Petition for the release of American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee held in North Korea

Reporters Without Borders and the International Women's Media Foundation (www.iwmf.org) have jointly launched a petition for the immediate and unconditional release of reporters Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who have now been held in North Korea since March 17.

"Laura Ling and Euna Lee were taken into custody on the Chinese-North Korean border while reporting on the fate of North Korean refugees, and, more specifically, on the practice of trafficking in women. Pyongyang authorities have no reason to hold them or to accuse them of illegal activities. They should be freed at once", the two organizations urged.