Today’s the 61st Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

(Inspired by Indexed, with apologies for the hurried execution.)

Sixty-one years ago today, on December 10th, 1948, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  Just a few months before, on September 9th, the DPRK was officially founded.  (As Joshua might say, discuss amongst yourselves.)

The North Korea Freedom Coalition, writing in a recent release, has a few ideas on changing the status quo:

Because North Korea is among the most isolated countries in the world and its citizens have no understanding of the concept of ‘human rights’, NKFC is calling for five specific actions to be taken:

1) For UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and other diplomats to make a special effort to make this document known to the people of North Korea as was called for in the Preamble of the Declaration when it was adopted in 1948;
2) For those broadcasting into North Korea to highlight this document and report about its contents;
3) For those launching balloons into North Korea to include this document in future launches;
4) To make copies of the Declaration available at the North Korean defector resettlement facility of Hanawon; and
5)   For all people who enjoy these rights to use them to  help the North Korean people gain theirs.  [ed. note: see their list of action items]

Already, Seoul-based Free North Korea Radio has pledged to begin a special program based on the Declaration and include findings from the NKFC report.  Fighters for a Free North Korea have pledged to include the Declaration in future balloon launches, while the NKFC is reaching out to the Unification Ministry of South Korea to ensure that the document is available at Hanawon.

The NKFC has also put together a very depressing reference that looks at all 30 articles of the Universal Declaration and compares each one with the reality in North Korea.

Finally, what would an observation of this day be without a visual reminder?  Various groups under the umbrella of the Association of North Korean Human Rights Organizations (ANKHRO / 북한인권단체연합회) held a press conference in front of City Hall in Seoul yesterday at 2 p.m., complete with another performance.  This one was even stronger than the last one.

You’d never know it from this Yonhap News video, but the man wearing the NK soldier uniform in the last 10-15 seconds is a SK minister in real life!

• AP photo
• AP photo
• AP photo
• It’s a New Year’s Tree, not a Christmas Tree.
• Should you want more photos from the Korean media.

Also, another group organized prayer vigils in a few cities around the world.  In Seoul, they met in Jongno (Jonggak subway stop in front of the big bell, Boshingak):

• Reuters photo
• Reuters photo
• AP photo

I’ll leave you with a few of my own photos from the press conference yesterday afternoon.

In the photo immediately above, a North Korean defector is speaking about his experiences.