posted May 07, 2005 02:00 AM              

Korea, Democratic People's Republic of

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2003
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
February 25, 2004

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea 1 (DPRK or North Korea) is a dictatorship under the absolute rule of Kim Jong Il, General Secretary of the Korean Workers' Party (KWP) since October 1997. In 1998, the Supreme People's Assembly reconfirmed Kim Jong Il as Chairman of the National Defense Commission and declared that position the "highest office of state." The presidency was abolished, leaving Kim Jong Il's father, the late Kim Il Sung, as the DPRK's "eternal president." During the year, the Korean People's Army (KPA) continued to displace the KWP as Kim Jong Il's chief instrument for making and implementing policy. The titular head of state is Kim Yong Nam, the President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly. Elections for the 687-member Assembly were held in August. Only the KWP and two small satellite parties participated. The elections were not free. Kim Jong Il and his father were the objects of an intense personality cult and the regime continued to cling to "juche," a national ideology of self-reliance, even though the population was dependent on international aid for its survival. The judiciary is not independent.

The DPRK is one of the world's most militarized states. The KPA is the primary organization responsible for external security. A large military reserve force and several quasi-military organizations, including the Worker-Peasant Red Guards and the People's Security Force, assist it. These organizations also assisted the large internal security apparatus, which includes the Ministry of Public Security [MPS], the State Security Department, the National Security Agency, the National Security Police, and the KWP. Members of the security forces have committed serious human rights abuses

The Government's human rights record remained extremely poor, and it continued to commit numerous serious abuses. Citizens do not have the right to change their government, and the leadership views most international human rights norms, particularly individual rights, as illegitimate, alien, and subversive to the goals of the State and Party. There continued to be reports of extrajudicial killings, disappearances, and arbitrary detention including many who were held as political prisoners. Prison conditions were harsh, and torture reportedly was common. Credible eyewitness reports note that pregnant female prisoners underwent forced abortions, and in other cases babies reportedly were killed upon birth in prisons.

Defectors and refugee reports over several years indicate that the regime executed political prisoners, opponents of the regime, some repatriated defectors, and others, including military officers suspected of espionage or of plotting against Kim Jong Il. Criminal law makes the death penalty mandatory for activities "in collusion with imperialists" aimed at "suppressing the national liberation struggle." Prisoners have been sentenced to death for such ill-defined "crimes" as "ideological divergence," "opposing socialism," and "counterrevolutionary crimes." In its 2001 report to the U.N. Human Rights Committee, the Government claimed that it had reduced the number of criminal offences carrying the death penalty from 33 to 5; the Committee, while welcoming this reduction, noted that 4 of the 5 offences were essentially political and "couched in terms so broad that the imposition of the death penalty may be subject to essentially subjective criteria, and not confined to the 'most serious crimes' only…." In some cases, executions reportedly were carried out at public meetings attended by workers, students, school children, and before assembled inmates at places of detention. Border guards reportedly have orders to shoot to kill potential defectors. Similarly, prison guards are under orders to shoot to kill those attempting escape from political concentration camps, according to defectors.
Defectors have reported that government officials prohibit live births in prison. Forced abortion and the killing of newborn babies reportedly were standard prison practices (see Section 1.c.).

Religious and human rights groups outside the country reported that members of underground churches have been killed because of their religious beliefs and suspected contacts with overseas evangelical groups operating across the Chinese border (see Section 2.c.).

Many prisoners reportedly have died from beatings, disease, starvation, or exposure (see Section 1.c.).

b. Disappearance

The Government reportedly was responsible for cases of disappearance. Defectors in recent years have claimed that individuals suspected of political crimes often were taken from their homes by state security officials and sent directly, without trial, to camps for political prisoners. There are no practical restrictions on the ability of the Government to detain and imprison persons at will and to hold them incommunicado.

There also were long-standing reports of past government involvement in the kidnapping abroad of South Koreans, Japanese, and other foreign nationals. In September 2002, Kim Jong Il acknowledged to Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi the involvement of DPRK "special institutions" in the kidnapping of Japanese citizens and said that those responsible had been punished

In addition, other reported cases of kidnapping, hostage-taking, and other acts of violence took place, apparently intended to intimidate ethnic Koreans living in China and Russia. Despite the admission to Prime Minister Koizumi, the Government continued to deny that it had been involved in kidnappings of other foreign nationals.

