NORTH KOREA

Appeal for the release of Kim Hee Tae, a South Korean student, and North Korean defectors imprisoned in China

25 October 2002

Appeal for the release of Kim Hee Tae, a South Korean student, and North Korean defectors imprisoned in China

Mr. Jiang Zemin

President

People`s Republic of China

Your Excellency,

I am compelled to communicate my grave concern by numerous recent reports involving the treatment of North Korean refugees in China.

Many cases have come to light involving North Korean defectors who fled to China for the purpose of applying for refugee status, only to be arrested and returned to North Korea where they face torture, sentencing to prison camps or execution.

On August 26, seven North Korean defectors visited the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Beijing to file their official application for refugee status and were immediately arrested.

On August 31, in Changchung, Northeast China, Chinese officials ambushed a group of eleven North Korean defectors and arrested most of them . A South Korean student, Mr. Kim Hee Tae, was also detained for assisting them on humanitarian grounds.

On the very same night, a woman defector, Ms. Yun Kum Shil, 32, was arrested in the Chinese border town of Erenhot while attempting to enter Mongolia. She is believed to have been returned to North Korea in late September or early October, 2002. Some eleven North Korean defectors were arrested on Monday, September 2, while attempting to enter the Ecuadorian Embassy in Beijing to claim refugee status.

On Tuesday September 3, a total of 15 defectors entered the compound of the German Embassys annex building. On the afternoon of Friday, September 13, 2002, five young defectors attempted to cross over the wall of the German embassy. These defectors represent many other defectors who have decided to risk their lives.

These refugees are eligible for refugee status under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees as they have a well-founded fear of persecution for their political views against oppression of freedom. China is a signatory to the Convention and is obliged to meet its obligations to refugees seeking protection in its territory.

Despite these obligations, China has continued to arrest and repatriate North Korean defectors without fair and efficient asylum procedures. This is in violation of the 1951 Convention in general and Article 31 (illegal entry or presence) and Article 33 (prohibition of expulsiion or return ("refoulment").

I would be very grateful if you would communicate my concerns to the appropriate authorities in Beijing and ask them to release North Korean defectors now in your custody and the South Korean and Chinese aid workers, including the South Korean student Mr. Kim Hee Tae.

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