*EPF213 12/03/2002
Text: Senator Sam Brownback Decries Pyongyang's Brutality to Its People
(Urges refugee camps to help North Koreans go to other countries) (1430)

The Pyongyang regime forces its citizens to live under "unspeakable conditions," with North Koreans suffering from hunger, disease, and "brutal oppression by a cruel, totalitarian regime," according to Senator Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas and member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The Kansas lawmaker made those observations at a forum on the North Korean refugee crisis at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. December 2, where he advocated setting up refugee camps in other countries to begin a process of getting North Korean refugees to countries willing to take them in.

Brownback criticized Pyongyang's communist rulers for a policy of "imprisonment on trumped up or otherwise arbitrary charges," with conditions of confinement being described as "a fate worse than death."

North Korean refugees who flee to China, he said, "face further, and in some cases greater, persecution as a result of their desperate attempt at freedom."

The Beijing regime, Brownback said, mistreats North Korean refugees and often sends them back to North Korea.

"In violation of its obligations under Article 33 of the U.N. Convention on Refugees, the Chinese government refuses to grant those fleeing North Korea refugee status and instead cooperates with the North Korean security authorities in forced repatriation of these people," Brownback said.

"It is time now for the Chinese authorities to give serious attention to this human rights disaster and take affirmative steps to work with the UNHCR and other NGO groups in developing a regularized process for helping the refugees," he added.

"We can do this immediately by setting up refugee camps in Mongolia and other neighboring countries to begin the process of finding safe passage to South Korea or other countries -- including the United States -- willing to take these refugees," Brownback said.

Following is the text of the December 2 news release from the office of Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas:

(begin text)

Brownback Speaks at Forum on North Korea

Monday, December 2, 2002

WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback today spoke at a forum on the North Korean refugee crisis, held at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C.

"If there was ever an issue that demands the attention of the media, the policy community, government officials, and ordinary citizens concerned about basic human rights and liberties, this is it," Brownback said. "The people of North Korea live under unspeakable conditions - suffering hunger, disease, and brutal oppression by a cruel, totalitarian regime. Most of the reported hundreds of thousands who have fled across the Chinese border have risked their lives because they regard it as their only hope for survival. Tragically, their harrowing journeys across the border are often only the beginning of a long ordeal that leads to even greater danger when they reach China.

"The refugee crisis began with a devastating famine in the early 1990's, that by some estimates has left 57 percent of the North Korea population malnourished, including 45 percent of children under age five. Just to give you some context on the impact of this crisis, I recently learned that the North Koreans have lowered their height requirements for adult male military conscripts from 4 feet, 11 inches to 4 feet, 2 inches because of widespread stunted growth in the population. Note that the age of conscription has not dropped - the reality is that a whole generation of adults and children have suffered prolonged malnutrition and this is the fruit of all this devastation. This fact - among many - vividly demonstrates the reason why North Korea is one of history's worst regimes.

"But as bad as the famine has been, its horror has been dramatically deepened by social, economic and political policies of Kim Jong Il. Imprisonment on trumped up or otherwise arbitrary charges is commonplace and conditions of confinement are often described as a fate worse than death.

"Those who flee North Korea are risking their lives in the hopes of finding something better in China. The sad reality is that they face further and in some cases greater persecution as a result of their desperate attempt at freedom. At best, North Korean refugees find themselves utterly dependent on the kindness of strangers in China to whom they appeal for mercy and assistance upon their arrival. Sadly such mercy is in increasingly short supply because of sanctions imposed by the Chinese government against non-governmental organizations, charities, church organizations and individual Chinese citizens aimed at stemming the flow of refugees across the North Korean border into China. Many often find themselves subjected to extortion for protection from the police. Posters in Yanji and Tumen even offer bounties to those who inform on activists and their refugees. The refugees are often used as low-paid or unpaid labor and women and children are commonly forced into debt bondage and/or trafficked as sexual slaves.

"In violation of its obligations under Article 33 of the U.N. Convention on Refugees, the Chinese government refuses to grant those fleeing North Korea refugee status and instead cooperates with the North Korean security authorities in forced repatriation of these people. Although China claims these people are economic migrants and thus undeserving of the status of refugees, the North Korean penal code lists defection or attempted defection as a capital crime. Thus, any alleged contact with foreigners makes a North Korean a traitor to the regime and leads almost inevitably to a long and harsh prison term or summary execution.

"I recently heard about one prisoner camp in particular, Camp No. 22, in Hoeryong County in the Northeast section of Hamgyong Province. The existence and coordinates of this prison camp were based on testimony from survivor-refugees in China and confirmed through satellite photos. What little we know about Camp No. 22 is that it exists underground near a coal mine. Based on accounts of survivors, Camp No. 22 is reputed to be one of the worst among many. At this camp, prisoners are incarcerated not necessarily for any specific crimes but mainly because of the sins of their relatives. At camps like these, through a method known as "Collective Punishment", the North Korean regime imposes near total control of any dissent within the country.

"Both the U.S. House and the Senate have passed resolutions condemning Chinese repatriation of North Korean refugees in clear violation of the U. N. Conventions against sending refugees back to almost certain punishment, if not summary execution. "There is much discussion about North Korea and security concerns regarding nuclear arms and other weapons of mass destruction. It is an important and necessary debate to have as we develop a strategy in coming to grips with how we should deal with the North Korean regime. But we cannot allow the unpredictable nature of the North Korean regime to divert us from the need to remain focused on the refugees.

"We do know of 32 people altogether as of today who were arrested during the past two years and who are either in detention or in the process of being repatriated back to North Korea. Over time with enough pressure applied to the Chinese government, I am hopeful that these 32 brave souls may be saved, but that is not enough. There are, as I mentioned, many others, hundreds perhaps, whose fates - much less their names - are not know to us. It is not enough to have a few token refugees being given safe passage to a third country while many more are in detention or being forcibly repatriated back to North Korea. It is time now for the Chinese authorities to give serious attention to this human rights disaster and take affirmative steps to work with the UNHCR and other NGO groups in developing a regularized process for helping the refugees. We can do this immediately by setting up refugee camps in Mongolia and other neighboring countries to begin the process of finding safe passage to South Korea or other countries - including the United States - willing to take these refugees.

"More importantly, we cannot in good conscience continue to ask the hundreds of thousands of North Korean refugees living in fear in China and the millions of their family members back in North Korea to hang on tenuously to some hope of better days to come. Keep in mind that they have been waiting for the past 50 years. The facts clearly show that it cannot get any worse. Which is why the answers to the following questions must seem so obvious and so urgent to any one of us who care about these people: 'If not now, then when? And if not us, then who?'," Brownback said.

(end text)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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