The 12th International Conference on North Korean Human Rights & Refugees
Organizer(s)
: Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (NKHR), ROK Union
der Opferverbande kommunistischer Gewaltherrschaft (UOKG), Germany |
Sponsor : The Chosun Ilbo, ROK Ministry of Unification |
Day and Time : June 17th and 18th, 2013 |
Venue : Berlin, Germany |
INVITATION
NKHR’s annual international conference focuses on the human rights
conditions in North Korea and the problems of North Korean refugees, and
involves the cooperation of individual advocates, NGOs, media and diplomats
worldwide. Since 1999, the conference has been held on a large scale, and has
focused on drawing wide attention from both the international and domestic
community. From the 1st International Conference on North Korean
Human Rights & Refugees held in 1999 in Seoul to the 11th
conference in Geneva in 2011, NKHR has held international conferences in Japan,
the Czech Republic, Poland, Norway, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and
Switzerland.
The Conference’s original approach was to
build awareness and promote advocacy. The previous Conferences created networks
of NGOs that jointly started lobbying in favour of the UN resolution on human
rights in the DPRK since 2003.The conferences in Australia and Canada resulted
in greater engagement of parliament members who advocated for special measures
of protection for North Korean refugees with their respective governments. In addition, peaceful street campaigns, movie screenings on North
Korean human rights issues, and various cultural performances that took place
before the conference drew great attention from ordinary citizens in the host
country.
As a result of these activities, a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into
the human rights situation in North Korea was established on March 21, 2013 by
the 22nd session of the UN Human Rights Council.
As the European Union has considerable influence on North Korea, it is
urgent for them to play a role in helping North Korea realize the need to
improve their human rights situation. An international conference in Germany,
especially, will be useful in preparing for unification on the Korean
peninsula, as we may be able to learn from Germany’s past experiences.
Yours sincerely,
Benjamin Yoon Rainer
Wagner
Founder &Chairman Chairman
Citizens’ Alliance for Union derOpferverbande
North Korean Human Rights Kommunistischer Gewaltherrschaft
Program
Language of proceedings: German/English/Korean
Monday, 17 June 2013
19:00– 22:00 "Crossing"
(2008), Directed by Tae-Gyun KIM (ROK)
Kino Babylon, Rosa Luxemburg Str. 30, 10187 Berlin
Tuesday, 18 June 2013
09:00 Registration
09:30 – 10:30 Opening
Session
Conference
Moderator:
Jae-chun WON, Faculty of Law, Handong Global
University, ROK
Welcome
Address
Rainer Wagner, Chairman, UOKG, Germany
Congratulatory
Speech
Joachim
Gauck, President of Germany
Congratulatory
Speech
Dr. Anna
Kaminsky, Chief Executive, Bundesstiftung Aufarbeitung
Keynote
Speech
Jorn
Rohde, Head of the East Asia Division, Foreign Ministry Berlin
10:30 – 12:15 Session 1: The
Control of Minds – The System of Surveillance
Chair:
Martin Lessenthin, Chairman, International Society for Human Rights
Documentary
(20 minutes)
North Korean Situation:
North
Korean Caste Structure and the System of Surveillance and Punishment: In a
Perspective of Human Rights and Socio-political Change
Man-ho HEO, Professor, Kyungpook National University, ROK
Women
in Political Prison Camps in North Korea
Hye-sook KIM, Survivor of a N. Korean Political
Prison Camp, ROK
German Angle:
STASI and the System
of Surveillance
Dr. Hubertus Knabe, Director,
Berlin-Hohenschonhausen Memorial
Political
Prisoners in East Germany
Siegmar Faust,
Author and Survivor of an East Germany Political Prison
Camp, Germany
Q
& A
12:15 –13:30
Lunch
13:30 – 15:00 Session 2: Question of Refoulement
Chair: Suk-woo
KIM, Former Vice-minister of Unification, ROK
North
Korean Situation:
Testimony
of Refoulement Victim
Myung-sook LEE, Victim of refoulement, ROK
Failure
of Protection: Case of North Korean Refugees
Jae-chun WON, Faculty of Law,
Handong Global University, ROK
German Angle:
Vera Lengsfeld, Former MP, Germany
Discussion
and Q&A
15:00– 15:15 Coffee
Break
15:15–
17:15 Session
3: German Implications for the Korean Peninsula: Lessons in differences
Chair:
Rainer Wagner, Chairman, UOKG
South Korean Situation:
Resettlement
and Support for North Korean Re-settlers in South Korea
Yoon-Sook
PARK, Professor, World Cyber University, ROK
The International Community’s
Approach to Human Rights Violations in North Korea: Present and Future
Julie
De Rivera, Director, Human Rights Watch Geneva Office
German Angle:
Prisoners’ Redemption in
Germany as a Model for Korea?
Dr. Elke-Ursel Hammer,
Federal Archives, Germany
Before
and after ‘Die Wende’: West Germany’s approach to East Germany’s Human Rights
Violations
Prof.
Dr. Manfred Wilke, Sociologist and
research associate of the Ludwig
Boltzmann Institute for the research of the consequences of the war,
Germany
The System of Support for the Victims of East
German Regime
Stephan
Hilsberg, Former MP and Founding Member of Social Democratic Party, Germany
Discussion
17:15–
17:30 Closing Remarks
Suk-woo KIM, Former
Vice-minister of Unification, ROK
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