|
|
|
Events >> The Democracy Award >> 2003 Democracy Award
|
|
Remarks: Event Program: Opening Remarks ICPNKR Parliamentary Roundtable on the North Korean Refugee Crisis: Members of the International Parliamentarians’ Coalition for North Korean Human Rights and Refugees and Members of the U.S. Congress discuss policy recommendations for managing the refugee crisis. Remarks: Panel I: The North Korean Gulag: The Testimony of Three Survivors Panel II: Documenting the North Korean Gulag Reception and Presentation of the National Endowment for Democracy’s 2003 Democracy Award |
National Endowment for Democracy Conference on “Gulag, Famine, and Refugees: The Urgent Human Rights Crisis in North Korea” Remarks by Emmanuel A. Kampouris July 16, 2003 Thank you, Carl. Fifty years ago this month, the armistice ending the Korean War was signed. Today, that armistice line continues to separate countries that, however close in proximity, exist worlds apart. One of them, of course, has become a prosperous functioning democracy. The other is a very different case indeed. In his frequently quoted 2002 State of the Union Address, President Bush identified three members of the world's "axis of evil": Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. While Saddam Hussein's bloody regime has been brought down and Iran is faced with widespread political and social unrest, the third and arguably the most evil and repressive leg of that axis goes about its business of imprisoning and starving its citizens, intimidating its neighbors, and threatening the world community. While much of that community is rightly focused on the critical issue of weapons of mass destruction, it can no longer afford to ignore other horrors going on inside North Korea. And it cannot continue to act as if Kim Jong Il's efforts to produce and proliferate weapons of mass destruction exist in a vacuum, unrelated to the human rights nightmares that have resulted in a refugee crisis and a gulag-style prison system whose very existence the regime denies. It is largely to fill the need for information about what is going on inside North Korea today that the National Endowment for Democracy, the United States Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, and the Defense Forum Foundation have collaborated in the organization of this conference. None of these organizations comes to this table as novices when it comes to the matter of North Korea. In the case of the Endowment, we have funded programs for the last several years, including the Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights and the Network for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights, both based in Seoul. The Alliance gathers and provides reliable and detailed evidence of human rights abuses in North Korea; assists northern escapees; and maintains an international network of support for the victims. The group's founder and driving force, Benjamin Yoon, will be appearing on the first afternoon panel and, I am pleased to report, is one of the recipients of the 2003 Democracy Award that will be presented this evening. As for the Network, founded by one-time believers in the economic and political system of the North whose illusions were crushed by the brutal reality, the group informs international media outlets about democratization and human rights issues in North Korea and builds broad-based alliances among defectors, South Korean students, and local and international civic and human rights groups. These groups are a shining testimony to the fact that there are many Koreans in the South who have devoted themselves to telling the world about the terrible things going on in their own backyard, and we hope that this conference will give encouragement to their critical work. So on behalf of the National Endowment for Democracy, we are pleased to welcome you to what is sure to be a timely and worthwhile event. |
|
| |