By Lianne Kolirin
A North Korean escapee has called on global ministers and religious leaders to stand up to defend religious freedom around the world.
Timothy Cho told the International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief in Westminster today about the persecution he endured after twice attempting to escape the totalitarian regime.
Mr Cho, now based in Britain and working as an inquiry clerk for the all-party parliamentary group on North Korea, told the conference that his harrowing experiences still haunted him. “I have experienced persecution, torture and crimes against humanity during my twice escaping and four times imprisoned in China and North Korea,” he said. “Screaming, torture and begging to leave is still in my eyes and ears.”
It was during one such incarceration that Cho found God. He recalled: “It was in my Shanghai detention prison cell where I begged for my freedom and survival [from God] because I couldn’t achieve that by myself. Suffering doesn’t destroy your faith but refines it.”
After this stint in prison, he was deported to the Philippines, from where he eventually travelled to Britain. After completing his university education here, Cho worked as an aide to Fiona Bruce MP, the UK’s special envoy for freedom of religion or belief (FoRB).
He said the issue had gained considerable cross-party support because “freedom of religion dissolves even party-political identity”.
But words were not enough, he said, speaking at day two of the conference at the QEII Centre in Westminster. “I’m here not just to share what’s happening outside. I’m also here to challenge you to stand up and not to be silenced. When western societies stand in silence, persecution goes up,” he said.
“Freedom of religion dissolves even party-political identity”
– Timothy Cho
The session, entitled Inspiring Parliamentarians, was one of many packed in to the busy schedule. Cho’s words were described as “humbling” by Jeremy Hunt MP, who was moderating the event.
Earlier Mr Hunt — who lost out in the Tory leadership race to Boris Johnson in 2019 — opened the session with a quip. “I’m delighted to be back in this building which is where the leadership result was announced three years ago,” he said. “Not that that is on anyone’s minds this morning.”
Though just a short time before the embattled Mr Johnson was to face fierce questioning in the Commons, Mr Hunt went on to chair a lively and engaging debate on the role of politicians in defending FoRB.
Among the panelists was Philip Mounstephen, the Bishop of Truro, who in 2018 was commissioned by Mr Hunt — then foreign secretary — to conduct an independent review of Foreign and Commonwealth Office support for persecuted Christians. This week, an independent review of the government’s actions in the three years since the recommendations were published concluded that while progress has been made, much remains to be done.
The bishop, who in 2019 set up the Freedom of Religion and Belief Forum, said it was “miraculous” that his report had the impact it did, but insisted the government must continue to face “external scrutiny”. “The challenge going forward is to keep up the momentum on this issue,” he said. “We must not let it sink back into the place it was before, largely ignored and overlooked.”
Others panelists included Baroness Cox, chairwoman of the all-party on FoRB in the Lords, and Jim Shannon, chairman of the all-party group in the Commons, as well as international politicians Nqabayomzi Kwankwa from South Africa and Daniel Toft Jakobsen from Denmark.
Though he was not a panelist, Mr Cho’s name arose again in a later session that explored why stories about FoRB constraints and violations often struggled to make headlines.
David Campanale, a former journalist at the BBC World Service, recalled how he was alerted to one such story by Mr Cho. It concerned a woman who was caught carrying a Bible, having escaped from North Korea to China with her infant child.
Thanks to the BBC’s collaboration, the woman’s husband recorded a desperate message to presidents Trump and Xi, who were then meeting in Singapore, calling for his wife and child not to be repatriated. The story went viral and the pair were not forcibly returned.
He said: “The BBC has extraordinary reach and unbelievable privilege in terms of the trust invested in BBC journalism. Because the BBC decides to cover a story, it’s news — not the other way around.”
Nevertheless, he stressed that “unprecedented cuts” meant religious stories often fall “below the line” — something that was certainly apparent today, a day when news coverage was almost dominated by the mass exodus of Tory MPs from the government.
By way of contrast, Indian journalist Vishal Arora told the gathering it was easy to cover freedom of religion and belief stories” in his home country. “In fact, the main issues you find in mainstream media have a lot to do with FoRB,” he said.
“The main issues you find in mainstream [Indian] media have a lot to do with Freedom of Religion or Belief”
– Vishal Arora
There are three main themes to the religion-related reporting, he said: Muslims under suspicion, Christians converting Hindus and civil society activists as being anti-nationalists. Mr Arora suggested the nationalist government was keen to promote such stories to divert attention away from its failings.
He said: “The government wants such emotive issues to be in the press. What the government does not want is that the media and people have the time and resources to actually scrutinise the government.” The media, he said, was being “co-opted and outwitted by the government”.
The audience also heard about constraints on the reporting of belief issues in Cuba and Iraq from local journalists there, while the “horrific” situation in Nigeria was also raised.
Meanwhile the FoRB fringe, fronted by independent civil society organisations, featured dozens of events across the country on a huge range of issues including persecuted Christians in Africa, gender-specific religious persecution and whether governments should tackle the difficult question of God. In his closing remarks at the end of the conference, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon said: “Wherever you are in the world, if you suffer religious persecution there should be a clear and unequivocal message going out from this conference: you are not alone and we stand with you.”
