8/24/10 North Korea (CBN) - Former President Jimmy Carter will depart for Pyongyang, North Korea on Tuesday to try and gain the release of a jailed American Christian.
In April, Aijalon Mahli Gomes was sentenced to eight years at hard labor and fined $700,000 for illegally entering the country.
According to a U.S. official, North Korea agreed to release Gomes on the condition Carter comes in person to bring him home. The official stressed that the former president was not representing the U.S. Government.
Three Christians Executed
Carter's trip comes as news was just leaked that North Korea executed three underground church leaders last May.
The Voice of The Martyrs Canada reported that police raided a home in Pyongan province where 23 Christians had gathered together. They arrested 20 believers and put their leaders to death.
North Korea harshly persecutes Christians, and believers are forced to worship in secret.
U.N. Appeal for Crimes Against Humanity
Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a human rights group, has appealed to Europe's foreign ministers to support a United Nations inquiry into crimes against humanity committed by the communist nation.
"The regime in North Korea is committing the most barbaric violations of human rights and it is time that the U.N. General Assembly took meaningful action to prevent the continuing suffering of the North Korean people," CSW's National Director Stuart Windsor told Christianity Today.
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