Euna Lee and Laura Ling
As you may have heard by now, two American journalists with CurrentTV, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, were just sentenced to 12 years in a North Korean labor camp. They were found guilty of unspecified "grave crimes" and "hostile acts" -- which really just means they were muckraking journalists who dared to cross into North Korea.
Washington's former U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson called the sentencing part of "a high-stakes poker game" being played by North Korea. He said on NBC's Today show that he thinks negotiations for their "humanitarian release" can begin now that the legal process has been completed. Other South Korean analysts also said they expect the two to be freed following negotiations.
But we should still keep the pressure on. Click here to sign the petition for their release. There are more action suggestions here. Join the Facebook group. And for regular updates, follow LiberateLaura on Twitter. AngryAsianMan also suggests "emailing the State Department at secretary@state.gov demanding they step up negotiations with North Korea."
Using journalists as political pawns and bargaining chips is unfortunately nothing new. Roxana Saberi's case made headlines recently. But this is not only a tactic used by Iran and North Korea. The United States -- yes, the very U.S. that claims to honor freedom of the press and human rights -- is holding an Iraqi journalist named Ibrahim Jassam. He hasn't been charged. An Iraqi court ordered he be released. And yet he remains in U.S. military custody. This is by NO means a suggestion that it's "fair" for North Korea to hold two American journalists. But it's hard for America to have credibility on this issue. Those of us who push for Ling and Lee's release need to expect the same standards of our own government. (See more at the Committee to Protect Journalists.)
Interestingly, Nerdette encountered a lot of push-back when she tried to get folks to sign the petition and take action for Ling and Lee. She writes,
I know that this petition will not directly sway the North Korean government. That doesn't mean its not a meaningful act. That's not why I'm trying to get people to sign it. The point is to keep the energy, the noise and the interest at as heightened a level as we can... so that maybe the media will pay attention to what's going with Laura and Euna... As we come together - online or even off (there was a vigil for Laura and Euna last week) - we are building capacity. Yes, none of us are diplomats, but that doesn't mean we don't have an opinion. Moreover, why would anyone want to silence that? Isn't that the problem with North Korea? That they censure their people? Even if you think the petition is dumb, futile or pointless, luckily the internet is so vast there is space for me and 13,000 other people to publicly declare that we want Euna and Laura to come home. The idea that someone would tell me "don't try, you look ridiculous" just makes me more committed to becoming even noisier.
Those are wise words for any action campaign. Even if it doesn't achieve the desired result, the very act of collectively standing up and saying that we are watching, that we will defend human rights, that we value the right to free speech and fair trials, that, in and of itself, is valuable and important.
More on Euna Lee and Laura Ling from Matt Yglesias, Jezebel, and Latoya Peterson.
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So liberating those 2 just leaves him with the whole of North Korea hostage. Will he risk it ?
Article on what it's like at North Korean labor camps, as told by former guards and detainees.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2009/06/200968632442604.html
From what I'm hearing them being charged the way they were and the legal decision having come down might actually be a good thing in getting their release. They weren't charged with spying and hopefully their release can be gained swiftly.
Where are the supporters of torture now?
which really just means they were muckraking journalists who dared to cross into North Korea.
It should be noted that they claim they were on the Chinese side of the border, and the North Koreans just came at them. The escaped cameraman also claims they were on the Chinese side. Also, North Korea has a history of kidnappings outside of its own border, sometimes well outside. A number of Japanese civilians were kidnapped decades ago. And from Jezebel:
"The two have become the latest in a long list of foreigners North Korea has seized over the years. Kidnap victims include a 13-year-old Japanese girl named Megumi Yokota, a South Korean businessman whom the North continues to hold as a rebuke to South Korea, and a famous South Korean film producer, Shin Sang-ok. Shin eventually escaped, but not before being forced to make a socialist version of Godzilla."
It should also be noted that any border with China isn't necessarily a finite line on a map. China has a regular habit of disputing their border and pretending that whatever they say is their territory is. They do this especially with DPRK and Vietnam. They are bordered by about 13 countries, and they do this at most of the borders.
It is very likely that these people honestly thought that they were well within Chinese borders, with Chinese officials even telling them they were, but were actually on the DPRK side. DPRK and PRC have a long history, that although they are at times strong allies, they have many disputes over their border. While it wouldn't be hard to believe that DPRK guards crossed the border to take them into custody, it is equally possible that they were actually on the DPRK side.
It doesn't make their situation any less awful, and we should be doing everything we can to help them, because DPRK labor camps are notorious.
And you are right, Ann, that we hardly have a leg to stand on demanding their release when we would do the same thing ourselves.
North Korea has more importante problema to deal with rather than ridiculous nuclear tests. We need for Laura Ling and Euna Lee to be released... NOW.
North Korea has more importants problems to deal with rather than ridiculous nuclear tests. We need for Laura Ling and Euna Lee to be released... NOW.