Activists call for global protests against N.K. rights abuses

An online global network of activists called on the international community Tuesday to stage simultaneous protests and hunger strikes against North Korea’s human rights abuses to mark the anniversary of a United Nations genocide convention in December.

In an e-mail to journalists and other North Korea watchers, the N.K. Liberation Prayer Network urged readers to take part in its Worldwide Demonstration for North Korean Liberation and Human Rights on Dec. 9. The date marks the 63rd anniversary since the adoption of the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which North Korea is “violating in every possible way” despite its accession in 1989, the e-mail said.

It called for protests and hunger strikes in front of North Korean, Chinese and U.N. offices worldwide or at any other location, in addition to the three events that have already been planned. These events are a protest at Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, a march to North Korea’s mission to the U.N. in New York and a march and protest in Tokyo, Japan.

The network is based on the movement Stop Genocide in North Korea, which claims 942 members on Facebook and demands the total liberation of all North Korean political concentration camps, compensation for all North Korean victims of starvation and torture, and the immediate resignation of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, among other demands.

North Korea has long been accused of serious human rights abuses, including holding hundreds of thousands of political prisoners, torture and public executions. The country denies the accusations, saying they are a U.S.-led attempt to topple its regime. (Yonhap News)