We're still prepping to begin our sympathy hunger strike to mimic condition in the North Korean labor prisons. Unfortunately, the news about Laura Ling and Euna Lee has been scarce. Ling grew up in Carmichael, so Sacramento-area news organizations seem to have greater interest in her fate than the national organizations. Today, for example, News 10 reported that Laura Ling and Euna Lee asked for amnesty and that Laura was able to call her sister Lisa. A vigil at the State Capitol will be held Thursday for the two imprisoned women.
The information about the phone call and the request for amnesty gives me a glimmer of hope that maybe--just maybe--these two women will be released in the near future. However, if North Korea really is holding them as bargaining chips, it is likely to want something in return. The silence on this issue from the media and the U.S. government, however, is troublesome. The phrase, "Out of sight, out of mind" strikes a chord with me, and I can't help but think about what Euna and Laura are experiencing right now. I know they're likely being held in somewhat better accommodations than many others who are sent to labor camps. That's a small comfort, but I'm still troubled by knowing that thousands of human beings are suffering virtually unendurable abuse at the hands of North Korean officials.
I ponder whether these two women might even be released prior to July 17th. While I think that unlikely, the mention of a request for amnesty gives me hope. What then, do I do, if they are released prior to July 17th? Do I continue with my planned sympathy food strike, or do I rejoice and continue life as usual.
I'm not sure. While I know I'll rejoice, another part of me will still be thinking about the men and women whose faces and names I don't know who are being starved and tortured in one of North Korea's labor camps. I think about the newborn babies who are killed in front of their mothers, their bodies tossed away like garbage. I think about this as I sit here, on my couch, typing on my wireless keyboard, while my dogs snooze blissfully a few feet away. Here, I have comfort, central heating and air, a well-stocked kitchen, and a cozy bed I cuddle into at night. I get vacation days and sick leave away from work, where my "hard labor" is done behind a desk, most days, in an ergonomic chair.
I don't feel guilty for my modern conveniences and freedoms. I do, however, hope not to forget about the suffering others, far away, are enduring, though I can only educate myself by reading witness accounts and cannot possibly truly understand what living years on end in a horrific North Korean labor camp is really like.
So, will I continue with my "one bowl" sympathy strike come July 17th even if Laura and Euna are released before then? I don't know. What I do know is that I don't want people to forget about the torture and murders in North Korea if, by some wonderful miracle, Lee and Ling are released from prison and allowed to return home.
No matter what happens to Laura Ling and Euna Lee, there are still thousands of people suffering in these labor camps--starving and abused. Newborn babies are still being killed in front of their mothers. Every day, these crimes against humanity happen, and every day that they continue to happen is one day too many.
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