NORTH KOREA
Urgent Appeal for 2 Japanese human rights activists missing in China
3 November 2002
Urgent Appeal for 2 Japanese human rights activists missing in China
from Life Fund for North Korean Refugees,
a Japanese NGO affiliated to
the Brussels-based NGO Human Rights Without Frontiers Int.
In December 2001, Human Rights Without Frontiers Int. (HRWF Int.) organized a number of meetings in Brussels about human rights in North Korea. Mr Hiroshi Kato who works for Life Fund for North Korean Refugees (LFNKR/Tokyo) was one of the witnesses HRWF Int. took around the Belgian Parliament, the European Parliament and the European Commission. Mr Kato and his interpreter have been missing in China for several days. It had been agreed that Mr Kato would call his office three times a day to tell about his whereabouts. For five days, no direct news has been received from them.
Life Funds for North Korean Refugees (03.11.2002)/ HRWF (03.11.2002) - Website http://www.hrwf.net - Email info@hrwf.net - Five days ago, Mr. Hiroshi Kato disappeared during NGO activities in China, along with his interpreter, Mr. Masahiro Mizuta.
From recently-obtained information, our NGO, Life Fund for North Korean Refugees (LFNKR), has become convinced that the Chinese authorities are detaining the two men.
Five days can be a perilously long time, considering the reputation of Chinese police interrogators. We can think of only one reason for them to hold Mr. Kato for so long. We believe that the Chinese authorities are interrogating him in an effort to uncover the names of our local staff members and the locations where North Korean refugees may be hiding.
The longer it takes to locate Mr. Kato, the greater the danger to the refugees, and the more likely they are to be captured and returned to North Korea to face prison camps, torture, and in some cases, summary execution.
We urge you, please bring all possible pressure to bear on China to help the North Korean refugees and our staff members.
Our taskforce for freeing activist Hiroshi Kato and interpreter Masahiro Mizuta has analyzed and studied the available information and concluded that these two men are probably still being illegally detained by the Chinese authorities in the Northeast area of China, probably, in or around Jilin.
We first suspected that the North Korean secret military police were involved in this matter. Judging, however, from the current international situation and the attitude of the Chinese authorities since the incident in which North Korean refugees dashed into the Spanish Embassy in March this year, we have come to believe that involvement of a North Korean agency is very unlikely.
Following the incident in March, there has been no stopping the stream of North Korean refugees running into foreign missions or delegations. This has obviously prompted the Chinese authorities to intensify their crackdown by switching from the local level to the central government level.
We know that the Chinese Authorities have been dispatching troops from the central government to Jilin, near the border. The investigative troops are led by the deputy general of the Public Security Dept. and deputy Chief of Staff of Border Guard.
Thus, it is unlikely, we believe, that the North Korean agencies would be able to work freely under such intensive monitoring by the Chinese authorities.
The Chinese authorities have replied to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs that, "No Japanese has been captured by any of the relevant Chinese authorities in or around Dalian."
We, however, recently had substantial reason to believe that the Chinese authorities were keeping Mr. Kato under surveillance in an effort to entrap him. For this reason, we have been especially careful, in our activities, to avoid the border.
Despite our efforts, it seems likely that Mr. Kato and Mr. Mizuta, the interpreter, may have been lured from the Tian-Fu Hotel in Dalian under a ruse, such as claiming that a refugee had encountered an emergency situation.
It is extremely probable that the Chinese authorities were monitoring Mr. Kato and Mr. Mizuta. Likewise, it is extremely unnatural to believe that any other organization than the Chinese authorities are involved in this.
It has already been five days since we lost contact with Mr. Kato and Mr. Mizuta, and the Chinese authorities have not yet disclosed their whereabouts. We can only think that the Chinese authorities are persecuting them for their humanitarian efforts and subverting their human rights.
This ignoring of human rights and humanity by the Chinese authorities puts into jeopardy China's position in the international community.
Further, from the viewpoint of securing the safety of foreign visitors to China, this is an overwhelming reason for people around the world to boycott the Olympic Games scheduled for Beijing in 2008.
We strongly urge the Chinese authorities to disclose promptly the whereabouts of Mr. Kato and Mr. Mizuta and to release them immediately.
Kenkichi Nakadaira
Representative Life Funds for North Korean Refugees
http//www.northkoreanrefugees.com
Please send your appeals to Chinese authorities:
- Permanent Representative of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations
350 East 35th Street, New York, N.Y. 10016
U.S.A.
Telephone: (212) 655-6100
Telefax: (212) 634-7626
- Permanent Representative of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations in Geneva
Chemin de Surville 11
Case postale 85, 1213 Petit-Lancy 2
Geneva, Switzerland
Telephone : 792 25 48 - 792 25 43 - 793 35 91
Telecopieur : 793 70 14
E-mail: mission.china@itu.ch
- Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations in Vienna
Geroldgasse 7
1170 Vienna, Austria
Telephone: 486 16 35
Telefax: 484 16 33
- His Excellency Chengyuan GUAN
Plenipotentiary Ambassador
Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China
Av. de Tervuren 443-445
B-1150 Brussels
- You are also encouraged to send appeals to the Chinese Embassy in your respective country.
|
