“Hell On Earth” for Euna Lee and Laura Ling
Euna Lee and Laura Ling (sister of TV personality Lisa Ling), reporters for former Vice President Al Gore’s San Francisco-based Current TV media venture, were detained by North Korean border guards March 17 on the bogus charges of “hostile actions” against the state when they illegally crossed the border (the actions were never specified). Ms. Lee and Ms. Ling were investigating human rights infringements by the notoriously strict government, known for wide censure, torture, and genocide practices. Arrested while filming a documentary about starving North Korean refugees, the two American journalists have been condemned to Hell on Earth, a labor camp, for 12 years (June 8, 2009).
Hell on Earth is a “political offense village,” where the harsh correctional techniques are often implemented for the following offenses:
Attempting or abetting escape: torture with hot coals while being hung from a ceiling.
Pregnancy: forced abortion; infants born alive are killed.
Forgetting the words to “patriotic songs”: beatings, forced exercise or public humiliation.
Unauthorized communications: beatings with iron pipes or wooden sticks.
**Ex-guards have told reporters that they have been trained to kill all inmates in case of an emergency. Most who die in the camps, however, wither away from starvation.
According to Seoul officials, the decision is final, as the top North Korean court does not allow appeals. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called for the country to release Ling and Lee, and the word is that despite not having formal diplomatic relations with North Korea, the U.S. will send someone like Al Gore or New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson on a mission to get the journalists released. Gov. Richardson, who helped win the release of Americans from North Korea in the 1990s, said he was “ready to do anything” the Obama administration asked, and Al Gore is yet to release an official statement.
Two American women are facing 12 years of hard labor for their humanitarian efforts, one of them a mother, and yet the national media has not picked up the story with as much enthusiasm as that of Roxana Saberi. Unfortunately, the nature of the relationship between the United States and North Korea lends itself to a muted media response. Additionally, the so-called Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has established a record of unpredictable and hostile behavior, most recently with walking out of UN negotiations, restarting it’s nuclear program, testing new intermediate-range missiles, and detonating its largest-ever nuclear device (and that’s just in the last several months).
What Can We Do?
VISIT Committee to Protect Journalists for all information and follow ups you need to know about this particular case
SIGN the petition for Euna Lee’s and Laura Ling’s release
FIND more activist suggestions based on Roxana Saberi’s case
JOIN the Euna Lee and Laura Ling Facebook Group
GET instant updates on Twitter
Show Your Support
You can also show your support with the following buttons which link directly to Euna Lee’s and Laura Ling’s release petition.
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<a href="http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/free-euna-and-laura"> |
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AngryAsianMan also suggests emailing the State Department at secretary@state.gov demanding they step up negotiations with North Korea.
