Deaths from starvation and nutritional conditions 342. lt;Table III-2> North Korea's total grain production and demand 346. lt;Table III-3> Defector's evaluations of the district doctor system 361. lt;Table III-4> Reality of preventive medicine 362. lt;Table IV-1>. Cases of people killed during violation 525. lt;Table V-13> Human rights violations against deported pregnant women 545. lt;Table V-15>.
Human Rights and the Characteristics of the North Korean System
In the midst of the regime crisis, Chairman Kim Jong-il suffered a stroke and underwent surgery. After Kim Jong-il's death, North Korea tried to stabilize the political system by pushing Kim Jong-un to the fore.
The Reality of Civil and Political Rights
- The Right to Life
- The Rights to Liberty and Personal Safety
- The Right to Due Process of the Law
- The Right to Equality
- Civil Liberties
- Freedom of Religion
- The Right of Political Participation
However, more than half of North Koreans are not aware of the right to legal aid. Meanwhile, North Korean authorities have tightened their grip on the people amid the succession of power.
The Reality of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights
- The Right to Food
- Social Security Rights
- The Right to Health
- The Right to Work
- The Freedom to Choose One’s Job
The demise of the free medical system results in an inequality in the right to health. Because access to medicines and medical services is determined by personal connections and power, the inequality of the right to health is widening.
The Reality of Minority Human Rights
Women’s Rights
The reason for such violence is primarily the perpetrator's sexual satisfaction or transactional nature due to the benefits within the detention center. The seriousness of domestic violence is no less than before, as approximately half of the respondents in 2011 answered that domestic violence is something common.
The Rights of the Child
On December 22, 2010, North Korea adopted and promulgated the Child Rights Guarantee Act (hereinafter referred to as the Child Rights Act). However, many of the provisions are merely encouraging, and restrictions on implementation are expected due to North Korea's economic difficulties.
Care for the Disabled
The North Korean authorities are known to be working to protect the rights and interests of persons with disabilities through the reform and operation of laws and institutions such as the Law on the Protection of Persons with Disabilities, and through cooperation with South Korea and the international community. However, according to defectors, discrimination against disabled people in North Korea has not changed significantly.
Human Rights in Major Issue Areas
South Koreans Abducted and Detained in North Korea
The committee has convened four general meetings since December 2011, made decisions on 319 of the 1,034 cases of reported North Korean abductions, and designated 272 of those as Korean War abductions. As proof of the increasing attention of the international community, the UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in North Korea personally spoke with Mr.
Korean War POWs
The Committee to Assess the Damage of Korean War Kidnapping and Restore Honor to the Victims was established in November of the same year and convened 40 assessment committees from December 2011, allocating support including compensation and resettlement funds, for 425 cases. Returning prisoners of the Korean Armed Forces shall be provided wages, pension and housing support from the date they were captured until the date they return to Korea and are discharged, in accordance with the 'Repatriation Law, Treatment of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Korea '. Prisoners of War' and the enforcement decision.
North Korean Defectors
In preliminary numbers, defectors entered Korea, bringing the total number of North Korean defectors to date to 23,100. The time it takes for North Korean defectors to enter Korea has shortened, with the share of those coming to the South within a year of defection rising from 30%.
Human Rights and the Characteristics of the North Korean System
Human Rights Abuses as a Result of Totalitarian Dictatorship
Chairman Kim Jong-il's deteriorating health caused uncertainty about the regime's future, and North Korea began considering hereditary succession. After the death of Kim Jong-il, North Korea attempted to stabilize its political system by bringing Kim Jong-un to the fore.
Human Rights Violations under Economic Hardship
These developments raise doubts about North Korea's ability to facilitate improvements in human rights and living standards during the transition of power. 9. 2006, the North Korean economy plunged back into negative growth due to international sanctions against the nuclear test.
The Principle of Collectivism and the Sovereignty- Centric Perception of Human Rights
North Korea emphasizes that the most basic and essential human right is the right to life. North Korea emphasizes the importance of the right to life, but understands this only in the context of the country's sovereignty.
The Concept of Human Rights under Juche Ideology and “Socialism in Our Own Style“
It also stated that inter-Korean dialogue would help improve North Korea's human rights situation and humanitarian condition. The resolution stated that serious and systematic human rights violations are widespread and persistently committed in North Korea. When the UN General Assembly adopted a North Korean human rights resolution in November 2005, North Korea broke off dialogue with the EU.
Since the enactment of the North Korean Human Rights Act in 2004, the United States has led various efforts to improve the human rights record in North Korea. The Special Envoy for Human Rights in North Korea visited North Korea from 24 to 28 May. International organizations and NGOs continue to monitor the human rights situation in North Korea and pressure North Korea to improve the situation.
