So. It is official. The UN report of Feb. 17 (UN report), has provided the world with official word of the atrocious human rights violations occurring in North Korea, Human Rights watch has nicely provided a shorter you-tube video for those of us not wishing to read all 372 pages of the UN report (HRW video). Thank-you UN for removing the excuse of "it's not real" from our explanations, or excuses, for our lack of action, and even support of, what's going on over there.
So now what? Well, I'm not going to go into a huge dissertation of possible actions and reactions. I'll leave that to those whose full time job it is, and who frankly will have superior information and knowledge to share. What I can share is a layman's perspective. And that is, we can not support this. The treatment happening every day in North Korea is inhuman. It is a reign of terror maintained by the prison camps of which the UN report speaks, and which the Human Rights Watch video summarizes. Do those reading this realize people are sent to these camps without trial? Imagine the times when you have been unjustly accused of something, whether because of a perceived slight received by another, a grouchy police officer, a retaliatory ex-spouse, whatever. Imagine if, should the other party have the appropriate connections, this would result in you and three generations of your family being sent to a torture/labour camp where you, and they, would either be summarily executed or set to work from dawn to dusk, with no food, no medical treatments, forced to watch executions, dig your own grave, be treated like complete animals, all without any knowledge of your crime, since rule #1 is to never ask about your crime. And actions which we here in Canada would judge to be appropriate, such as crying at the public execution of a family member or dear friend, are ones that would result in this relocation. Can you imagine? Killed or tortured by labour for the human behaviour of expressing sorrow at the murder of a loved one? What does that do to a person? A community? A country? Even if one is not concerned about the well being of people far removed from themselves, at the very least we should be concerned about what this is doing to the character of the country overall, a country which, might I remind everyone, has nuclear capabilities (BBC fact sheet on North Korea's nuclear capabilities). Do we really want such a country to be peopled by citizens who view it as a crime to cry at the murder of a loved one? If the murder of a loved one is not a problem to them, I highly doubt the murder of those they don't even know would be.
So. Why the rant? It's not like we, in Canada, are taking part in this. We aren't supporting them, right? Well, let's think about that. According to this news post by Human Rights Watch (HRW), China is supporting, quite outrightly, the current regime in North Korea, as it has supported past regimes. The UN report recommends the situation in North Korea be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC). As one of the five permanent members of the security council China has the power to veto any applications to the ICC, and they have implied that they will do so here, claiming the UN report is unfounded, and that such matters can not be adequately addressed by the ICC anyways (China threatens veto of ICC application, China denies UN report, discounts ICC influence). China is North Korea's primary trading partner, and yields considerable influence there. If desired, they would undoubtedly be capable of pressuring North Korea to at least lessen its human rights violations, but they do not (HRW) . Instead, they support them through protecting them from ICC investigation. Okay. That's China. Not Canada. Again, think again. Who is it that our government has been courting as a primary trading partner? With whom is it that our government has been pursuing a free trade agreement, an agreement which would permit the Chinese corporations almost free reign within our country, with very little, if any, transparency for investigation into any actions of theirs which might contradict our rules? You've got it, China (FIPA facts). Canadians have a tendency to be quiet and placid. We vote our governments in, often the same ones just because that's what we do, and then we let them do their thing, hardly lifting our eyes from our days to see what it is, exactly, that they are doing, especially on the international stage. But really, it's time to wake up. We are partner to the crimes in North Korea, even now. Our business corporations even now have considerable business with those in China, a country fully supportive of the atrocities in North Korea, and we are actively pursuing, through FIPA and other means, to increase those ties. If we continue this, we are guilty by association. There is no excuse. North Korea's actions are now officially documented, China's involvement is well known, and their support of North Korea, and reticence into any investigation, suspicious considering their ties to North Korea, have been made public also. This is no longer a matter solely in the knowledge sphere of those "in the know". This is now in the realm of the everyday person, you and I, and it is up to us now to make our stand. We are in a democratic country, we can state our views. In support of humanity, we need to do this. Unless, of course, we are willing to sacrifice our humanity in pursuit of first place in the global economic race. What is the price you are willing to pay for economic supremacy?
