The Situation of Human Rights in the Demorati People s Republi of Korea Current Situation and Initiatives by the International Community UN Photo/Jean-Mar Ferre Human Rights Counil Panel Disussion held at the United Nations Headquarters Deember 1, 2016 Australia, the European Union, Japan, the United States This is an informal bakground doument prepared for the panel disussion
Chronology of UN Related Events on the Situation of United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) 2003 UNCHR adopted the first Resolution on the Situation of United Nations Human Rights Counil (UNHRC) United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) 2004 UNCHR adopted the seond Resolution on the Situation of Human Rights in the DPRK A Speial Rapporteur on the Situation of was established 2005 UNCHR adopted the third Resolution on the Situation of Human Rights in the DPRK UNCHR urged the UNGA to take up the issue of the situation of human rights in the DPRK 2006.3 UNHRC was established Universal Periodi Review (UPR) mehanism was reated 2008- UNHRC adopted Resolutions on the Situation of 2009.12 DPRK s first UPR 2013 UNHRC adopted a Resolution on the Situation of by onsensus UNHRC deided to set up the Commission of Inquiry(COI) 2014.3 Report of the COI was submitted to the UNHRC 2005 UNGA adopted the first Resolution on the Situation of 2014.3 UNHRC adopted a Resolution on the Situation of, whih refleted the ontents of the report of the COI 2014.5 DPRK s seond UPR 2015.3 UNHRC adopted a Resolution on the Situation of Human Rights in the DPRK 2015.6 Offie of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Seoul Offie was established 2016.3 UNHRC adopted a Resolution on the Situation of Human Rights in the DPRK, whih requested the UN High Commissioner to designate independent experts on aountability 2016.9 A group of independent experts on issues of aountability for human rights violations was established 2006- UNGA adopted Resolutions on the Situation of 2014.12 UNGA adopted a Resolution on the Situation of, whih enouraged the UN Seurity Counil (UNSC) to take appropriate ations to ensure aountability 2014.12 UNSC held the first meeting on the Situation in the DPRK 2015.12 UNGA adopts a Resolutions on the Situation of 2015.12 UNSC held the seond meeting on the Situation in the DPRK Bakground Despite the growing attention and efforts by the international ommunity, we have not seen major improvements on the Demorati People s Republi of Korea s (DPRK) long-standing, ongoing, systemati, wide spread and gross violations of human rights, whih range from those related to torture, arbitrary detention, violations of the freedom of expression and movement, enfored disappearanes and abdution. Furthermore, as the most reently adopted UN resolution on human rights situation in the DPRK points out, Expressing grave onern about the impat of diverting resoures to advane nulear weapons and ballisti missiles programmes on the humanitarian and human rights situation of the itizens of the Demorati 1 People s Republi of Korea, whih is yet another serious onern for the international ommunity. The Report of the UN Commission of Inquiry on (COI), whih was submitted to the UN Human Rights Counil, says that the gravity, sale, and nature of these violations reveal a State that does not have any parallel in the ontemporary world. It also urges the DPRK to take onrete measures against these violations that may amount to 2 rimes against humanity, alling for the international ommunity to make further efforts to improve the situation. Considering the dire human rights situation in the DPRK, the international ommunity must make further efforts to urge the DPRK to immediately address the situation inluding fulfilling its aountability. A. Human Rights Violations by the DPRK Findings by the COI on Crimes against Humanity UN Photo/Andrea Brizzi A wide array of rimes against humanity, arising from poliies established at the highest level of State, (para.75) have been ommitted and ontinue to take plae in the DPRK. The Seurity Counil should refer the situation in the Demorati People s Republi of Korea to the International Criminal Court for ation in aordane with that ourt s jurisdition. The Seurity Counil should also adopt targeted santions against those who appear to be most responsible for rimes against humanity. In the light of the dire soial and eonomi situation of the general population, the ommission does not support santions imposed by the Seurity Counil or introdued bilaterally that are targeted against the population or the eonomy as a whole; (para.94(a)) 01 1 A/C.3/71/L.23 2 A/HRC/25/63, para.80 02
