Seoul Summit: NGOs and NK human rights
(by guest blogger Andy Jackson)
This a part of a series of posts on the Seoul Summit: Promoting Human Rights in North Korea and related events. The portions in the blockquotes were taken from my notes. I apologize for any inaccuracies.
The third and final session of the Seoul Summit on Friday, December 9 was an NGO conference. As you would expect from an NGO meeting, there was a wide range of opinions and priorities. Below is a small sample of some of the views expressed.
Gildiun Blanchard, Seoul representative, Medicines Sans Frontiers:
I can not speak to Medical conditions in NK because we were asked to leave.
We were one of the first groups to go to NK. We soon discovered that we could not access all North Korean people. So we debated whether to stay or go. Today we see that humanitarian aid workers are again asked to leave.
We ask to have direct and sustained access to those in need. Sending equipment and materials is not enough. How can we expect sick people can take care of themselves? We have found out from North Korean people in China that they use anti-biotics for a simple cold.
Is there no legal humanitarian space? It is possible to work (in North Korea and China). We know because of the work done by missionaries and other groups that do work in Chinese border area.
David Hawk, former director, US chapter of Amnesty International:
We should continue to document and report on NK repression, both on general trends and on individual cases.
I support Joel Charny’s recommendations on coordinating diplomacy on North Korean human rights.
I hope that the peace process (6 party talks) will help resolve geo-political issues so humanitarian issues can take center stage. I would also like to see the talks address humanitarian issues.
You can read more on David Hawk here.
Suzanne Scholte, President, Defense Forum Foundation:
Human rights needs to be on any agenda. It is a betrayal of our values when we do not address human rights. Kim Jong-il was brilliant to use the nuclear issue to sideline human rights talks.
We are working on getting funding to groups successfully helping refugees (such as Helping Hands-Korea, among others).
People are dying everyday. Our governments (Korean and American) are not doing enough. We need to empower North Koreans to do their work. We should fund them as individuals, NGOs and governments.
NOTE: This was not the keynote address that Scholte made during the session on Thursday, December 8.
Han Ki-hong, President, NKnet:
Over the past ten years we have help on the North Korean human rights situation. We propagated in world community about North Korean human rights violations and it has gotten on the world’s agenda. The USA and Japan [NOTE as well as the UN and EU] have created North Korean human rights envoys
The loose network of NGOs concerned with North Korean human rights should become more interrelated. South Korean NGOs have few funds.
The victims of the human rights violations are the North Korean people. They need information for them to realize their rights. We need more radio channels broadcasting into North Korea. Religious and political information should be shared with NK people through videos, flyers and other means.
As I have said before, Korean NGOs dealing with human rights in North Korea need as much support as they can get. Right now they face opposition from not only North Korea and China, but the South Korean government as well. While that may change after the 2007 presidential election, two years is a long time to wait.
In the meantime, find an NGO and support it with your time, money and/or talent. My personal favorite is Liberty in North Korea but there are a host of good ones out there.