North Korea's Abuses as told by Yoenmi Park

Yoenmi speaking on her experience (x)

The One Young World Summit of 2014 was held in Dublin, Ireland and concluded on October 18th. The Summit claims is "gathers the brightest young leaders from around the world, empowering them to make lasting connections and develop solutions to some of the world's most pressing issues." One particularly bright young woman, Yeonmi Park, told the powerful and harrowing tale of her heart-breaking upbringing in North Korea. The young activist is spreading awareness about the egregious human rights violations by the dictator Kim Jong un's Workers’ Party. Her opening reads: "North Korea is an unnatural country. There is only one channel on TV and there is no internet. We aren't free to sing, say, wear or think what we want. North Korea is the only country in the world that executes people for making unauthorized international phone calls. North Koreans are being terrorized today." The nation is known to conduct public executions,  practice strict censorship, torture criminals and refuse free passage across borders. Yoenmi Park wanted to draw attention to the suffering of North Korean refugees, having been smuggled into China in 2007. Park stated that among many courses of action she'd like to focus on three things. Her instructions for fellow delegates were as follows:  "raise awareness about human crisis in North Korea," "help and support North Korean refugees who are trying to escape for freedom" and "petition China to stop repatriation." 

As illustrated in Yoenmi's speech, North Korea is actively violated Articles 11 through 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The articles outline that "Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty," "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence," "Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. "Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution."

Sources

Escaping North Korea in Search of Freedom

How I escaped horrors of life under Kim Jong il

Ferguson a use of Lethal Force

A memorial to Micheal Brown (x)

On August 9th, two young men were walking the streets of suburban Ferguson, Missouri when they were approached by officer Darren Wilson. The moments following this meeting led to the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. Brown, a black high school graduate, was shot by white Ferguson police officer Wilson. Circumstances of the shooting have been debated but ultimately Brown was hit by seven bullets from the front and seemingly was kneeling with his hands raised after the first blow to his back, calling out "I don't have a gun. Stop shooting!" Protests and riots erupted in Ferguson after the news of Michael’s death was released and upon knowledge that Brown's body was left for four hours on the busy street. The controversy continued with St. Louis' brutal and militarized response to the civil disobedience, involving tear-gas, excessive physical force and many arrests. Indignation was again induced after the anticipated announcement of Wilson's grand jury hearing. Wilson was not indicted and would face no charges, despite a clear usage of illegal lethal force and instances of tampering with evidence. This instance has rocked the nation and the world, inciting a conversation on race and police brutality in America. Currently, the FBI is looking into civil rights charges against Wilson and an assessment of the Ferguson Police Department.

The lack of an indictment, though deeply disappointing and infuriating, is not much of a surprise considering the astounding lack of retribution for police personnel. Data on fatalities by police force is inadequate and not federally regulated. An LA Times study of 2005 found that in the force only "3 out of 314 cases of alleged excessive force in the prior four years led to criminal charges." It's also a sad fact that black American men are much more likely to be killed during police interactions, for ProPublica reported that “The 1,217 deadly police shootings from 2010 to 2012 captured in the federal data show that blacks, age 15 to 19, were killed at a rate of 31.17 per million, while just 1.47 per million white males in that age range died at the hands of police." 

Darren Wilson has violated the 10th Article within the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which reads: "Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him." Brown committed no crime and was not given an opportunity to defend himself in a court of law for Wilson instigated his own version of the death penalty. 

Sources

Police Are Almost Never Indicted

What we known about Michael Brown's shooting

Ferguson Grand Jury Does Not Charge Darren Wilson

Black teens 21 times more likely to be shot by the cops