WHEN: Tuesday, March 20, 2012
WHERE: 11 am: The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,
NW, Washington, D.C.
(sidewalk across from Lafayette Park)
12:00 noon: Embassy of the People's Republic of
China, 3505 International Place, NW, Washington, D.C. 20008
1 pm: Embassy of the Republic of Korea,
2450 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington
DC
WHO: North Korea Freedom Coalition, Korea Freedom Alliance, and
Pilgrim Church
WHY: To Save North Koreans Facing Torture, Imprisonment and
Execution
(Washington, DC)...Despite appeals by
the Republic of Korea, the United States, and the UN High Commissioner
for Refugees, the People's Republic of China illegally forced over 40 North
Korean refugees ranging in age from 71 years to infancy back to North Korea to
face certain torture and execution. Among those repatriated were
North Koreans whose family members were in South Korea including a 71 year old
mother, a 19 year old daughter, a 16 year old brother, and a mother and her
baby.
On March 20, activists will assemble at the White House at 11 am to
release a letter urging President Barack Obama to call upon China to stop their
policy of forced repatriation when he meets with President Hu Jintao for the
Nuclear Security Summit in South Korea on March 26 and 27.
Following the White House visit, activists will go to the Embassy of
the Republic of China to dramatize the fate of these refugees and deliver a
letter to Hu Jintao citing his role in sending North Koreans to their
death.
The activists will then stop by the Embassy of the Republic of
Korea to deliver a letter encouraging President Lee Myung Bak and
the South Korean government to continue their efforts in trying to
save the lives of North Korean refugees in China.
Despite the fact that North Koreans face certain torture, certain
imprisonment, and increasingly, execution for fleeing their homeland, China
continues to force them back to North Korea in violation of its international
treaty obligations. China is a signatory to the 1951 Convention
Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol.
Among those participating will be members of the North Korea Freedom
Coalition, Korea Freedom Alliance and Pilgrim Church, which has become the home
church for defectors residing in this area.
In related efforts, demonstrations will be occurring simultaneously on
March 20th in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles.
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