The Words of the Fefferman Family
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The Words of the Fefferman Family |
From January 9-11, several members of our Western team from the US and Europe traveled to Japan to participate in a three-day international planning and information sharing conference. The conference provided an excellent opportunity for our teams to meet each other face to face, get to know one another personally, build international cooperation, and engage in important informational, goal-setting and planning sessions.
Western team members also appreciated the chance to meet and talk with several Tokyo-area kidnapping/confinement victims. While in Japan, we learned that in recent months, several members were rescued, either during kidnapping attempts or shortly after their confinement, as the result of a new rapid-response program initiated by our Japanese colleagues. This is great news!
In Jin Nim is scheduled to return to Capitol Hill on February 16. We have a strong schedule for her, including meeting with Republican leaders who now hold the chairmanship of key committees. On the foundation of last year's work (In Jin Nim personally briefed 45 Congressmen last year) we are hopeful we can create a groundswell of support that will finally force Japan to respond favorably.
We intend to broaden our base of support on Capitol Hill by arranging many more meetings between In Jin Nim and sitting US Congressmen. At the same time, we will deepen our relationships with those Congressmen who are already interested in our issue. Most importantly, we will sharpen our focus to bring tangible results that will impact Japan's policy toward our movement, including hearings, letters, diplomatic communications, and a fact-finding delegation to Japan later this year.
The State Department has indicated that it wants to receive an update about our issue. We will use this occasion to provide new independent confirmation of our complaints. We also have new evidence about discrimination against our members in Japanese universities. In some cases university officials have even conspired with faith-breakers to kidnap our members out of their classrooms. (See the lead story at www.religiousfreedom.com for details.)
Kook Jin Nim has asked us to expand our media relations this year. Goals include:
Aggressively pitching stories to the media with the goal of eliciting news coverage
Using US media interest to force Japanese media to suspend their blackout of coverage of human rights violations against our members in Japan
Continuing to update the Stop Japanese Abduction web site and coordinate closely with ReligiousFreedom.com
Issuing press releases for both news and Search Engine Optimization purposes
Creating video content of victims for local press outreach
Developing victim case studies
Creating specialized information for members of Congress and the Japanese Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Key coalition partners of our US team will meet this week in New York City to develop our strategic plan for the year.
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Email:
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Website:
www.religiousfreedom.com