Sovereignty-Centric Perception of Human Rights
D. Human Rights and Corruption
North Korea’s Penal Code legally proscribes the giving and taking of bribes. If someone who is not a “supervising worker”
takes a bribe, he/she may be sentenced to up to two years of labor- training penalty, or in serious cases up to three years. If a supervis- ing worker takes a bribe, he/she may be given up to 2 years of labor-training penalty, or in serious cases (or if he/she demanded the bribe) up to four years.
This provision remained unchanged in the revised 2009
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Penal Code (Art. 242 and 257). Article 38 of the Administrative Penalty Law lists a series of penalties for giving or taking bribes and for brokering. These include warning, stern warning, unpaid labor for up to 3 months, and labor education. In serous cases, the penalty may include over 3 months of unpaid labor, labor educa- tion, demotion, or removal from one’s job. Despite these provi- sions, however, corruption is widespread in North Korean society, including the giving and taking of bribes.
Another type of human rights violation takes place during the pretrial process at Security Agency detention centers. As crimes increased along the border regions, the number of detainees also increased. If families of detainees wanted to get in touch with or provide some food and clothing for the detainees, they would, without exception, have to find some way to establish contact with guards, pretrial clerks, or someone at the Security Agency and provide them with gifts, money, or other forms of bribery. For example, a defector who fled North Korea in October 2008 testi- fied that the size of bribe needed to avoid being detained in a security agency detention center was increasing. This was because agents at every level of the security agency must have a share of the bribe money.168
Another issue closely related to corruption and human rights in North Korea is divorce. Cases of divorce have increased in North Korea in recent years. They stem from various reasons, including spousal violence, increases in women’s peddling activi- ties, family disputes, etc. Anyone who desires a divorce must meet with a lawyer first and fill out a divorce form. Then the applicants appear before a judge in court for a pre-trial. The pre-trial is meant
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to encourage the couple to get together again. After the pre-trial, the applicants then meet with the chief judge of the court.169But to get a trial for divorce one must supply hundreds of thousands of North Korean won in bribes. Even then, defectors testify that most women will not be granted trials for divorce.170 Defector XXX said he had to bribe the court judge to grant the divorce. In April 2008, the judge told him that all the conditions were satis- fied, but that he would have to think about it. The defector inter- preted this comment as a demand for some money, so he gave the judge a sum of 100,000 won in North Korean currency.171
People frequently get lighter penalties or reduced terms of service by offering bribes. Defector XXX testified that people can bribe their way out and avoid serving at correctional centers even if caught dealing in illegal drugs, a felony punishable by detention at a correctional center. The defector said that some people could even bribe their way out of crimes punishable by death.172
Defector XXX testified that he had given bribes to the pre- trial clerk and the judge and thus was able to get a “social educa- tion” penalty instead of a correctional labor or labor-training penalty.173
Defector XXX testified that he received a lighter sentence by offering about 300,000 won to the chief judge.174 Defector XXX was tried in August 2009 at the People’s Court in Hyesan City for illegal river-crossing. He offered some bribes to the pre-trial clerk
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169_Testimony of defector XXX during an interview in Seoul on Jan. 17, 2008.
170_NKHR2009000060 2009-10-06; NKHR2009000062 2009-10-20; NKHR2009000063 2009-11-03.
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and the judge, and his penalty was reduced to “social education.”175 The need for mobility in order to make a living is increasing despite the travel permit system. North Koreans routinely use bribes to obtain travel permits because the procedures are compli- cated and an extended period of time is required to get permits through official channels. Also, more and more houses are sold and bought unofficially (“sale by owner”). In the process, people bribe the officials responsible to gain approval.
Those caught using mobile phones do not have to serve at a correctional center as long as it can be proven that there was no South Korean connection. Nevertheless, the offender may pay from 500,000 to one million won in bribes to avoid going to jail.176 Videos have been spreading and official control over this trend is tightening, if caught many people try to avoid jail terms by bribing the officials.
As the economy has worsened, “anti-socialist behaviors”
have spread. Also, as officials tighten social controls, cases of peo- ple trying to avoid jail terms by bribery are also increasing. Thus fair and uniform standards for punishment are not being imple- mented. As officials bypass uniform implementation of the law, poorer North Koreans, who are unable to afford bribery, are bound to get unfairly discriminated against relative to other citizens.
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