International attention towards the human rights situation in North Korea is on the rise. Urged by the European Union, the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights has appointed a Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation there. The US Congress has also unanimously passed the North Korean Human Rights Act (H.R. 4011). Despite these and ther initiatives, serious violations continue to occur. (5-MAR-05)

Niels Jacob Harbitz and Borghild Tønnessen-Krokan from the Human Rights House Foundation (HRH) will follow up the situation in North Korea during the UN Commission on Human Rights´ 61st Session starting 22 March.

Serious violations continue to occur in North Korea. These are the basic facts about these violations, the  crash course, so to speak, provided by the Citizen´s Alliance for North Korean Human Rights:

-An estimated 150.000 to 200.000 people live in prison camps under the fear of public execution, forced abortion / infanticide, torture, and live medical experiments.
-Lack of religious freedom and denial of food rations to people suspected of having a religion.
-Democratic People´s Republic of Korea (DPRK, the official name of this fundamentally undemocratic country), border guards have orders to “shoot to kill persons attempting to cross the border”.
-Those who manage to escape to the People´s Republic of China, the Russian Federation, Mongolia and Southeast Asia face forced repatriation to North Korea.

-Article 62 of the North Korean Criminal Code, states: “a citizen that escapes to another country in betrayal of his motherland and people … shall be punished by at least five years or more of labor re-education. f it is a serious violation, he shall be punished by life imprisonment or execution and forfeiture of all property…”.
-China repatriates North Korean refugees to North Korea and imprisons and deports international humanitarian who try to help North Korean refugees.
-North Korean women are subject to even greater danger as they are kidnapped and sold as prostitudes or “brides” by professional traffickers.
-Despite these dangers, North Koreans continue to cross the border to escape hunger and mistreatment. The number of people known to have escaped North Korea has risen radically in recent years, from less than 600 in 2001 to more than 1200 in 2003. The numbers continue to rise.

For further information, please contact: Citizens´ alliance for North Korean Human Rights, through the (NKHR) Website: http://www.nkhumanrights.or.kr,
Email:nkhuman@nkhumanrights.or.kr
Tel.:     +82 2 723 167 2671
Fax.:    +82 2 723 1671