|
USCIRF Press Conference Thank You, Father Kim Il Sung Statement by Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ)
|
||
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Once again we are gathered to praise the outstanding work that Michael Cromartie and the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom are doing. They continue to perform exactly as the Congress intended when it passed the International Religious Freedom Act, which created the Commission. They have kept the eyes of the world, and of our own policy makers, on the central importance of religious freedom in our foreign policy. I am proud to have been an original co-sponsor.
The Commission’s Report on its August visit to Yet North Korea has so restricted first hand-knowledge of what goes on in its Gulag society that it has managed to convince many people that the situation cannot be as bad as critics portray it. In a sense they are right: it is worse than anyone could make up. This new report, based on careful interviews with former North Koreans, makes it clear that there is no religious freedom in The report makes many excellent recommendations, but I would like to focus on those regarding the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004, which Congress overwhelmingly passed. As a recent hearing held jointly by the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations, under my chairmanship, and the Subcommittee on Asia and The Pacific, chaired by Jim Leach, who authored the Act (I was an original co-sponsor), it became patently obvious that the US is acting far too lethargically in implementing the provisions of the law. I strongly endorse the Commission’s recommendations to: · Ensure that the Special Envoy, Jay Lefkowitz, have full authority to fulfill his mandate according to the · Work with countries in the region to provide safe haven, secure transit and resettlement for North Korean · Resolve bureaucratic issues complicating the resettlement of North Korean refugees in the · Expand radio, television, Internet and print information, and other media available to the North Korean · Insist that the Chinese government fulfill its obligations as a party to the 1951 United Nations Convention By its refusal to treat North Korean refugees as refugees,
As President Bush heads for South Korea for the APEC Summit, and then to China, for a summit with Chinese President Hu Jintao, it is imperative that he raise with his interlocutors not only North Korea’s dangerous nuclear ambitions, but also its refusal to abide by even minimal human rights standards: a regime that pays not the slightest attention to the needs, interest or rights of its own people, is unlikely to care much what the international community thinks.
| ||
### | ||
For Immediate Release: November 15, 2005 Contact: Brad Dayspring (202) 225-3765 |
||
| ||