The Reality of Civil and Political Rights
North Korean Laws on the Death Penalty
North Korea has further expanded the Penal Code by adding treacherous (unfaithful) destruction to the list (Article 64). In addition, the 2009 Revised Penal Code provides for a 20-year prosecution period for crimes subject to the death penalty (Article 56). On December 19, 2007, North Korea added a unique law called the "Annex" to its Criminal Code (which covers common crimes).
For this reason, it is as important as the other provisions of the Penal Code. At the time of the revision of the Penal Code in 2004, North Korea had a narrower range of crimes subject to the death penalty, such as "conspiracy to overthrow the state", "treason against the Fatherland", terrorism, treason and premeditated murder. North Korea's Criminal Law states: "Criminal liability shall be limited to those acts of crime stipulated in the Criminal Law."
Public Executions
Dissent among people increased due to economic hardship, and the purpose of the public executions was to suppress and cut off such dissent.76 – Defector XXX testified that violent incidents increased thereafter.
Liberty Rights and North Korea’s Criminal Law System
With the revision of its Constitution in April 2009, North Korea for the first time stipulated in Article 8, "The State shall protect the interests of, respect and protect the human rights of working people...." Previously, the protection of human rights was codified only in lower-level laws, such as the Law on Criminal Procedure and the Law on the Advocate. No one can be arrested or detained in a manner not provided for by law or without following the procedures established by law." Also, the law specifies that "the suspect's family or organization must be notified within 48 hours of the arrest of the reasons and place of detention." (Article 183).
Before the actual search and seizure, the agent must produce the authorization document in the presence of two independent witnesses (Art. 218 and 221). In relation to the questioning of suspects, Article 167 specifically states that "the pre-trial agent shall not obtain the suspect's admission of guilt by leading questions or by violent means." Article 229 also states that "In the process of interrogation, the witnesses or suspects must be protected against the use of force or intimidation." Despite this revision in the Criminal Procedure Act and the Penal Code, the possibility of human rights violations still exists.
Detention and Correctional Facilities
There is also evidence revealing the existence of labor training camps within the military. North Korean defector XXX testified that each military base operates its own labor training camps and said there was one in Gimchaek. Labor training camps within the military are operated by the General Staff Department of the North Korean People's Army.92.
From these testimonies it is clear that when the Criminal Code provides that those sentenced to serve disciplinary prison labor must be detained in a labor training camp. But detention in labor camps without trial still continues as a general and routine practice. However, some defectors testified that since the revision of the penal code in 2004, people have been detained in labor training camps only after being convicted.
Human Rights Abuses inside Detention and Correctional Facilities
There is no mercy and they treat people like dogs.”112 – Deserter XXX who was detained in Labor Training. Cheongjin from November 2009 to February 2010, X Cheol-yong (a 21- to 25-year-old sergeant) beat him with a club because of his poor work and lack of speed.138 – Defector XXX testified that while detained in. After four months of detention in the camp, he finally had the injured leg amputated.140 – Defector XXX testified that while he was detained in.
They were ordered to stand at attention and pound their fists.141 – Defector XXX testified that when he was apprehended in the. He was then hospitalized for a month.145 – Defector XXX was held in the security service prison. North Korean defector XXX testified that he was forcibly repatriated to North Korea and held at the Onseong Detention Facility from July 1 to 14, 2010.
Human Rights Violations Inside Political Concentration Camps
Committee for Human Rights in North Korea said there was a scaled-down "revolutionary sector" in the no. The "work unit" in the concentration camp is the most basic unit for the performance of work duties. There is a hospital within the Political Concentration Camp, Yongdeung Hospital, located in the Yongdeung Coal Mine.
According to the North Korean defector XXX, children imprisoned in a political concentration camp are subjected to hard labor at 10 o'clock in the morning. 18 Bukchang Political Concentration Camp, Detainees are mobilized on holidays to work in the houses of coal mine conductors or security agents. Many prisoners who were imprisoned in the concentration camp died of pellagra, as most of them suffered from nutritional deficiencies.203
North Korea’s Criminal Law and Human Rights
Decisions of the court are determined by majority vote of the participating judge(s) and the people's juries (Art. 17). Once the preliminary investigation file is confirmed, the case will be taken to court. So far, none of the North Korean defectors have experience working as a prosecutor, judge, people's juror or lawyer in North Korea.
North Korean defector XXX testified that in March 2007, at a local public trial at the Musan-gun Miner's Hall, the presiding judge announced that one defendant would be executed, another would serve fifteen years, another ten years, another five, and so on. 245. The jurisdiction of the investigation and preliminary investigation is strictly defined under the Criminal Procedure Act. Defector XXX, who formerly worked at the SSA, testified that if the Provincial Security Agency uncovered a political crime, it would report it to the SSA's prosecutor's office.
