Says Despite Release of Ling and Lee, More Needs to Be Done
Senator Kevin O’Toole (R-40) congratulated former President Bill Clinton for his successful effort to secure the release of two American reporters who had been imprisoned by North Korea. The reporters, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, were pardoned and released following a successful diplomatic effort by Clinton, including a visit by the former President to Pyongyang.
“I want to offer my sincere congratulations to President Clinton for his successful visit to North Korea, which resulted in the release of Ling and Lee,” said O’Toole. “As a direct result of President Clinton’s efforts, these women have been returned to the United States and reunited with their families.”
The reporters were arrested by North Korea after an alleged illegal crossing into the country from China. Ling and Lee were convicted of what was only described as a “grave crime” against the insular nation and sentenced to 12 years of hard labor. It remains unclear if the pair were afforded the opportunity to provide a legitimate legal defense to the charges for which they were convicted.
Following the conviction and imprisonment of the journalists, O’Toole dispatched letters on June 10 to President Obama, Senators Lautenberg and Menendez, and the People’s Republic of China requesting their formal assistance in securing the release of Ling and Lee. Additionally, O’Toole introduced Senate Joint Resolution No. 80 on June 22 to condemn the imprisonment of the journalists and seek their immediate release.
“We are all relieved that these young women have been released and returned home, but we must wonder how many other people are trapped in North Korean prisons that we don’t know about,” said O’Toole. “It shouldn’t take a visit from a former President of the United States to pierce the veil of authoritarianism that so completely shrouds the North Korean system of justice.”
O’Toole noted that an unknown number of people, including political dissenters, remain confined in prison labor camps that rival the gulags of the Stalin era in their harsh and inhumane treatment of prisoners.
“Although few inmates are released or escape from North Korean prison camps, we have learned that most who are sent to these camps are either worked to death or brutally executed,” added O’Toole. “While the release of Ling and Lee is certainly a positive step, it is clear that more needs to be done to ensure that commonly accepted standards of justice and human rights are adopted by the government of North Korea.”
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August 24, 2009
