Fiona
Bruce MP’s Christmas message from the House of Commons to North
Koreans
Fiona
Bruce (Congleton) (Con): We hear
today that Sony has pulled the apparently joke film “The Interview” about North
Korea. I decry inhibiting free speech, whatever the material, but life in North
Korea is not a joke. It is not a joke that desperate women wade across the
frozen Tumen river to escape to China, only to be caught by Chinese men, sold
into sexual slavery and then, when used up, sent back by the authorities to face
torture in North Korea and the forced abortion of their unborn
children.
It is
not a joke for those hundreds of thousands who live in concentration camps
reminiscent of the Nazi era, many for uttering a few words against the North
Korean regime—or, worse, under the regime’s atrocious “guilt by association”
rule, not for something they have done, but for something their relatives have
done to offend the regime. Prisoners are told they are not humans but animals
and indescribably tortured: steam-rolled to death; killed by having hot molten
metal poured over them; frozen to death; starved to death; worked to death in
factories; hung upside down to have water poured into their nostrils, like so
much beef hanging from hooks in a slaughter house; deprived of clothing and
sleep, then mercilessly pummelled with wooden bats; kept in cells with two holes
in the door for them to stick their feet out to be horrendously tortured; and
frequently forced to watch executions, including of their blood relatives. As my
co-chair of the all-party group on North Korea, an increasingly active group,
Lord Alton, said,
Life in
North Korea is not a joke outside the concentration camps either. It is not a
joke for the thousands of stunted, parentless children—the so-called wandering
swallows—who eke out a living on the streets. The problem of malnutrition in
North Korea is so bad that the minimum height for a member of their armed forces
is just 4 feet 2 inches. It is not a joke for the disabled in North Korea
either. Just when we thought that reports from North Korea could not get any
worse, this week we heard at first hand from an escapee at a meeting of the
all-party group in the UK Parliament about how disabled people, including
children, were sent
“for
medical tests such as dissection of body parts, as well as tests of biological
and chemical weapons. Dwarves are castrated. Babies with mental and physical
handicaps are routinely snatched from hospitals and left to suffer indescribable
things until they die. The disabled in North Korea are simply
disappeared.”
We were
told that by a disabled escapee, Ji Seong-Ho, who, at 14, lost his left hand and
leg after passing out from hunger while scavenging for coal on railway tracks
and was run over by a train. He was told by North Korean Government
officials:
At
Christmas time, let us remember that living in North Korea is not a joke for the
many brave Christians who every day fear incarceration simply for owning a
Bible. One lady has told the all-party group that if soldiers suspect that
someone is a believer, they will ransack their home until they find what they
are looking for. In her home, they did: they noticed a brick slightly out of
position, and behind it they found her Bible, so she was taken to
prison.
I have
mentioned just two of many escapees who have spoken to our group this year and
who are now finding sanctuary in the UK and increasingly giving testimonies of
their suffering to Members of Parliament. For the rest of my speech, however, I
want to speak not to fellow Members, or even to our constituents, but to the
people of North Korea. When I first spoke about North Korea in the House, I was
amazed to receive a letter from supporters in South Korea saying, “You are being
heard” so I know that when we speak here, many of you in North Korea hear what
we say—and that is increasingly the case with modern means of communication,
such as smuggled-in USB sticks.
I want
you, the people of North Korea, to know that your suffering is being heard. Do
not think that no one cares. Do not think that no one is speaking out for you.
In the UK Parliament, more and more people are speaking out and showing that
they care. We have compassion for you in your suffering, and this Christmas
remember that our compassion is as nothing compared with that of Christ. One
day, this too will end. Kingdoms rise and fall. We are praying for you and for
your freedom.
In
addition to praying and speaking out, more and more people are acting. This
year, a 400-page UN report by Mr Justice Kirby catalogued the brutal atrocities
you experience. The world now knows of them and cannot stay silent.
Increasingly, people in the free world are calling for action on your behalf.
Only last week in this Parliament, the all-party group on international freedom
of religion or belief issued a report that can be found at
www.freedomdeclared.org which added to demands made last month at the UN by no
fewer than
111
countries that those responsible for human rights violations in North Korea be
brought to justice by the International Criminal Court. We also called for all
appropriate justice mechanisms to be considered to bring the North Korean
Government to account for their terrible atrocities against their own people.
Here in the UK Parliament, as MPs we continue to press for the BBC World Service
to broadcast to you, the people of North Korea, in the Korean and English
languages, and we MPs continue to press for an increased dialogue with China to
stop its policy of forced repatriation and for humanitarian aid to the people of
North Korea.
So, at
Christmas time our hearts go out to you, the North Korean people, from the UK.
Know that we are with you; know that we are supporting and working with your
relatives and friends who have escaped to this country and know that they have a
voice; and know that we shall continue to speak out for you and to press for
action on your behalf until the day comes, which it surely will, when your
country is free again and your suffering is at an end.
The
Shadow Leader of the House, Thomas Docherty responded
saying:
“As ever, the hon. Member for Congleton (Fiona Bruce) made an impassioned and knowledgeable speech about the situation in North Korea. She has a tremendous track record in relation to the persecution of Christians, and—again, as ever—she made a hugely important contribution. I know that her work has the support of all Members.”