These rimes against humanity entail extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, fored abortions and other sexual violene, perseution on politial, religious, raial and gender grounds, the forible transfer of populations, the enfored disappearane of persons and the inhumane at of knowingly ausing prolonged starvation. (para.76) Crimes against humanity are ongoing in the Demorati People s Repabli of Korea beause the poliies, institutions and patterns of impunity that lie at their heart remain in plae. (para.76) The following are some further examples of human rights violations and abuses by the DPRK, whih are identified by the COI report and the reports of the UN Speial Rapporteur. (1) Abdutions and Enfored Disappearanes Reent Talks between Japan and the DPRK on the Abdutions Issue In May 2014, Japan-DPRK Intergovernmental Consultations were held in Stokholm, Sweden. The DPRK made a ommitment to onduting omprehensive and full-sale investigations on all Japanese nationals, inluding the abdutees, while Japan deided that it would lift part of its own measures against the DPRK at the point of time when the DPRK establishes the Speial Investigation Committee for the investigations and starts the investigations. After Japan announed its own measures against the DPRK, following the nulear test in January, and the launh of a ballisti missile in February 2016, the Committee announed that it would totally stop the investigations and dissolve the Committee. Japan strongly demanded that the DPRK return all the abdutees home in aordane with the agreement in Stokholm. Photo Kyodo News Japan-North Korea Diplomati Authorities Meeting (September 2014) The COI finds that the DPRK has been systematially ommitting international abdutions on a 3 large sale and as a matter of State poliy. The UN report of the former Speial Rapporteur Marzuki Darusman highlights that the international abdutions and enfored disappearanes ommitted by the Government of the DPRK 4 are issues of utmost onern to the Speial Rapporteur. (a) The Abdutions of Japanese Citizens by the DPRK The formation of the Assoiation of the Families of Vitims Kidnapped by DPRK During the 1970s and 1980s, many Japanese itizens disappeared under unusual irumstanes. The DPRK is suspeted of ommitting abdutions in many of those inidents. To date, the Government of Japan has identified 17 itizens as the abdutees by the DPRK. In September 2002, the DPRK admitted for the first time that it had in fat abduted Japanese itizens and returned five abdutees to Japan in Otober. The DPRK authorities, however, have not provided yet redible aounts of the whereabouts of the remaining abdutees, who are still awaiting resue, deprived of all freedoms and have been held aptive by the DPRK for about 40 years. (b) Abdutions and Enfored Disappearanes in Other Countries The issue of the DPRK s abdution is a onern for the entire international ommunity. Aording to the COI report, it has beome lear that there are also people in other ountries suh as the Republi of Korea (ROK), Thailand, Romania, Lebanon, Malaysia, Singapore, Frane, Italy, the Netherlands and China who may have been abduted by the DPRK. With regard to the issue of abdutions and enfored disappearanes from other ountries, the report says the ommission finds that almost all of the foregoing vitims remain disappeared. Human rights violations ontinue against them and their families. The shok and pain aused by 5 suh ations is indesribable. (2) Violations of the Freedom of Thought and Expression Freedoms of thought and expression are enshrined in the Universal Delaration of Human Rights, and eah ountry has the obligation to respet, protet, and promote human rights and fundamental freedoms. A statement by a witness who fled the DPRK You are brainwashed don t know the life outside. You are brainwashed from the time you know how to talk, about 4 years of age, from nursery shool, brainwashing through eduation, this happens everywhere in life, soiety, even at home North Korea is not open to the outside world, is a fened world. So nothing should ome through that fene. Even listening to the radio, this is restrited to ertain hannels. They want the people to be blind, deaf to the outside world, so that the people won t know what is happening. (The COI Report:A/HRC/25/CRP.1, para.197) 03 3 A/HRC/25/63, para.64 4 A/70/362 5 A/HRC/25/63, para.73 04
