China asked to recognize religious rights

  Congressional leaders have released a letter directed to the government of China asking that officials protect the rights of North Korean refugees who have fled their homeland for food and to practice Christianity.
  That request is a reaction to a report from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom titled “A Prison Without Bars: Refugee and Defector Testimonies of Severe Violations of Freedom of Religion or Belief in North Korea.” It details the torture and execution of North Koreans, as well as selling women to the Chinese mafia, which then force them into illicit activities, or sell them as brides to Chinese men. Refugees are held in prisons where horrible conditions are the rule.
  The letter, sponsored in the U.S. House by Frank Wolf (R-Virginia) and in the Senate by Sam Brownback (R-Kansas), asked Chinese President Hu Jintao to end the forcible repatriation of North Korean refugees prior to the Olympic Games in Beijing.
  www.onenewsnow.com, 5/4/08