By Alishba I. Kassim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

WASHINGTON, U.S. – The U.S. government and several human rights groups have started protesting after North Korea’s highest court sentenced two American journalists to 12 years of hard labor.

The two journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, were detained by North Korean soldiers at the Chinese border in March. They were charged with illegally entering North Korea and with “hostile acts.”

There are conflicting reports emerging regarding the stories the journalists were working on. Laura Ling’s sister, Lisa Ling, told ABC television that the journalists had been working on a story regarding the trafficking of North Korean women into China, while other reports suggest they had been reporting on North Korean refugees who had fled North Korea.

The White House has also expressed its sentiment on the issue, and President Obama has been “deeply concerned” by the sentencing. Statements from the White House say that the U.S. is “engaged through all possible channels to secure their release.”

Groups such as Amnesty International have also been criticizing North Korea’s judicial and penal system by highlighting the fact that the journalists have had “no access to lawyers, no due process, no transparency.” They have gone on to call the North Korean judicial system an “instrument of supression than of justice.” Needless to say, the sentencing is the latest development in the strained American-North Korean relationship.

The Obama administration has reached out to the governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, who helped released American citizens imprisoned in North Korea in the past. However, Governor Richardson added that “talk of an envoy is premature because what first has to happen is a framework for negotiations on a potential humanitarian release. What we would try to see would be some kind of political pardon.”

Governor Richardson also noted that North Korea had not filed espionage charges against the journalists as many had assumed might happen and this was a positive sign.

Needless to say the plight of the two journalists has garnered substantial media attention, and the attention of the government and several human rights agencies. According to Governor Richardson there are some positive developments that can be utilized as stepping stones. However, let’s hope the U.S. government can work towards the journalists speedy release since several international reports strongly suggest that detainees at the labor camps are subject to hunger, brutal beatings, and inhumane workloads.

According to the four minute conversation Laura Ling had with her sister, the only thing that could help them would be if the “two countries communicate.”

For more information, please see:

NY Times – U.S. Protests North Korea’s Punishment of two Journalists – June 8, 2009

AP – Will U.S. Send Envoy after North Korea Jails Reporters? – June 8, 2009

Straits Times – Reporters Get Hard Labor – June 8, 2009