Issue of Aess to Information Aess to information in the DPRK is another notable issue onerning the DPRK s human rights violations. The following are a report from Amnesty International as well as findings from the COI report. A Report by Amnesty International 6 Sine the severe food shortages in the 1990s, traders who smuggled food into the DPRK also brought in other goods inluding mobile phones and SIM ards. People living and working lose to the Chinese border were then able to onnet to Chinese mobile phone networks and ommuniate with people outside the ountry without using the monitored landlines in post offies. Foreign television dramas and movies also beame available through smuggled DVDs or other media, despite a ontinuing, systemati effort by the government to ontrol all the information aessible inside the ountry. Findings by the COI on Aess to Information [T]here is an almost omplete denial of the right to freedom of thought, onsiene and religion, as well as of the rights to freedom of opinion, expression, information and assoiation. (para.26) Citizens are denied the right to have aess to information from independent soures; State-ontrolled media are the only permitted soure of information in the Demorati People s Republi of Korea. (para.29) Aess to television and radio broadasts, as well as to the Internet, is severely restrited, and all media ontent is heavily ensored and must adhere to diretives issued by the Workers Party of Korea. (para.29) Telephone alls are monitored and mostly onfined to domesti onnetions for itizens. Citizens are punished for wathing and listening to foreign broadasts, inluding foreign films and soap operas. (para.29) (3) Violations of the Freedom of Movement and Residene The COI report desribes findings on the DPRK s violations of the freedom of movement and residene. Separated Families Photo Yonhap News Ageny Kyodo News The husband meets his wife during the Separated Family Reunion Meeting in North Korea after being separated for 65yeras (2015) Statistis on Separated Families Category Number of survivors Perentage (%) Exhanges of Separated Families Organized by the Government(2000-2015) Category Fae-to-fae reunions Video reunions Total ROK 2,046 families (12,940 persons) 279 families (2,257 persons) 2,235 families (15,197 persons) DPRK 2,074 families (6,831 persons) 278 families (1,491 persons) 2,352 families (8,322 persons) The reunions of the separated by the division of the Korean Peninsula after the 1950-1953 war finally resumed in Otober 2015. Aording to the 2016 White Paper of the Ministry of Unifiation of the ROK, as of 31 Deember 2015, 130,808 persons were registered in the government-run Integrated Information System for Separated Families as members of separated families, of whom 65,134 persons had passed away, leaving 65,674 survivors. Of all appliants for the reunions arranged by the Red Cross Soieties of the DPRK and the ROK sine 2000, only 19,771 persons (4,120 families) had benefited from fae-to-fae meetings and 3,748 persons (4,677 families) from video reunions. This represents 1.5 perent and 0.3 per ent respetively, of the total number of appliants for the reunions. Nearly half of the appliants (65,134) have passed away during the past 15 years owing to their advaned age. Aged 90 or over Aged 80-89 Ages 70-79 Ages 60-69 Ages 59 or under Total 9,061 28,381 16,807 6,382 5,043 65,674 13.8 43.2 25.6 9.7 7.7 100 (2016 White Paper on Korean Unifiation) Total 4,120 families (19,771 persons) 557 families (3,748 persons) 4,677 families (23,519 persons) (2016 White Paper on Korean Unifiation) Findings by the COI on the Freedom of Movement and Residene The systems of indotrination and disrimination on the basis of soial lass are reinfored and safeguarded by a poliy of isolating itizens from ontat with eah other and with the outside world, violating all aspets of the right to freedom of movement. (para.38) In the Demorati People s Republi of Korea, the State imposes on itizens where they must live and work, violating their freedom of hoie. (para.39) Citizens are not even allowed to leave their provine temporarily or to travel within the ountry without offiial authorization. (para.40) 05 6 Amnesty International report Connetion Denied, Restritions on Mobile Phones and Outside Information in North Korea (2016) 06
