Jackie and I trekked over to the State Capitol yesterday evening for the vigil held to support the release of Euna Lee and Laura Ling. It was warm as I stood on the steps of the capitol, holding a sign and listening to the various speakers--including Laura's sister Lisa Ling (photo below) who spoke about the phone call she received. During that call, Laura told Lisa that the only hope of their return was if the U.S. government asked for amnesty. Laura also admitted to breaking North Korea law. 
I don't know whether Lee and Ling actually broke North Korea law. After all, forced confessions with the promise of release are nothing new to political prisoners, as was demonstrated by Roxana Saberi, who spent four months in an Iranian prison and at one point issued a false confession upon a promise of release. So, while I doubt the authenticity of Ling's confession, I don't think it really matters whether Ling and Lee actually broke the law. North Korea's labor prisons represent a horrific violation of basic human rights, and there is no place for government-sponsored murder, torture, and infanticide in today's society.
I'm hopeful that Euna and Laura will be released, especially considering their sentence to a labor camp has not yet been implemented (as far as anyone knows) and the fact that Lisa was allowed to call home to request amnesty. For now, I leave you with these photos of the protest and a request that you take a moment to google "North Korea Labor Prison" if you have any doubts about whether we should be taking such a stand against North Korea.
No comments:
Post a Comment