Young North Korean deposits flowers at the feet of statues of Kim Jong-il and Kim Il-Sung in Pyongyang
North Korea seems to be increasing the appeal to the death penalty for acts such as seeing or sharing foreign films, according to an extensive UN report released Friday. The destination of hundreds of thousands of missing persons, including foreign citizens, remains unknown.
The general situation of human rights in North Korea has not improved in the last decade and, in many cases, has deteriorated, causing even more suffering to the population, concludes one published on Friday through the United Nations Office for Human Rights.
The report, which covers the period after the 2014 UN Inquiry Commission, points to the INTRODUCTION OF MORE LAWSpolicies and practices that subject citizens to a increasing surveillance and control in all areas of life.
“No other population It faces restrictions like these in today’s world, ”concludes the document, which cites the testimony of a deserter.
“To block the eyes and ears of the people, they reinforced the repressions. It was a form of control designed to eliminate even the smallest signs of dissatisfaction or complaint, ”says the North Korean deserter.
In 2025, the country keeps more closed than in almost any other time in its history, the report adds, stressing: “The scenario of human rights cannot be dissociated from the broader isolation that the state is currently pursuing. ”
One significant aspect of the report is the connection between the degrading situation of human rights in the country, the growing self -certification isolation and the situation of peace and security in the Korean peninsula.
“What we witnessed was a decade lost”, Volker TürkUN High Commissioner for Human Rights, in the UN. “And it hurts to say that if the RPDC continues in the current trajectory, the population will be subject to more suffering, brutal repression and fear, as has been the case for so long.”
The report states that POLITICAL PRISIONS FIELDS continue to operate. THE destination of hundreds of thousands of missing personsincluding abroad citizens from South Korea, Japan and other countries, remains unknown.
Citizens continue to be incessant advertising of the state for a lifetime. The right to food continues to be violatedwith some state policies aggravating hunger.
Today, the death penalty is more widely allowed by law and applied in practice. The enjoyment of freedom of expression and access to information They suffered a significant setback with the implementation of severe punishment, including the death penalty, for a series of acts such as foreign media sharing, including television series.
A population surveillance It became even more omnipresent, driven by technological advances.
The report, based on Hundreds of interviews performed by the UN Office and in support materials, points to the Increased use of forced labor In many forms, particularly in the calls “Shock Brigades”, Generally mobilized for physically demanding and dangerous sectors, such as mining and construction.
Workers often come from poorer families And in recent years, the government of Kim Jong-un used Thousands of orphans and street children In coal mines and other dangerous places, during long journeys.
The cabinet received, however, reports of some improvements. The deserters interviewed indicated Small improvements in the treatment of people in detention units, including a LiGRAZE VIOLENCE REDUCTION On the part of the guards, law agents show greater awareness of the norms for the treatment of people deprived of liberty.
Furthermore, several laws have been promulgated or alteredallegedly reinforcing the guarantees of a fair judgment and protection against mistreatment to people deprived of liberty.
The country has some interaction with the international system human rights, having ratified two more human rights treaties and fulfilling some reporting obligations with treaty bodies.
However, the disadvantage between international obligations of the state and the reality of the lives of its citizens It remains evident, the report concludes.