So now what? Well, I'm not going to go into a huge dissertation of possible actions and reactions. I'll leave that to those whose full time job it is, and who frankly will have superior information and knowledge to share. What I can share is a layman's perspective. And that is, we can not support this. The treatment happening every day in North Korea is inhuman. It is a reign of terror maintained by the prison camps of which the UN report speaks, and which the Human Rights Watch video summarizes. Do those reading this realize people are sent to these camps without trial? Imagine the times when you have been unjustly accused of something, whether because of a perceived slight received by another, a grouchy police officer, a retaliatory ex-spouse, whatever. Imagine if, should the other party have the appropriate connections, this would result in you and three generations of your family being sent to a torture/labour camp where you, and they, would either be summarily executed or set to work from dawn to dusk, with no food, no medical treatments, forced to watch executions, dig your own grave, be treated like complete animals, all without any knowledge of your crime, since rule #1 is to never ask about your crime. And actions which we here in Canada would judge to be appropriate, such as crying at the public execution of a family member or dear friend, are ones that would result in this relocation. Can you imagine? Killed or tortured by labour for the human behaviour of expressing sorrow at the murder of a loved one? What does that do to a person? A community? A country? Even if one is not concerned about the well being of people far removed from themselves, at the very least we should be concerned about what this is doing to the character of the country overall, a country which, might I remind everyone, has nuclear capabilities (BBC fact sheet on North Korea's nuclear capabilities). Do we really want such a country to be peopled by citizens who view it as a crime to cry at the murder of a loved one? If the murder of a loved one is not a problem to them, I highly doubt the murder of those they don't even know would be.
So. Why the rant? It's not like we, in Canada, are taking part in this. We aren't supporting them, right? Well, let's think about that. According to this news post by Human Rights Watch (HRW), China is supporting, quite outrightly, the current regime in North Korea, as it has supported past regimes. The UN report recommends the situation in North Korea be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC). As one of the five permanent members of the security council China has the power to veto any applications to the ICC, and they have implied that they will do so here, claiming the UN report is unfounded, and that such matters can not be adequately addressed by the ICC anyways (China threatens veto of ICC application, China denies UN report, discounts ICC influence). China is North Korea's primary trading partner, and yields considerable influence there. If desired, they would undoubtedly be capable of pressuring North Korea to at least lessen its human rights violations, but they do not (HRW) . Instead, they support them through protecting them from ICC investigation. Okay. That's China. Not Canada. Again, think again. Who is it that our government has been courting as a primary trading partner? With whom is it that our government has been pursuing a free trade agreement, an agreement which would permit the Chinese corporations almost free reign within our country, with very little, if any, transparency for investigation into any actions of theirs which might contradict our rules? You've got it, China (FIPA facts). Canadians have a tendency to be quiet and placid. We vote our governments in, often the same ones just because that's what we do, and then we let them do their thing, hardly lifting our eyes from our days to see what it is, exactly, that they are doing, especially on the international stage. But really, it's time to wake up. We are partner to the crimes in North Korea, even now. Our business corporations even now have considerable business with those in China, a country fully supportive of the atrocities in North Korea, and we are actively pursuing, through FIPA and other means, to increase those ties. If we continue this, we are guilty by association. There is no excuse. North Korea's actions are now officially documented, China's involvement is well known, and their support of North Korea, and reticence into any investigation, suspicious considering their ties to North Korea, have been made public also. This is no longer a matter solely in the knowledge sphere of those "in the know". This is now in the realm of the everyday person, you and I, and it is up to us now to make our stand. We are in a democratic country, we can state our views. In support of humanity, we need to do this. Unless, of course, we are willing to sacrifice our humanity in pursuit of first place in the global economic race. What is the price you are willing to pay for economic supremacy?
