[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 6398-6399]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        NORTH KOREA FREEDOM WEEK

  Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, as we are in the midst of North Korea 
Freedom Week, I would like to speak to the human rights situation in 
North Korea. As we continually strive to protect the freedoms that this 
country holds dear, such as the freedoms of religion, press, speech and 
assembly that

[[Page 6399]]

are recognized in our Constitution, we must also concentrate on 
spreading these freedoms to those who do not enjoy them. As these 
rights should be enjoyed by all people, not just Americans, freedom 
must extend beyond our borders to reach those who live in a world 
unknown to many of us, one that includes starvation and deprivation of 
all freedoms. North Korea Freedom Week gives us the opportunity to shed 
light on the situation inside this oppressive regime.
  Several years ago in order to help promote freedom throughout the 
world, I began the Congressional Working Group on Religious Freedom. 
The purpose of this group is to focus attention on issues of domestic 
and international religious freedom. As a group, we seek to uphold and 
help enforce the meaning of article 18 of the Universal Declaration of 
Human Rights, which states: ``Everyone has the right to freedom of 
thought, conscience, and religion; this right includes freedom to 
change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in 
community with others and in public or private, to manifest his 
religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.''
  As has been noted by human rights groups and others, the human rights 
situation in North Korea is severe. Hundreds of thousands of North 
Koreans have fled their country in hopes of survival and in search of a 
free life. However, even if they manage to escape, they still live in 
constant fear of repatriation and imprisonment. President Bush has 
called North Korea's autocratic leader, Kim Jong Il, a ``tyrant'' who 
runs ``concentration camps.'' Despite the country being embedded in 
secrecy, unfortunate stories of persecution, starvation, and public 
executions for crossing the border manage to be released to the rest of 
the world. Such actions under this regime are a terrible travesty.
  While the North Korean constitution provides for ``freedom of 
religion,'' such freedom does not exist. The U.S. Commission on 
International Religious Freedom said in their 2005 annual report: ``By 
all accounts, there are virtually no personal freedoms in North Korea 
and no protection for universal human rights. In pursuit of absolute 
control of all facets of politics and society, the government under 
dictator Kim Jong Il has created an environment of fear in which 
dissent of any kind is not tolerated. Freedom of thought, conscience, 
and religion or belief remains essentially non-existent, as the 
government severely represses public and private religious activities 
and has a policy of actively discriminating against religious 
believers. There are a growing number of reports from North Korea 
refugees that any unauthorized religious activity inside North Korea is 
met with arrest, imprisonment, torture, and sometimes execution by 
North Korean officials.''
  Furthermore, the U.S. Department of State's 2005 Country Report on 
Human Rights Practices sums up North Korea's actions by listing 
documented or alleged human rights abuses over the years. Such 
instances include: abridgement of the right to change the government; 
extrajudicial killings, disappearances, and arbitrary detention, 
including many political prisoners; harsh and life-threatening prison 
conditions; torture; forced abortions and infanticide in prisons; lack 
of an independent judiciary and fair trials; denial of freedom of 
speech, press, assembly, and association; government attempts to 
control all information; denial of freedom of religion, freedom of 
movement, and worker rights; and severe punishment of some repatriated 
refugees.
  I also want to note President Bush's appointment last August of 
Ambassador Jay Lefkowitz to the position of Special Envoy for Human 
Rights in North Korea. The Special Envoy post was established under the 
North Korea Human Rights Act, and with this appointment, signaled the 
administration's intensified attention to human rights in North Korea. 
I am confident that Ambassador Lefkowitz will continue to take steps 
toward ending North Korea's suppression of freedoms.
  As we in the Senate continue to address the persecution and the fears 
that North Koreans face, it is my hope that we will do all we can in 
order to improve the conditions in this communist state and to spread 
the freedoms that we all enjoy.

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