Hearing on Crimes Against Humanity in North Korean Political Prisons

A conference on the groundbreaking hearing that will feature live testimony from three North Korean defectors: a former prisoner, a former prison guard and a former official from the Ministry of People’s Security, which oversees North Korea’s network of gulags. Three renowned jurists will preside over the hearing:  Navanethem Pillay (Chair), Mark Harmon, and Thomas Buergenthal. The hearing also will feature expert testimony from renowned experts on North Korea’s gulags and its penal system generally — David Hawk and Ken Gause. With pro bono assistance from the law firm of Hogan Lovells, the case will be presented by members of the IBA’s War Crimes Committee, Greg Kehoe, Federica D’Alessandra and Steven Kay, Q.C.

Kenney Auditorium
1740 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20036

Thursday, December 8, 2016
Registration begins at 9:00 AM
Conference 9:00 AM- 5:30 PM
Reception immediately following

RSVP HERE

Sign the Petition for David Sneddon

Let David Come Home

 

Please sign the petition asking the US Senate to pass H.Con.Res.114/S.Con.Res.30 to help bring U.S. Citizen David Sneddon home. Sneddon went missing while hiking in China in 2004. It is believed that he may have been kidnapped by the North Korean regime as he was last seen leaving a Korean restaurant and was fluent in Korean. China allows North Korean agents to operate freely within its territory and North Korea has a long history of kidnapping individuals thought to be useful to the regime, especially for training their spies in foreign languages and culture.

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US Puts Sanctions on North Korean Leaders

For the first time in history the United States has blacklisted Kim Jong-un and other North Korean leaders for their human rights abuses. Ambassador Power remarked on the sanctions, “These efforts send a clear message–not just to the senior leaders, but also prison camp managers and guards, censors, secret police, interrogators, and persecutors of defectors–the world is documenting your abuses, and they will not be forgotten.”

Read the US Department of State report here.

CNN reports on the sanctions.

USA Today reports on the sanctions.

U.S. Mission to the UN Hosts Event on North Korean Women

On March 18th, the U.S. Mission to the UN hosted an event featuring four women defectors of North Korea who shared their testimonies of the atrocities they faced in North Korea. This event was hosted by US Ambassador Power, South Korean Ambassador Oh, Japanese Ambassador Yoshikawa, and UK Ambassador Wilson. To read an NKFC report of the event that was published in the Washington Times, please click here.

President Obama signs H.R. 757 into Law

On February 18th, President Obama signed H.R. 757 – North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2016 into law. We are excited that it received so much support, passing in the House with a 418 – 2 vote and unanimously in the Senate. Thank you to everyone who expressed support and advocated on behalf of the bill. Content of the new law may be viewed here.

U.S. Policy Toward North Korea: The Case for Instituting a More Effective, Human Rights Centric Approach

The conference will be held on October 27, 2015 in Washington, D.C. at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced and International Studies (SAIS). The International Bar Association (North America), Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, Defense Forum Foundation, North Korea Freedom Coalition, The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, US-Korea Institute at SAIS, Yonsei Center for Human Liberty and Freedom House are convening this conference to bring together decision-makers on Capitol Hill and in the Administration, as well as civil society, to discuss the importance of making human rights a central pillar of U.S. policy toward North Korea. A keynote speech will be delivered by Justice Michael Kirby, who was appointed by UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon to chair the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea. For more info and to RSVP, click here.