The State imposes a virtually absolute ban on ordinary itizens travelling abroad, thereby violating their human right to leave the ountry. (para.42) The Demorati People s Republi of Korea has repeatedly breahed its obligations to respet the rights of its nationals who have speial ties to, or laims in relation to, another ountry, in this ase the Republi of Korea, to return there or otherwise to enjoy a faility to meet long separated families. (para.45) The severe impediments put in plae by the Demorati People s Republi of Korea to prevent ontat and ommuniation with family members in the Republi of Korea are a breah of the State s obligations under international human rights law. (para.45) (4) Violations of Workers Rights Issue of DPRK Workers Outside the Country The issue of the DPRK s workers sent abroad is another issue of international attention, whih was pointed out by a Report by the Speial Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights. (A/70/362) Report by the Speial Rapporteur on the Situation of (A/70/362) While the Speial Rapporteur was on mission in the Republi of Korea in November 2014, his attention was drawn to the issue of nationals of the Demorati People s Republi of Korea being sent abroad by their Government to work under onditions that reportedly amount to fored labour. (para.24) The rationale behind that State-sponsored system appears to be to irumvent United Nations santions imposed on the ountry with a view to earning urrenies. (para.25) [I]t is estimated that more than 50,000 workers from the Demorati People s Republi of Korea operate abroad. (para.26) Workers earn on average between $120 and $150 per month, while employers in fat pay signifiantly higher amounts to the Government of the Demorati People s Republi of Korea (employers deposit the salaries of the workers in aounts ontrolled by ompanies from the Demorati People s Republi of Korea) (para.27()) Freedom of movement of overseas workers is unduly restrited. Workers are under onstant surveillane by seurity personnel from the Demorati People s Republi of Korea in harge of ensuring that they omply with the Government s rules and regulations. Those agents onfisate the workers passports. The workers are also forbidden to return to the Demorati People s Republi of Korea during their assignment (para.27(g)) B. Efforts and Initiatives by the International Community (inluding the Aountability Mehanism) (1) UN Resolutions on DPRK Human Rights Issue UN Photo/Jean-Mar Ferre Human Rights Counil (2) Establishment of the COI At the 22 nd session of the UNHRC in 2013, a resolution inluding the establishment of the COI was adopted. After a year-long effort, the COI released its final report in February 2014. The report is the first UN report that omprehensively assessed the human rights situation in the DPRK. The report points out a wide range of human rights violations in the DPRK, and urges the DPRK to take onrete measures against these violations that may amount to rimes against humanity. Regrettably, the DPRK was totally unooperative with the investigation of the COI, neither permitting its members unrestrited aess to the ountry, nor providing them with the neessary information to enable them to fulfil their mandate. The DPRK authorities have been denying the COI report thus far (see page10). (3) Disussions at the UN Seurity Counil In order to address the human rights issues in the DPRK, Japan and the European Union have o-submitted resolutions on the Situation of Human Rights in the Demorati People s Republi of Korea to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and the UN Human Rights Counil (UNHRC) sine 2005. At the 25 th session of the UNHRC in 2014, a resolution based on the COI report was adopted. The resolution reommended that the UNGA submit the report to the UN Seurity Counil for its onsideration and appropriate ations, inluding onsideration of the referral of the situation to the appropriate international riminal justie mehanism, along with onsideration of the sope for effetive targeted santions against those who appear to be most responsible for rimes against humanity. 7 UN Photo/Jean-Mar Ferre Members of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the DPRK(Mr. Marzuki Darusman (left), Mr. Mihael Kirby (enter), Ms. Sonja Biserko (right)) 07 7 A/HRC/RES/22/13 08
A resolution adopted at the 69 th UNGA in 2014 baked the UNHRC resolution by enouraging the UN Seurity Counil to onsider the relevant onlusions and reommendations of the COI and take appropriate ation to ensure aountability. 