Halifax, NS, Canada - More than 170 people participated in a Walking Memorial March in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, on Friday, November 21.  The group included Dalhousie University faculty and students involved in the Camp 14 Project, and the Council for Human Rights in North Korea("HRNK Canada") based in Toronto, Ontario, along with North Korean defectors. 

The march began at Dalhousie University with music by the Camp 14 Project band, and with speeches by Student Dina Lobo and Prof. Robert Huish.  The Camp 14 Project, a Dalhousie student-run activist group, raises awareness regarding human rights violations in North Korea through public engagement and education. 

Partnered with HRNK Canada, the group organized the memorial march as a protest aimed at the Halifax Security Forum being held at the Westin Hotel in Halifax.  “There is a serious lack of government and international attention to the human rights crisis in North Korea,” said Prof. Huish.  NORAD Commander Charles Jacoby, who attended the Halifax Security Forum, stated that “North Korea is a practical threat to North America.”  “But what about the threat North Korean regime poses to its own citizens?  Security is ultimately about human security, and that’s why we've planned this march,” continued Prof. Huish. 

Students marched from Dalhousie campus to Victoria Park on Spring Garden Road where speeches were given under the Robbie Burns monument by Student Ali Calladine and Mr. Kyung B. Lee, President of HRNK Canada.  "The UNGA's (the Third Committee's) resolution last Tuesday will be a fatal blow to the legitimacy of the North Korean regime, which would lead to its downfall - like that of Berlin Wall," said Mr. Lee. "Remember, though, the Berlin Wall didn't fall down by itself.  It was brought down by many people, known and unknown, like you and me here this evening," continued Mr. Lee.

The group then marched 2 by 2 down on Spring Garden Road, a major commercial street in Halifax, to Cornwallis Park in front of the Westin Hotel where the Halifax Security Forum was taking place.  Students Arran Duguid and Alicia Cigarroa, and Mr. Alain Dionne from HRNK Ottawa gave speeches. 

On Saturday, November 22, the Camp 14 Project, along with HRNK Canada, organized a symposium and mourn concert titled “The World’s Darkest Secret” in Dalhousie’s Potter Auditorium in the afternoon.  Mr. Lee made presentation on the very nature of North Korean regime, comparing it with Oceania, a bizarre state depicted in George Orwell's novel '1984,' and Mr. Dionne on the cracks noticeable within the system and the foreseeable impact of the UNGA resolution to the regime's elites and the prisoners enslaved.

A testimony of survival from a DPRK Survivor, Hye Eun Chung, was also given. 
After the testimony, Prof. Huish revealed that the students of the Camp 14 Project would draft a private member's bill on the issue of North Korean refugees, along with HRNK Canada.  "With Canada’s present rigid Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, not a single North Korean has been granted refugee status in 2014.  We need a made-in Canada strategy to help the North Korean refugees who really need Canada's protection," said Prof. Huish.

The Camp 14 Project also agreed to join the petition campaign for "Human Rights in North Korea Act of Canada," which was launched by HRNK Canada,  calling for specific actions of the government on the human crisis that sees up to 200,000 detainees in gulag-style prison camps.

For further information, please contact
Bob Huish,
(902)494-2979
huish@dal.ca

Kyung B. Lee,
(416)554-9605
hrnkcanada928@gmail.com