I feel really bad for the parents of Otto Warmbier who have been stuck watching all this adulation given to Kim Jong-un like he is some kind of beacon hope and statesman when the fact of the matter is he is simply a thug ruling a Soprano State. What was done to Otto Warmbier is just a recent example of this:
Otto Warmbier in detention by North Korea.
Her voice cracking with emotion, the mother of college student Otto Warmbier who was sent home from North Korea in a coma and died soon after said Thursday her family will keep speaking out about the country’s human rights violations to “rub their noses” in what they did and embarrass Kim Jong Un’s government.
Cindy Warmbier told a U.N. symposium on the human rights situation in North Korea: “I can’t let Otto die in vain. … We’re not special, but we’re Americans and we know what freedom’s like, and we have to stand up for this. We have to.”
Her comments came at a sensitive time, as Kim and President Donald Trump are planning a historic meeting, and a day after the U.S. leader hinted at the imminent release of American prisoners being held in North Korea.
A week ago, Cindy and her husband Fred Warmbier filed a wrongful death lawsuit against North Korea, saying its government tortured and killed their son. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., seeks compensation for the death of their 22-year-old son in June 2017.
Otto Warmbier, who was a student at University of Virginia, was arrested by North Korean authorities in January 2016 for stealing a propaganda poster and sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor.
His plight compounded tense U.S.-North Korean relations. His parents made clear Thursday that while they were silenced by fear of what North Korea might do to Otto after his arrest, they were not going to be quiet any longer.
“We woke up and we realized that North Korea wants us to lock ourselves in a room and do nothing, and we think that’s a bad idea,” Fred Warmbier said.
Fred said he and Cindy are now focusing on the events that occurred “while they had Otto hostage and they were using him as a pawn.”
“We are trying to build a pathway that leads directly to Kim and his regime to force them to be answerable for their actions,” he said.
Cindy Warmbier said Otto was brain dead at four months of captivity, and anyone who had a heart would have said, “Well, we screwed up, let’s get him some medical care.”
But instead, she said, the North Koreans left him in a horrible place with no care to vegetate, and then acted “like we’re doing the world a favor” and released him saying he had botulism — which U.S. doctors never confirmed.
“So we can’t be quiet can we?” Cindy said. “People say why are you doing this? How can I not? How can I not? How can anybody be quiet when this is going on?”
“The only thing we can do is rub their noses in this. It embarrasses them. They don’t like the world to think that they aren’t trying to be a member of the world, and they like to act like a victim, like they’ve been treated poorly,” she said.
Ten months after burying her son, Cindy ended her comments to applause saying: “I’m sorry I’m so emotional … but it’s not really getting any easier.” [Associated Press]
I’m guessing the Moom-Kim meeting dinner menu didn’t include warm beer.
Anyway…
“A week ago, Cindy and her husband Fred Warmbier filed a wrongful death lawsuit against North Korea, saying its government tortured and killed their son. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., seeks compensation for the death of their 22-year-old son in June 2017.”
“His parents requested that a full autopsy not be performed.”
“But an external examination and “virtual autopsy” conducted by the coroner’s office in Hamilton County, Ohio, could not determine how his circulation had been cut off.”
But we can determine how his circulation got cut off. It is called a suicide attempt.
I feel your pain, mom and dad… but your church didn’t spend enough time on that Thou Shalt Not Steal thing.
A lawsuit is not the way forward here.
setnaffa
5 years ago
It’s rough to bury a child. Even if they’re 22. And it’s even rougher knowing that child’s death might be related to something easily preventable (i.e., don’t let your American family members go to communist countries on leisure trips).
Cindy and Fred Warmbier had asked not to have an autopsy performed on their son’s body. Their statements about tooth damage and torture were not backed up by the medical examiner.
It’s a tragic thing.
Flyingsword
5 years ago
Yeah, don’t travel in known dangerous places. Don’t hike on the Iran border, don’t take a tour of Afghan cultural sites, don’t take a pleasure cruise off the Somali coast, and never go to Fing nK. Stupid decisions lead to bad outcomes.
J6Junkie
5 years ago
The Commies must have hated seeing Mr. Warmbier as part of the USOC delegation. My heart goes out to the whole family.
johnhenry
5 years ago
CH: Why do you accept NK’s version?
ChickenHead
5 years ago
I accept no version…
…but I make conclusions based on the information given combined with experience.
Working backwards, I believe:
– refusal of an autopsy is a significant event that was most likely done to conceal unpleasant information as opposed to the more reasonable desire to learn some truths
– the condition he was in is consistent with attempted suicide… reinforced by the refusal for an autopsy
– North Korea had NOTHING to gain by having him in that condition… as opposed to being a valuable bargining chip
– North Korea has not arbitrarily detained any foreigner. EVERYONE detained by North Korea did something clearly criminal (by the standard of “Dude! WTF would you do that in North Korea?”)
