What Did Jane Goodall Say in Pyongyang?

Just what exactly did Jane Goodall say on her recent visit to Pyongyang? Her foundation, after repeated requests for comment, won’t say. According to this story, however, Goodall recently visited Pyongyang as the leader of a delegation from the Television Trust for the Environment, which calls itself “an independent, non-profit organisation, which promotes global awareness of the environment, development, human rights and health issues through the platforms of broadcast television and other audio-visual media.” Here’s KCNA’s report:

A friendly meeting with members of a delegation of the Television Trust for the Environment (TVE International) was held at the Taedonggang Club for the Diplomatic Corps Thursday. Its participants talked to one another about the successes and experience gained by the DPRK in the field of environmental protection and its importance and watched an art performance given by students of Pyongyang Ryulgok Middle School, deepening the friendship. Present there on invitation were members of the delegation of the TVE International headed by Jane Goodall, director of the Jane Goodall Institute.

The report, of course, doesn’t identify or quote the “participants” who allegedly praised North Korea’s environmental record. And of course, KCNA and World Net Daily are far from unimpeachable sources, to say the least. Jane Goodall has done much good work on behalf of the environment and development projects, which is why many of us wish that her foundation would simply clarify what really happened in Pyongyang. This Newsweek interview, however, seems to establish that Ms. Goodall not only visited Pyongyang, but knew that she would sufficiently in advance to learn about its environmental and human rights records.

Although other other criticisms of the North Korean regime probably come to mind first, it is worth asking whether the DPRK’s environmental record merits praise. Click here and here. Money quote:

The forests in North Korea are depleted, its rivers and streams are filled with runoff from factories and the country’s reliance on coal energy has created severe urban air pollution, the United Nations said on Friday in its first report on the Communist nation’s environment.

Which brings us to the pink elephant in the conference hall–North Korea’s hideous human rights record. The subject is relevant to this discussion because, regardless of what she really did say there, the world’s worst violator of human rights is now trading on Jane Goodall’s name to promote its international image at a time when its human rights record is under withering attack. Those who admire Jane Goodall’s science, or her activism, may respond by saying, “But Jane Goodall is an environmental icon.” “She doesn’t do politics or policies.” “It’s not her place to criticize governments.” Yes, you could say that. And you would be wrong. Here’s Jane on the war in Iraq:

Landmines continue to kill and maim for decades after conflict and render land unusable for farming. Toxins like Agent Orange lead to birth defects and illness. Refugees displaced by war can wreak untold damage as they must survive off the land. Mercenaries take advantage of wartime chaos to exploit natural resources with no thought to environmental controls . . . .

And here’s Jane’s on Dubya:

This planet is in dire, dire need,’ she says with quiet resolution, ‘and it’s going to take all of us getting together to do something about it – particularly in this country, with this (presidential) administration and its unbelievable record of environmental damage. . . . ‘ I feel anger, definitely,’ admits Goodall when she thinks of how the odds are stacked against her cause. ‘But I try to keep the peace of the forest within. That’s what I draw on.’

And Jane on terrorism:

There’s a hatred of the American administration that I’ve felt really strongly as I’ve traveled around the world, and this is just the kind of thing that could trigger massive retaliation against Americans,’ said Goodall, who was named a United Nations ‘Messenger of Peace’ by Secretary-General Kofi Annan last year.

Now, here’s Jane on the North Korean gulags and gas chambers:

. . .

(zen-like silence, the peace of the forest)

. . .

You may agree or disagree with Jane Goodall’s views on any of these issues, and it’s not my point to argue them here. My point is this: at best, a human rights activist focuses her attention on the worst and most widespread violations first, not just those most likely to be reported. At the very least, a human rights activist should not give uncritical praise–or lend her good name–to those who appear to have done far worse than others she has condemned. Might I be so bold as to shatter that trancelike state called “the peace of the forest” with this nightmare?

‘I witnessed a whole family being tested on suffocating gas and dying in the gas chamber,’ he said. ‘The parents, son and and a daughter. The parents were vomiting and dying, but till the very last moment they tried to save kids by doing mouth-to-mouth breathing.’

If past history is any guide, the government that killed this family (and in all probability, others) led Jane Goodall through a Potempkin tour of its Emerald City, obtained some complimentary statements for its propaganda pages, and sent her happily on her way without putting up with any pesky questions about gulags and gas chambers. Pyongyang is now implicitly using Ms. Goodall’s human rights credentials to market the legitimacy of its rule, and the Jane Goodall Foundation lets this pass without question or comment at great peril to its own credibility.

I am not suggesting that the Goodall Foundation must adopt the veracity of every defector’s unverifiable report. Yet we must always be mindful of why those reports are unverifiable. The seriousness and number of the reports, along with Pyongyang’s consistent refusal to permit international inspectors to visit its detention camps, constitute prima facie evidence of crimes against humanity on a massive scale. No self-respecting human rights activist would visit North Korea without raising those charges and demanding that Pyongyang either alleviate them or disprove them, by allowing international inspectors to visit the scenes of the alleged crimes.

Here’s how you can contact the Jane Goodall Foundation. Perhaps they will respond to you. A good statement from them on Pyongyang’s horrific human rights record would go far to undo the damage, and perhaps give Pyongyang a modicum of the embarassment it rightly deserves. A strong statement could demonstrate that Jane Goodall’s human rights activism is objective and sincere, rather than more fashionable and thinly disguised contempt for America. I sincerely hope she will take that opportunity.

[23 Nov–this is an edited/updated post–Sorry, I accidently saved over the original.]