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Human rights in North Korea
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Human rights in North Korea
The human rights record of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is often considered to be the worst in the world and has been globally condemned, with the United Nations and groups such as Human Rights Watch and Freedom House having condemned it. Amnesty International considers North Korea to have no contemporary parallel with respect to violations of liberty.
Free speech for citizens is virtually nonexistent, with only media providers operated by the government being legal. According to reports from Amnesty International and the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, by 2017 an estimated 200,000 prisoners were incarcerated in camps that were dedicated to political crimes, and were subjected to forced labour, physical abuse, torture, and execution.
The North Korean government strictly monitors the activities of foreign visitors. Even aid workers are subjected to considerable scrutiny and are excluded from certain places and regions the government does not want them to enter. Since North Korean citizens cannot travel freely through their own country, let alone travel abroad, the nation's human rights record has mostly been constructed from stories from refugees and defectors. The government's position, expressed through the Korean Central News Agency, is that international criticism of its human rights record is a pretext for overthrowing its Juche-based system, while the abuses of its critics go unpunished.
The General Assembly of the United Nations has since 2003 annually adopted a resolution condemning the country's human rights record. The resolution of December 19, 2011, passed by a vote of 123–16 with 51 abstentions, urged the government in Pyongyang to end its "systematic, widespread and grave violations of human rights", which included public executions and arbitrary detentions. North Korea rejected the resolution, saying it was politically motivated and based upon untrue fabrications. In February 2014, a UN special commission published a detailed, 400-page account based on first-hand testimonies documenting "unspeakable atrocities" committed by the North Korean regime.
On May 6, 2013, the United Nations Human Rights Council announced an appointment of Michael Kirby of Australia, Sonja Biserko of Serbia, and Marzuki Darusman of Indonesia as members of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
[The] commission of inquiry will investigate the systematic, widespread and grave violations of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea ... including the violation of the right to food, the violations associated with prison camps, torture and inhumane treatment, arbitrary detention, discrimination, violations of freedom of expression, violations of the right to life, violations of freedom of movement, and enforced disappearances, including in the form of abductions of nationals of other States, with a view to ensuring full accountability, in particular where these violations may amount to crimes against humanity.
On August 20, 2013, the commission began five days of public hearings at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea receiving testimony from defectors, and on August 29, 2013, in Japan from relatives of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s. North Korea describes the inquiry as "a political plot" and it has not given investigators access to the country. The UN panel interviewed witnesses in South Korea, Japan, and the UK, and it also conducted hearings in the U.S. on October 30 and 31, 2013. The commission said it has consistently asked North Korean representatives to take part in the public hearings and question witnesses.
On February 17, 2014, the panel published its findings in a 400-page report. The commission accused the North Korean government of being involved in systemic, widespread and gross human rights violations. The panel chairman Michael Kirby described some acts by stating that they resembled those committed by the Nazis.
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Human rights in North Korea
The human rights record of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is often considered to be the worst in the world and has been globally condemned, with the United Nations and groups such as Human Rights Watch and Freedom House having condemned it. Amnesty International considers North Korea to have no contemporary parallel with respect to violations of liberty.
Free speech for citizens is virtually nonexistent, with only media providers operated by the government being legal. According to reports from Amnesty International and the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, by 2017 an estimated 200,000 prisoners were incarcerated in camps that were dedicated to political crimes, and were subjected to forced labour, physical abuse, torture, and execution.
The North Korean government strictly monitors the activities of foreign visitors. Even aid workers are subjected to considerable scrutiny and are excluded from certain places and regions the government does not want them to enter. Since North Korean citizens cannot travel freely through their own country, let alone travel abroad, the nation's human rights record has mostly been constructed from stories from refugees and defectors. The government's position, expressed through the Korean Central News Agency, is that international criticism of its human rights record is a pretext for overthrowing its Juche-based system, while the abuses of its critics go unpunished.
The General Assembly of the United Nations has since 2003 annually adopted a resolution condemning the country's human rights record. The resolution of December 19, 2011, passed by a vote of 123–16 with 51 abstentions, urged the government in Pyongyang to end its "systematic, widespread and grave violations of human rights", which included public executions and arbitrary detentions. North Korea rejected the resolution, saying it was politically motivated and based upon untrue fabrications. In February 2014, a UN special commission published a detailed, 400-page account based on first-hand testimonies documenting "unspeakable atrocities" committed by the North Korean regime.
On May 6, 2013, the United Nations Human Rights Council announced an appointment of Michael Kirby of Australia, Sonja Biserko of Serbia, and Marzuki Darusman of Indonesia as members of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
[The] commission of inquiry will investigate the systematic, widespread and grave violations of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea ... including the violation of the right to food, the violations associated with prison camps, torture and inhumane treatment, arbitrary detention, discrimination, violations of freedom of expression, violations of the right to life, violations of freedom of movement, and enforced disappearances, including in the form of abductions of nationals of other States, with a view to ensuring full accountability, in particular where these violations may amount to crimes against humanity.
On August 20, 2013, the commission began five days of public hearings at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea receiving testimony from defectors, and on August 29, 2013, in Japan from relatives of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s. North Korea describes the inquiry as "a political plot" and it has not given investigators access to the country. The UN panel interviewed witnesses in South Korea, Japan, and the UK, and it also conducted hearings in the U.S. on October 30 and 31, 2013. The commission said it has consistently asked North Korean representatives to take part in the public hearings and question witnesses.
On February 17, 2014, the panel published its findings in a 400-page report. The commission accused the North Korean government of being involved in systemic, widespread and gross human rights violations. The panel chairman Michael Kirby described some acts by stating that they resembled those committed by the Nazis.