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Resolution, Seoul, February 16, 2005:
We have gathered for the 6th International Conference on North Korean Human Rights and Refugees from the countries of France, Republic of Poland, Norway, Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America, as well as defectors from the Democratic People´s Republic of Korea, to affirm to the people of the world, especially to the people of the Democratic People´s Republic of North Korea, that they are entitled to the same freedoms, democratic values and human rights enjoyed by free people everywhere and enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (28-FEB-2005)

The 6th international conference on North Korean Human Rights and Refugees was held in Seoul February 14th – 16th. The conference confirmed the growing concern for the human rights condition in North Korea, and the 200 participants represented academia, NGOs, and governmental organisations. The Egil Rafto House Foundation will host the 7th conference, which is to be held in Bergen in 2006. Important meetings and workshops with key participants will be arranged in Oslo by the Human Rights House Foundation. (28-FEB-2005)

“We were able to obtain a copy of the original hand written letter that was sent by fax by a high ranking North Korean government official when he was visiting the People´s Republic of China to South Korea´s largest newspaper, Chosun Ilbo”, says Suzanne Scholte from Defense Forum Foundation in a newsletter published today. The letter, that was published in the Chosun Ilbo on December 29, 2004, is translated by DFF´s special assistant, Mary Gohng.  It is consistent with everything we have heard from defectors and recent refugees about the situation inside North Korea. (09-FEB-2005)

On January 12, members of Bergen City Council, their advisers and administrative staff visited the Rafto Human Rights House for a specially designed seminar on human rights. A similar seminar was held for the members of the City Government a week later. “It is very encouraging that politicians in Bergen are concerned about human rights issues and the relevance of human rights for norwegain politicians,” says executive director Therese Jebsen. (09-FEB-2005)

In cooperation with Bergen Kunsthall, the Egil Rafto Human Rights House arranges seminars, lectures and film screening. The topic of these events is in different ways tied to one of this spring’s main exhibitions at Kunsthall, “Time Suspended”. The exhibition, “Time Suspended”, explores the time perspective of refugees’ lives, focusing especially on long-lasting conflicts. (02-FEB-2005)

Washington, Jan 27 – The United States will press Beijing to free jailed Uyghur businesswoman Rebiya Kadeer, a U.S. senior official said Jan. 26 at a ceremony at Capitol Hill in which Kadeer was honored in absentia with Norway’s Rafto Prize for Human Rights. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia Randall Schriver said that Washington’s concerns over Kadeer, 58 and a prominent member of China?s Uighur ethnic group in the largely Muslim Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, would be raised with the Chinese government.  (02-FEB-2005)
 

The Thorolf Rafto Foundation for Human Rights, the Uyghur American Association and the National Endowment for Democracy, in conjunction with the Congressional Human Rights Caucus organize an award ceremony and reception in honor of 2004 Rafto Memorial Prize laureate Ms. Rebiya Kadeer on January 26, 2005 at Capitol Hill, Washington. (22-JAN-05)

In a press release, published on 14 Jan, The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) and the Uyghur American Association/Uyghur Human Rights Project (UAA/UHRP) strongly condemn China´s recent arrest of a Uyghur man for speaking to an American reporter and demand the Chinese authorities to release him immediately. (22-JAN-05)

A new series of seminars on freedom of expression will be held in the Rafto House in 2005, organized by the Department of Information Science and Media Studies at the University of Bergen and the Rafto Foundation. Three topics are to be viewed from different perspectives: Freedom of expression in a global perspective, the framework for freedom of expression in Norway, and the overall ?fitness? of the Norwegian public generally. (31-DEC-2004)