Posted on 06/19/2007 7:40:34 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
N. Korean defectors testify before British opposition party leader
By Sohn Suk-joo
SEOUL, June 20 (Yonhap) -- Two North Korean defectors Tuesday testified before the British parliament about the life in North Korean gulags, Christian group officials said Wednesday.
Having spoken at a meeting of the All-Party British-North Korea Parliamentary Group in the Moses Room of the Houses of Parliament in London, Ahn Myeong-Cheol and Shin Dong-Hyok, both now settled in South Korea, also met with David Cameron, leader of Britain's opposition Conservative Party, they said.
The meeting came after Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), the organizer of the event, issued a report accusing North Korea of human rights violations, including crimes against humanity. CSW is a U.K.-based human rights organization, which specializes in religious freedom.
Ahn, who served as a prison guard in four North Korean detention camps from 1987 to 1994, is a key witness to the policies and practices of the camps. Having worked in the gulags, where the harshest form of political prison camps are found, Ahn described how prisoners are forced to labor until they die.
"I can't give you an exact number of political prisoners in North Korea, but I understand that there are about 200,000 prisoners in five camps," Ahn said.
Shin, who was born in a political prison camp in 1982, witnessed fellow child prisoners being killed through accidents and beatings. In 1996, he was tortured and interrogated over an escape attempt made by family members. He was later made to watch the public execution of his mother and brother. He eventually escaped in 2005, and worked for a year in China before reaching South Korea.
Ping!
“Evil”. It’s a 4 letter word that seems to have lost it’s meaning. To put it in context it’s sorta like “golf” only worse.(/sarcasm fully intended)
WOW Check this out
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