An article posted on CNN.com states that an American citizen, Aijalon Mahli Gomes, has been sentenced to eight years of hard labor in a North Korean prison camp. Gomes has been working in South Korea teaching the English language. He has supported many anti-North Korean activists, taking part in protests against the North. It is unclear why he was in North Korea, but it was arrested on January 25th when he was attempting to cross the boarder into China. His charges are for illegally entering North Korea.
Robert Parks, a Korean-American and former North Korean prisoner, begs the United States to intervene on Gomes' behalf. Parks was arrested in North Korea on December 25th when he entered to make an attempt at forcing "change in North Korean human rights conditions." Parks was released in February, without outside political intervention. He told North Korean media that he was wrong about the human rights conditions, which led to his release. It has been suspected that Parks was the victim of sexual abuse while in North Korea, but hasn't made an official statement after being released.
Despite Parks' plea for the U.S. government to help Gomes, the United States has no diplomatic relations with North Korea and has yet to act on Gomes' behalf.
Submitted by: Emily Schaub
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment