1 . The Right to Life
D. Right to Privacy
7. The Right of Political Participation
The right of political participation encompasses the subjective civic right of people to participate directly in the formation of their country, to join in the election and voting process as election candidates or voting members and to be elected to public office. Everyone should have the right to participate or not participate in the vote, and each person should have the freedom to vote for any candidate whom he or she wishes.
Therefore, all persons should have the ability to freely choose to vote for a specific candidate. In addition, balloting should be fair and done in secret and should be carried out in accordance with legal procedures.
Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stipulates,
“Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives… The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government.” However, Article 21, Section 3 specifies, “The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.” In Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, it states,
“Every citizen shall have the right and the opportunity… without unreasonable restrictions, to take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives; (and) to vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot, guaranteeing the free expression of the will of the electors.”
As part of its tribute to Kim Il-sung, North Korea suspended for three years all events related to political participation, including the Supreme People’s Assembly, Party Congress, and elections at all levels.
Kim Jong-il was inaugurated as Party Secretary General, but the people were deprived of their political rights because he was nominated to the
position, not elected.
According to Article 6 of the revised 1998 Constitution, “All levels of sovereign office from the County People’s Assembly to the Supreme People’s Assembly shall be elected through secret ballot based on universal, equal, and direct suffrage principles.” Article 66 also stipulates,
“All citizens above the age of 17 shall have the right to vote and the right to elective office.” Yet, elections in North Korea are used, internally, to confirm the people’s confidence in the party and to justify the single party dictatorship, while externally they are used as a propaganda tool to demonstrate that democracy is being practiced. These characteristics are obvious if one considers the manner in which candidates are nominated, registered and elected, and the loss of suffrage rights if one is considered guilty due to family history.
One candidate in each electoral district is nominated for election, and the KWP carefully selects candidates in advance. The KWP also carefully screens in advance the candidates from the “Social Democratic Party” and the “Chung Woo Party.” For all intents and purposes the KWP controls all these candidates.
Under the principle of universal, equal and direct voting the law requires secret ballots, but in reality voters are instructed to cast a yes- or-no vote for a single candidate nominated by the KWP. The elections are conducted under the strict surveillance of the State Security Agency, and the entire voting procedure consists of simply receiving a ballot and casting it in a yes-or-no ballot box.233 Consequently, elections are regarded as mere celebrations in which to express active support for the party- nominated candidates. For this reason, electoral districts will sponsor various performances on election days.
The colorful performances of brass bands and small artisan groups that
233Testimony of new settler Kim XX during an interview at KINU on Jan. 19, 2005.
various levels of students put up in open spaces and railway station grounds are inspiring fighting spirits and revolutionary passions.234
According to new settler Joo XX, the authorities would build up to an upbeat atmosphere several days before the election of people’s deputies to the Supreme People’s Assembly by mobilizing students and others to sing and march on the streets.235 In an effort to demonstrate local loyalty to the party by raising voting rates, each electoral district operates a
“moving ballot box” system for those who are unable to come to the voting booths because of illness or old age.236 New settler Kim XX testified that voting supervisions recently have been relaxed so that only the currently residing voters are allowed to participate in voting.237 However, new settler Bae XX testified that if a resident failed to vote, he would be suspected of political motives for not doing so, and this fact remains on the person’s record for years, adversely affecting him in the event he is involved in another misdemeanor.238
Free expression of opinion by citizens is practically impossible in the candidate nominating process and when casting votes. Elections in North Korea are not a part of the political process where various political forces freely contend on the basis of ideas and policies. Rather, it is part of a political mobilization to reinforce the people with a sense of political participation and a pro forma and post facto approval of the power structure and the method of elite recruitment designed by the KWP. This process was precisely repeated during the election of deputies for the 11th Supreme People’s Assembly on August 3, 2003. Through a “report”
the North Korean Central Election Committee announced that a total of
234Korean Central News, Aug. 4, 2003.
235Testimony of new settler Joo XX during an interview at KINU on May 25, 2001.
236Korean Central News, Aug. 4, 2003.
237Testimony of new settler Kim XX during an interview at KINU on Jan. 19, 2005.
238Testimony of new settler Bae XX during an interview at KINU on Jan. 20, 2005.
687 deputies for the SPA and 26,650 deputies for the Province, City and County People’s Committees have been elected. It further stated, “Some 99.7 percent of those listed on the eligible voter registry participated in the election and 100 percent of those voting cast “yes” for the candidate nominated by the district.”239
During elections, Security and Safety agents exercise strict control over the people. Whoever does not participate in voting, or refuses to vote, is suspected of political motives and experiences a negative impact on daily lives. For these reasons, new settlers testified, they always participated in voting.240