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International Human Rights Standards and Human Rights in North Korea
2
North Korea and International
procedures of the Council, but North Korea has refused to accept the need for the Special Rapporteur’s activities and denied his entry to the North.
Table
II-2 The Six Core Human Rights Treaties and North Korea
Treaty North Korea Periodic Report
Inter-State Complaint
Individual Communication
Confidential Inquiry
ICESCR Accessed in
1981 YES
No (Not a party
to the Optional Protocol)
No (Not a party to
the Optional Protocol)
No (Not a party
to the Optional Protocol)
ICCPR Accessed in
19813 YES
No (No Declaration)
No (Not a party to
the Optional Protocol)
N/A
ICERD Not a party N/A N/A N/A N/A
CEDAW Accessed in
2001 YES N/A
No (Not a party to
the Optional Protocol)
No (Not a party
to the Optional Protocol)
CAT Not a party N/A N/A N/A N/A
CRC Ratified in 1990 YES N/A N/A N/A
CRC-OP2 Ratified in 2014 YES N/A N/A N/A
Based on a collective world view, North Korea tends to place more value on collective human rights and social rights than it
3_North Korea announced its withdrawal from the ICCPR in 1997 to protest the adoption of a resolution on North Korean human rights at the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. The UN Secretary-General, however, stated in his aide-mémoire to the North on September 23, 1993 that any withdrawal from the Covenant was impossible unless all the other parties agree. North Korea later resumed its activities in the Human Rights Committee, thereby recognizing its status and obligations as a signatory to the ICCPR.
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International Human Rights Standards and Human Rights in North Korea
does on individual human rights and political rights. It works hard to stress the nature of international human rights norms as recommendations and, like many other socialist countries have done, it often highlights the importance of state sovereignty over human rights.4 In the meantime, however, the North has been trying to some extent to conform its laws and regulations on hu- man rights to global standards. These developments have become especially apparent since a human rights provision was added to the amended Constitution in April 2009. Below is a list of human rights-related laws and regulations in North Korea:
Table
II-3 Human Rights Laws and Regulations in North Korea Rights Relevant Laws and regulations
ICCPR
Right to life, right to liberty and security of person, rights to humane treatment in detention
Criminal Law, Addendum to the Criminal Law (General Crimes), Administrative Penalty Law, People’s Security Enforcement Law, Prosecution and Surveillance Law
Right to fair trial
Criminal Procedure Law, Lawyer’s Law, Law on Constitution of Court, Sentence and Decisions Enforcement Law
Right to equality
Gender Equality Law, Law for the Protection of Women’s Rights, Law for the Management of Capital City of Pyongyang
Freedom of residence, movement and travel
Immigration Law, Law on City Administration, Law on Dwellings
Freedom of opinion and
expression Publication Law
Right to political participation
Delegates Election Law for All Levels of People’s Assembly
4_Soo-Am Kim et al., 2012 White Paper on Human Rights in North Korea (Seoul: KINU, 2012)‚ pp. 49~53; see Yong-so Han, “Understanding of international legal systems related to human rights protection,” Journal of Kim Il-sung University: Historical Jurisprudence, Vol. 56, No. 4 (2010)‚ pp. 132~136.
Rights Relevant Laws and regulations
ICESCR
Right to health
Public Health Law, Law on Prevention of Epidemics, Law on Medical Care, Medicine Control Law, Mineral and Hot Springs Law
Right to work
Socialist Labor Law, Labor Protection Law, Labor Output Standards Law, People’s Economic Planning Law, Law on Basic Standards for Consumption of Materials
Right to education
Education Law, Elementary School Law, High School Law, “On Implementing 12 year Compulsory Education”
CEDAW Rights of women Gender Equality Law, Law for the Protection of Women’s Rights
CRC Rights of children Law on the Nursing and Upbringing of Children, Law for the Protection of Children’s Rights CRPD Rights of persons with
disabilities
Law on the Protection of Persons with Disabilities
Although North Korea has introduced several laws on human rights, the provisions of these laws are not always enforced as they should be. Most of the laws related to rights to work and health, for instance, are not being enforced in the wake of economic hardship. The Criminal Law, the Administrative Penalty Law and other laws for regime sustainability and social control are observed in a relatively strict manner but may often be overridden by in- structions from the Supreme Leader under the North’s unique political system. In North Korea, law is considered a political tool. A North Korean legal scholar defined the concept of law as
“expressions of our Party’s policies and a powerful weapon to carry out these policies.”5 Kim Jong-il also said, “Our laws are
5_Yon-su Jeong, “Firm establishment of law and order is an essential precondition for effective protection and management of national and social assets,” Social Science, Vol. 1 (1983)‚ p. 60.
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important weapons for the realization of our national policies.”6 Against this backdrop, Kim Il-sung’s instructions and the words of Kim Jong-il are treated as supra-legal norms. Ten Principles for the Firm Establishment of the Party’s Unitary Leadership System (hereinafter referred to as “the Ten Principles”) stipulates that the teachings of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, Party guide- lines, policies, and instructions are laws that North Koreans should thoroughly comply with (Principle No. 5). In 2011, a survey was conducted on 80 North Korean defectors. Given a list of choices to describe what they thought law was while they were still in the North, 90.5 percent of the respondents chose Kim Jong-il’s words and instructions, followed by: proclamations from the Ministry of People’s Security (MPS) (86.5 percent); state laws like the Constitution and the Criminal Law (79.7 percent); orders of the National Defense Commission (NDC) (77 percent); Party directives (74.3 percent);
the Ten Principles (71.6 percent); and cabinet decisions and in- structions (56.8 percent). When it came to influence on their daily lives, 52.9 percent of those surveyed stated that Kim Jong-il’s words had the greatest impact, with Party orders, cabinet decisions, Party cadre instructions, and the Constitution (and other laws) following in descending order.7 Instructions from Kim Jong-un also have supra-legal power.8
6_Jong-il Kim, On Strengthening Socialist Lawful Life (Pyongyang: Korean Workers’ Party Publishers, 1989)‚ p. 11.
7_Bong-dae Choi, A Case Study of Legal Awareness of North Korean Defectors (Seoul:
Policy Report Submitted to the Ministry of Unification, 2011)‚ pp. 10~12.
8_Kyu-Chang Lee and Gwang Jin Chung, A Study of North Korea’s Criminal Trial System:
Characteristics and Reality (Seoul: KINU, 2011)‚ pp. 37~45.