8 Building on the adoption of these series of resolutions, the situation of the Demorati People s Republi of Korea UN Photo/Amanda Voisard inluding human rights situations was disussed at the UN Seurity Counil disussion (2015) Seurity Counil for two onseutive years in 2014 and 2015. At the Counil disussion in 2015, the High Commissioner for Human Rights realled the ongoing nature of serious human rights violations in the DPRK. (4) Follow-ups on the UN Efforts Following up on the UN efforts, two main bodies entral to monitoring DPRK s ativities for pursuing their aountability were set up: the OHCHR offie in Seoul, and a group of experts on aountability. (a) OHCHR Offie in Seoul The 2014 UNHRC resolution on the situation of human rights in the DPRK reommended the Offie of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to follow up on the reommendations made in the COI report, inluding the establishment of a field based struture. In June 2015, based on the reommendation, the OHCHR established an offie in Seoul to follow up on the work of the COI. It also plays a ritial role in preparing for future aountability proesses. The offie has been seeking to raise awareness about the human rights situation in the DPRK by organizing and partiipating in workshops and seminars, and been ontinuously ative on soial media platforms. The offie is tasked with (a) strengthening, monitoring, and doumenting the situation of human rights in the DPRK, (b) enhaning the engagement and apaity-building with the Government of all States onerned, ivil soiety, and other stakeholders and () maintaining the visibility of the situation of human rights in the DPRK inluding through sustained ommuniations, advoay, and outreah initiatives. (b) Appointment of the Group of Independent Experts on Aountability In 2016, following the adoption of a resolution at the 31 st session of the UNHRC, a group of independent experts on aountability (Ms. Sonja Biserko, Ms. Sara Hossain) was appointed by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in support of work of the Speial Rapporteur on the Situation of (Mr. Tomas Ojea Quintana) for a period of six months, with the possibility of extension. The UNHRC requests the group (a) to explore appropriate approahes to seek aountability for human rights violations in the DPRK, in partiular where suh violations amount to rimes against humanity as found by the COI; and (b) to reommend pratial mehanisms of aountability to seure truth and justie for the vitims of possible rimes against humanity in the DPRK, inluding the International Criminal Court. The report of the group will be submitted to the UNHRC in Marh 2017. The Commission of Inquiry (COI) on the situation of human rights in the DPRK 1.Bakground Eah year, the European Union and Japan o-submit resolutions on the situation of the human rights in the DPRK at the UN General Assembly and Human Rights Counil. However, there has been no improvement in the human rights situation in the DPRK. Therefore, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Speial Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the DPRK had reommended setting up a new investigation mehanism. 2.Establishment of the COI (Adoption of a resolution on the situation of human rights in the DPRK at UNHRC) UNHRC adopted a resolution by onsensus whih deides to set up the COI on the situation of human rights in the DPRK in Marh 2013. About the COI Areas for investigation: the systemati, widespread and grave violations of human rights in the DPRK Members of the ommission: Mr. Mihael Kirby (Chair, Australia), Ms.Sonja Biserko (Serbia), Mr. Marzuki Darusman (Speial Rapporteur, Indonesia) Period of the ativities : one year from Marh 2013 to Marh 2014 Final report: the final report was submitted to the 25th UNHRC in Marh 2014. (http://www.ohhr.org/en/hrbodies/hrc/coidprk/pages/ ReportoftheCommissionofInquiryDPRK.aspx) 3.Summary of the COI Report The Commission finds that systemati, widespread and gross human rights violations have been, and are being, ommitted by the DPRK. In light of the gravity, sale and level of organization of the violations, the Commission onludes that rimes against humanity have been ommitted by offiials of the DPRK, pursuant to poliies established at the highest level of the State. The Commission underlines that the international ommunity has the responsibility to protet the population of the DPRK from further rimes against humanity. The Commission reommends that the Seurity Counil refer the situation in the DPRK to the International Criminal Court and impose targeted individual santions against those most responsible. In addition, the Commission reommends that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights establish a field-based presene in the region. 09 8 A/RES/69/188 10
Systemati, widespread and gross human rights violations have been and are being ommitted by the Demorati People s Republi of Korea, its institutions and offiials. In many instanes, the violations of human rights found by the ommission onstitute rimes against humanity The gravity, sale, and nature of these violations reveal a state that does not have any parallel in the ontemporary world. (Report of the ommission of inquiry on human rights in the Demorati People s Republi of Korea(A/HRC/25/63))