With all of this in mind, I conclude:
– the story of Warmbeir’s crime is accurate
– his condition was most likely the result of a failed suicide
– while his parents voiced questions publicly, the unreasonable refusal of an autopsy was likely due to what it might reveal
– a lawsuit is weakened by the refusal to collect evidence or, perhaps, an act to surpress it
This is simply my conclusion based on thr information given. I am not emotionally attached to this conclusion… so if you have additional facts I am unaware of or you have a more insightful interpretation, I welcome you to share it with me if you believe my mind should be changed.
@Chickenhead, I am not entirely convinced he “stole” the propaganda poster. How do we know he wasn’t set up with someone at the hotel telling him he could take the poster that was conveniently located in area with a security camera to capture him taking it. It seems to me that the Kim regime always wants to make sure they have a few American hostages on hand as bargaining chips.
As far as suicide I always thought that was a possibility, but it seems that if that is what happened why wouldn’t the North Koreans just say that is what happened? Why the botulism claim?
ChickenHead
5 years ago
“How do we know he wasn’t set up”
We don’t. On the other hand, there really is no need. There has never been a shortage of Americans doing dumb things to keep the hoatage tank full.
“Why the botulism claim?”
Botulism is a sad side effect of American imperialists and their South Korean puppet lackeys waging war with sanctions on innocent North Korean revolutionaries.
But suicide? Never. Why would the American do that when he was being treated so well despite his crimes against the people of Best Korea?
I’m guessing the Moom-Kim meeting dinner menu didn’t include warm beer.
Anyway…
“A week ago, Cindy and her husband Fred Warmbier filed a wrongful death lawsuit against North Korea, saying its government tortured and killed their son. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., seeks compensation for the death of their 22-year-old son in June 2017.”
“His parents requested that a full autopsy not be performed.”
“But an external examination and “virtual autopsy” conducted by the coroner’s office in Hamilton County, Ohio, could not determine how his circulation had been cut off.”
But we can determine how his circulation got cut off. It is called a suicide attempt.
I feel your pain, mom and dad… but your church didn’t spend enough time on that Thou Shalt Not Steal thing.
A lawsuit is not the way forward here.
It’s rough to bury a child. Even if they’re 22. And it’s even rougher knowing that child’s death might be related to something easily preventable (i.e., don’t let your American family members go to communist countries on leisure trips).
Cindy and Fred Warmbier had asked not to have an autopsy performed on their son’s body. Their statements about tooth damage and torture were not backed up by the medical examiner.
It’s a tragic thing.
Yeah, don’t travel in known dangerous places. Don’t hike on the Iran border, don’t take a tour of Afghan cultural sites, don’t take a pleasure cruise off the Somali coast, and never go to Fing nK. Stupid decisions lead to bad outcomes.
The Commies must have hated seeing Mr. Warmbier as part of the USOC delegation. My heart goes out to the whole family.
CH: Why do you accept NK’s version?
I accept no version…
…but I make conclusions based on the information given combined with experience.
Working backwards, I believe:
– refusal of an autopsy is a significant event that was most likely done to conceal unpleasant information as opposed to the more reasonable desire to learn some truths
– the condition he was in is consistent with attempted suicide… reinforced by the refusal for an autopsy
– North Korea had NOTHING to gain by having him in that condition… as opposed to being a valuable bargining chip
– North Korea has not arbitrarily detained any foreigner. EVERYONE detained by North Korea did something clearly criminal (by the standard of “Dude! WTF would you do that in North Korea?”)
With all of this in mind, I conclude:
– the story of Warmbeir’s crime is accurate
– his condition was most likely the result of a failed suicide
– while his parents voiced questions publicly, the unreasonable refusal of an autopsy was likely due to what it might reveal
– a lawsuit is weakened by the refusal to collect evidence or, perhaps, an act to surpress it
This is simply my conclusion based on thr information given. I am not emotionally attached to this conclusion… so if you have additional facts I am unaware of or you have a more insightful interpretation, I welcome you to share it with me if you believe my mind should be changed.
@Chickenhead, I am not entirely convinced he “stole” the propaganda poster. How do we know he wasn’t set up with someone at the hotel telling him he could take the poster that was conveniently located in area with a security camera to capture him taking it. It seems to me that the Kim regime always wants to make sure they have a few American hostages on hand as bargaining chips.
As far as suicide I always thought that was a possibility, but it seems that if that is what happened why wouldn’t the North Koreans just say that is what happened? Why the botulism claim?
“How do we know he wasn’t set up”
We don’t. On the other hand, there really is no need. There has never been a shortage of Americans doing dumb things to keep the hoatage tank full.
“Why the botulism claim?”
Botulism is a sad side effect of American imperialists and their South Korean puppet lackeys waging war with sanctions on innocent North Korean revolutionaries.
But suicide? Never. Why would the American do that when he was being treated so well despite his crimes against the people of Best Korea?