is Coming To Dordt

On Wednesday, November 11, Dordt’s Justice Matters Club will be hosting a presentation by LiNK (Liberty in North Korea), an organization dedicated to ending the North Korean human rights crisis and assisting refugees from North Korea. A team of LiNK volunteers (called “Nomads”) on a 10-week tour across North America will come to Dordt to screen the documentary “Seoul Train,” which chronicles the efforts of hundreds of thousands of North Korean refugees to escape to freedom.

The screening is in room S101 in the Science Building, at 7:00 PM. The event is open to the public. Mark your calendars!

From the SEOUL TRAIN website:

Today, there are an estimated 250,000 North Korean refugees living underground in China. They escaped a food crisis and other persecutions at home that have claimed the lives of approximately 3 million in the past 10 years. As the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) stands idly by, the Chinese Government – in direct violation of international laws to which it’s a party – systematically arrests and forcibly repatriates hundreds of these refugees each month. Defecting from North Korea is a capital offense, and repatriated refugees face human rights abuses ranging from concentration camps and torture to forced abortion and summary executions.

For a lucky few refugees, however, there is hope. A group of multinational activists has taken it upon themselves to create an Underground Railroad. Via a network of safe houses and escape routes, the activists – at great personal risk – help the refugees on daring escapes to freedom over thousands of miles of Chinese territory. This is an odyssey where betrayal and deceit lurk around every corner, and the price of getting caught likely means death. It’s an epic tale involving years on the lam living in underground shelters, North Korean and Chinese agents, double-crossings, covert border crossings, and the terror of what happens if they get caught.

Come see Seoul Train to learn more about this hidden human rights crisis, and what you and I can do to help.

www.seoultrain.com
www.linkglobal.org