North Korea: law against abuse, cited at the UN

(Geneva) – The North Korean The government should take urgent action based on the recommendations of United Nations member states during the fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of North Korea’s human rights record at the UN Human Rights Council, Human Rights Watch and Transitional Justice Working Group said today .

In the draft report of the UPR spread on November 11, 2024, North Korea effectively rejected 88 recommendations, including those calling for cooperation with UN human rights mechanisms, ending torture, releasing political prisoners, ending forced labor and ensuring the right to freedom of expression.

“North Korea’s rejection of so many recommendations to improve its human rights record shows its government’s total disregard for international human rights standards and the rights of the North Korean people,” the spokesperson said. Simon Hendersondeputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The North Korean government must end its brutal suppression of fundamental rights and the increasing isolation of its people from the world.”

Several UN member states urged North Korea to implement the landmark recommendations Report of the UN Commission of Inquiry from 2014including clarifying the situation and whereabouts of forcibly disappeared people. The 2014 report found that the North Korean government’s widespread and systematic violations of human rights constituted a form of human rights abuse crimes against humanity. North Korea rejected those recommendations.

During the UPR, member states made a total of 306 recommendations to the North Korean government, covering its long record of human rights violations and crimes against humanity. Numerous governments said North Korea must take immediate steps to address its human rights crisis, including taking measures to address chronic and avoidable malnutrition and famine, caused in part by diverting vital resources to the military leadership and to its weapons programs.

Human Rights Watch and Transitional Justice Working Group submitted recommendations in April as part of North Korea’s fourth UPR cycle. The groups highlighted the government’s increasingly tight controls and human rights abuses, including arbitrary detention, torture and unfair trials, which perpetuate a climate of fear and obedience in the country.

During the UPR, numerous countries called on North Korea to take concrete action to uphold civil and political rights, including by decriminalizing the right to freedom of expression and movement under the Reactionary Thought and Culture Rejection Act of the country and other legislation. Human Rights Watch published a report in March 2024 documenting North Korea’s severe restrictions on movement between 2018 and 2023 and their impact on people’s livelihoods and access to basic needs such as food and medicine.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the government imposed extreme measures on resident diplomats and staff of international organizations, forcing diplomats and UN and international non-governmental organizations to leave the country. During the current review, 16 countries said North Korea should grant unfettered access to UN human rights monitors. Several also said North Korea should allow UN humanitarian and development assistance.

Many council members called for the release of political prisoners, including nine countries recommending closing political prison camps. More than 20 countries, including South Korea and Ireland, have also urged North Korea to provide protection against torture in detention centers, including for people forcibly repatriated to North Korea.

Canada said North Korea should end forced abortions for women repatriated during pregnancy, as documented in the 2014 report. Many countries recommended North Korea ratify the Convention Against Torture and the International Convention Against Torture Forced disappearancewhile others recommended ratifying the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Gambia said North Korea should abolish forced labor abroad for North Koreans, and Namibia and Sri Lanka urged North Korea to join the International Labor Organization and ratify its key treaties.

The North Korean government must accept the recommendations of UN members, the Human Rights Watch and the Transitional Justice Working Group said.

“Under the Kim family’s regime, North Korea has used executions, political prisons and labor camps, torture and show trials as tools to promote a climate of fear and coerce its people into obedience,” the spokesperson said. Ethan Hee Seok Shinlegal analyst at Transitional Justice Working Group. “The international community can no longer turn a blind eye. UN Member States should engage directly and in UN forums with the North Korean government and work to hold it accountable to its international human rights obligations.”