US journalists receive 12-year sentences in N. Korea; rights groups speak out

Yesterday, a North Korean court sentenced American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee to 12 years of hard labor in prison on what rights groups consider to be baseless and fuzzy charges tried in a kangaroo court.

Here I want to share some comments from two such groups.

The group Reporters Without Borders believes that the sentences were designed to scare foreign journalists:

American reporters get "very severe" 12-year sentences designed to scare all foreign journalists

Reporters Without Borders is appalled by the sentences of 12 years of "reform through labour" which a North Korean court passed today on American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee after convicting them in a sham trial of an unspecified "grave crime" and illegally entering the country.

"These 12-year sentences are a terrible shock for all those who have repeatedly insisted on their innocence," Reporters Without Borders said. "The sentences are much more severe than anything we had imagined. The authorities in Pyongyang must urgently reverse this decision and allow Ling and Lee to rejoin their families."

The sentences were clearly designed to scare journalists trying to do investigative reporting in the border area between China and North Korea, which is ranked as Asia's worst country in the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.

The North Korean state-run news agency KCNA announced today that the trial of Ling and Lee before the country’s top court, which began on 4 June, had "confirmed the grave crime they committed against the Korean nation" and their "illegal border crossing."

Arrested on 17 March 2009, Ling and Lee were initially accused of "hostile activities" as well as entering the country illegally. The two journalists, who work for the California-based web television station Current TV, had approached the border from inside China in order to cover the trafficking of North Korean women across the border. Their guide is being held by the Chinese authorities. Ling is of Chinese origin and Lee is of Korean origin.

Reporters Without Borders took part in recent rallies in support of the two journalists. Ling’s sister, Lisa Ling, said: "I will say with absolute certainty that, when they left US soil, they never intended to cross the border into North Korea. If at any point they did, we are truly sorry and we know the girls are too."

Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi, who was recently detained for three months in Iran, said in a message of support: "Laura and Euna, I pray that you remain strong and know that neither your families nor you are alone. I hope that a way will be found to return both of you to your families as soon as possible."

Meanwhile, Amnesty International focused on North Korea's unfair "justice" system and harsh punishment:

U.S. journalists' conviction highlights unfair system in North Korea, Says Amnesty International

(Washington, DC) - The North Korean government should immediately release two U.S. journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who were sentenced to 12 years imprisonment with hard labor, Amnesty International said [Monday].

The two were convicted of an unspecified "grave crime" against the nation by the Central Court in Pyongyang, seemingly ruling out the possibility of any further judicial appeals.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee, both of whom work for California-based Current TV media venture in San Francisco, were arrested by North Korean officials on March 17 near the Tumen River, which separates North Korea and China. It is not yet clear whether the two women had crossed the border into North Korea or if they were in China when arrested. The two were investigating human rights abuses of North Korean women.

The journalists had been held separately and in solitary confinement in a "state guest house" near Pyongyang. They had limited consular support and very limited contact with their families after their arrest.

"These two foreign journalists were subjected to the failures and shortcomings of the North Korean judicial system: no access to lawyers, no due process, no transparency," said Roseann Rife, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Deputy Director. "The North Korean judicial and penal systems are more instruments of suppression than of justice."

"The North Korean government seems to be using these two journalists as pawns in its dangerous game of escalating tensions with the international community. This sentence was harsher than many observers expected, and completely out of line with any of the accusations that Pyongyang has levelled against them," said Rife.

Amnesty International pointed out that prisoners in North Korea were forced to undertake physically demanding work which included mountain logging and stone quarrying, often for 10 hours or more per day, with no rest days. Guards beat prisoners suspected of lying, not working fast enough or for forgetting the words to patriotic songs. Forms of punishment included forced exercise, sitting without moving for prolonged periods of time and humiliating public criticism.

Prisoners fell ill or died in custody, due to the combination of forced hard labor, inadequate food, beatings, lack of medical care and un-hygienic living conditions.

So now the two young journalists are stuck as pawns in North Korea's game of political posturing.

The handling of this issue will be a huge test for the Obama administration. Fingers crossed in hopes that the two will be returned to the U.S. swiftly and safely.