Euna Lee and Laura Ling petitions

[Ladywriter 7,783]

On Sunday, North Korean officials sentenced U.S.

journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling to 12 years of

"hard labor" for illegally entering the Democratic

Peoples Republic of Korea and committing "hostile acts."

Please sign the petition and join the international

call to free Euna Lee and Laura Ling:

http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AFnf7/zJdR/ANR12

Euna Lee and Laura Ling have been held by North Korea

since March 17th, when they were arrested at a border

crossing between North Korea and China. They were

reporting the story of North Koreans living at this

border area in China. It is still not clear if the two

journalists actually did cross into North Korea.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, as

of December 2008, 125 journalists were imprisoned

around the world, for daring to research and report the

truth regardless of its impact on those in power. And this

statistic doesn't count Euna and Laura, who were bearing

witness to the men, women and children who struggle daily

to live on a volatile political border.

Please sign the petition to free Euna Lee and Laura Ling:

http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AFnf7/zJdR/ANR12

There are those who suggest that Euna and Laura

somehow deserve to be in prison because they either

should have known the risks they were taking, or never

should have gone near a country where simply being a

journalist seems to be a crime. But who among us wants

to live in a world without independent, investigative

journalism? Who among us thinks imprisonment for

reporting the truth and exposing injustice is right and

defensible in any nation, including our own?

You can read excellent coverage of Laura Ling and Euna

Lee's case at Liberate Laura and Euna Now:

http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AFnf8/zJdR/ANR12

the Committee to Protect Journalists:

http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AFnf9/zJdR/ANR12

and Free Roxana Saberi:

http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AFnf0/zJdR/ANR12

Thank you!

Rebecca Young,

Care2 and ThePetitionSite Team

signed

As the

31,411th

person to sign this petition, you are helping us reach

our goal of

20,000

signatures.

[Kite 3,263]

i do agree they should be extradited to the USA,

but the last part:

Who among us thinks imprisonment for

reporting the truth and exposing injustice is right and

defensible in any nation, including our own?

if you break the law to do so then you are committing injustice there fore a tad hypocritical.

There must be tangible evidence to have such a heavy sentence.

the UN should demand that the evidence be reviewed by an external committee.

if indeed guilty request for an extradition to US soil and face imprisonments on an agreed sentence.

if no evidence or found innocent, then release immediately

[Ladywriter 7,783]

North Korea's government sentenced two U.S. journalists on Monday to more than a decade of hard labor in one of the world's most closed and oppressive prison systems.

Given all we know about the appalling prison conditions in North Korea, we need your help to ensure that the two journalists aren't forced to serve their sentences. Decades of monitoring and research by Amnesty have revealed that North Korean prisoners are worked beyond exhaustion, often into illness and death.

Guards beat prisoners suspected of lying, not working fast enough or for forgetting the words to patriotic songs. Forms of punishment included forced exercise, sitting without moving for prolonged periods of time and public humiliation.1

The global community must send a clear message to Pyongyang that it won't tolerate the callous decision to turn two innocent U.S. journalists into pawns in a geopolitical chess match.

North Korean authorities have held Laura Ling and Euna Lee in solitary confinement for nearly three months. The two have had limited contact with consular authorities and their families – including Lee's 4-year-old daughter.

The Obama administration has undertaken a full-court press in recent days, using every instrument in its diplomatic toolkit to persuade the North Korean government to release the journalists.

But other strategically important members of the global community need to step up if they are to be freed.

China is our best hope of seeing Laura and Euna returned to safety. Beijing exerts unmatched influence over the North Korean regime as its staunchest ally, largest trading partner and most important supplier of food and energy.2 China has succeeded in bringing Pyongyang to the negotiating table, even when all other efforts have failed.

China's joining in the global chorus condemning North Korea's cruel actions could be the crucial step needed to free these journalists.

Lend your voice today to our call on China to intervene on behalf of Laura and Euna.

We've pulled out all the stops over the past two days to find an email address to send your appeals to, but China clearly doesn't want to hear what we have to say, and has shut off all publicly known addresses. But they don't understand that you and I, as members of Amnesty's global movement, don't give up so easily.

Sincerely,

Jack Rendler

Country Specialist for North Korea

Amnesty International USA

[Ladywriter 7,783]

I am so happy to be writing this message. The news has

just broken - former President Bill Clinton's mission

to North Korea was a success, and U.S. journalists Euna

Lee and Laura Ling have been pardoned by North Korean

officials. Euna Lee and Laura Ling will be coming home:

http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AFOnO/zJl4/ANR12

According to the BBC News, the official North Korean News

Agency (KCNA) issued a statement saying,"Kim Jong-il issued

an order...granting a special pardon to the two American

journalists who had been sentenced to hard labour." ABC

News is reporting the journalists may board a plane for home

as early as tonight.

Thank you to the tens of thousands of Care2 members

around the world who signed petitions

http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AFOnz/zJl4/ANR12

calling for Euna and Laura's release. Thank you to the

tireless volunteers: http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AFOnZ/zJl4/ANR12

who never let the world forget that these two courageous women have been imprisoned in North Korea since March 17th:

http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AFOn./zJl4/ANR12

simply for doing their jobs as journalists reporting on the

issue of human trafficking along the North Korea - China border.

Share your joy and comments here!

http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AFOnO/zJl4/ANR12

Thank you,

Rebecca Young,

Care2 and ThePetitionSite Team