Iranian activist slams N. Korea over human rights conditions

By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, Aug 10. (Yonhap) -- An Iranian human rights lawyer Monday expressed deep
concern about conditions inside North Korea, taking particular aim at what she
called the communist regime's excessive control over its media.

Shirin Ebadi, a Nobel Prize laureate and human rights advocate, made the rare
remark on North Korea during a news conference in Seoul.
"I am concerned about the human rights condition in North Korea," said
the-62-year-old activist, who arrived here last Saturday for a six-day trip that
includes her acceptance of the Manhae Grand Prize for Peace during a ceremony on
Wednesday.
"The most critical one is that the national media organizations are controlled
(by the government) and the Kim Jong-il regime is not allowing the media to
report on what happens in the country."
Forced to resign as her country's first female judge after leading an
anti-corruption campaign in the 1970s, Ebadi received the Nobel Peace Prize in
2003 for her efforts to improve democracy and human rights in Iran, especially
for women, children, and refugees. She was the first Iranian to be awarded the
coveted prize.
During Monday's conference, Ebadi also spoke out against the treatment of
prisoners in her homeland, appealing for international support for those who
suffer under the Iranian government's suppression.
"In Iran, suspects do not have the access to lawyers during the investigation and
their living conditions are dreadful," Ebadi said. "I ask you to send an official
letter (to the government) asking the reason for the imprisonment."
Previous winners of the Manhae prize, named for Korean Buddhist monk and poet Han
Yong-woon (1879-1944), include Tibet's spiritual leader Dalai Lama in 2005 and
former South African President Nelson Mandela in 2004.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
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