U.S. panel urges China not to repatriate North Koreans

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. watchdog on religious freedom urged China on Tuesday to stop repatriating refugees to North Korea, where it said returning asylum seekers are often tortured in an effort to suppress Christianity.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said in a 49-page report that North Korea employs stringent security measures to stop the spread of religion, especially Protestant Christianity, which has connections with past U.S. intervention and modern-day South Korea.

Some of the harshest treatment is inflicted on refugees sent back to North Korea from China, the commission said.

"The forcible repatriation of refugees from China remains an issue of special concern," said its report on North Korea, titled "A Prison Without Bars."

"If it is discovered that they have either converted to Christianity while in China or had contact with South Koreans -- both of which are considered to be political offenses -- they reportedly suffer harsh interrogation, torture and ill-treatment."

Refugees can also be sent to forced labor camps and prisons, often without trial, the report said.

The commission called on the international community to pressure Beijing to stop repatriating refugees and provide increased protections as required by international protocols.

"Such action should begin immediately as China prepares to host the 2008 Summer Olympics," the report said.

Hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have fled North Korea in the 1990s, during a famine that killed at least 1 million people in a country of 23 million, aid agencies say.

The U.S. government estimates there are 30,000 to 40,000 North Korean refugees still living in China, according to the commission. But aid agencies believe the number remains near the 100,000 mark, the panel said.

China typically views asylum seekers as economic refugees and returns them to North Korea, which has long had a poor human rights record.

U.S. findings, based on interviews with 32 refugees and six former North Korean security agents, said many returning refugees are tortured to determine why they left the country.

Pyongyang views new religious activity as a security threat in a country dominated by the personality cult that surrounds North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and his family, according to the commission.

North Korean security agents make a special effort to target those believed to have visited Chinese churches for food aid or other forms of immediate assistance.

Former North Korean security agents told the commission that authorities set up mock prayer meetings to entrap new converts in North Korea and train staff in Christian practices for the purposes of infiltrating churches in China.

"There continues to be a pressing need on the international level for further, more effective action that addresses the ongoing repression of religious freedom and other human rights in North Korea and the problems of North Korean refugees in China," said Commission Chairman Michael Cromartie.

The commission, created by Congress in 1998, is funded wholly by the U.S. government. Its commissioners are appointed by Congress and the White House.

(Editing by Todd Eastham)