In its 2001 submission to the U.N. Human Rights Committee, the Government claimed that torture is prohibited by law; however, a number of sources confirm its practice. According to a report by the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (USCHRNK), torture "is routine and severe." Methods of torture reportedly routinely used included severe beatings; electric shock; prolonged periods of exposure; humiliations such as public nakedness; confinement to small "punishment cells," in which prisoners were unable to stand upright or lie down, where they could be held for several weeks; being forced to kneel or sit immobilized for long periods; being hung by one's wrists; being forced to stand-up and sit-down to the point of collapse; and, forcing mothers recently repatriated from China, to watch the infanticide of their newly born infants. Defectors reported that many prisoners have died from torture, disease, starvation, exposure, or a combination of these causes. There were allegations of lethal gas experiments on prisoners.

Since 2002, China has deported thousands of North Korean women, some of whom were pregnant, and many of whom were imprisoned upon their return. Reportedly, North Korean officials prohibited live births in prison and forced abortions were regularly performed, particularly in detention centers holding women repatriated from China. Those sources further indicate that, in cases of live birth, the child was immediately killed. According to reports, the reason given for this policy was to prevent the birth of half-Chinese children. In addition, guards sexually abused female prisoners.

Prison conditions were harsh; starvation and executions were common. "Reeducation through labor" is a common punishment, consisting of forced labor, such as logging, mining, or tending crops under harsh conditions, and reeducation consisting of memorizing speeches by Kim Jong Il and being forced to participate in self-criticism sessions after labor. Visitors to the country have observed prisoners being marched in leg irons, metal collars, or shackles. In some places of detention, prisoners were given little or no food and, when they contract illnesses, were denied medical care. Sanitation was poor, and prisoners reported rarely being able to bathe, or wash their clothing, and having no change of clothing during months of incarceration.

In June 2002, Lee Soon-ok, a woman who spent several years in a prison camp before fleeing to China in 1994 and then to the Republic of Korea (South Korea), testified before the U.S. Senate that the approximately 1,800 inmates in her camp typically worked 16 to 17 hours a day. Lee witnessed severe beatings and incidents of torture involving forcing water into a victim's stomach with a rubber hose followed by guards jumping on a board placed across the victim's abdomen. Lee also testified that chemical and biological warfare experiments were conducted on inmates by the army. Other defectors reported similar experiences. At Camp 22 in Haengyong, approximately 50,000 prisoners worked under conditions that reportedly resulted in the death of 20 to 25 percent of the prison population per year in the 1990s.

Other witnesses who testified before the U.S. Congress in 2002 stated that prisoners held on the basis of their religious beliefs generally were treated worse than other inmates (see Section 2.c.).

In Washington in October, Kim Yong, a former police Lieutenant Colonel, told USCHRNK that, as an inmate in a political prison camp, he had been forced to kneel for long periods with a steel bar placed between his knees and calves, been suspended by his handcuffed wrists, and submerged in waist-deep cold water for extended periods.

The Government did not permit inspection of prisons by human rights monitors.

d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile

There are no restrictions on the ability of the Government to detain and imprison persons at will and to hold them incommunicado. Family members and other concerned persons reportedly find it virtually impossible to obtain information on charges against or the length of sentences of detained persons. Judicial review of detentions does not exist in law or in practice.

Collective punishment is practiced. Entire families, including children, have been imprisoned when one member of the family was accused of a crime. In November, an investigator for a human rights nongovernmental organization (NGO) said that punishment could be extended to imprison three generations of a family for life at hard labor.

e. Denial of Fair Public Trial

f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence

a. Freedom of Speech and Press

The Government has not permitted any independent domestic organizations to monitor human rights conditions or to comment on violations of such rights. A North Korean Human Rights Committee, established by the Government in 1992, has denied the existence of any human rights violations in the country.

In July 2001, a North Korean delegate reporting to the U.N. Human Rights Committee dismissed reports of human rights violations in the country as the propaganda of "egoistic" and "hostile forces" seeking to undermine the sovereignty of the country.

The Government has ignored requests for visits by international human rights organizations, and none were known to have visited since a 1996 Amnesty International visit. In 2002, the Government submitted a report on human rights to the U.N. Human Rights Committee.

Women

The Constitution states "women hold equal social status and rights with men"; however, although women were represented proportionally in the labor force, few women had reached high levels of the Party or the Government. Women reportedly made up 20 percent of the membership of the SPA, but only approximately 4 percent of the membership of the Central Committee of the KWP.

There was no information available on domestic and general societal violence against women; women prisoners reportedly were subject to rape and forced abortions (see Section 1.c.).

Working-age women, like men, are required to work. They were thus required to leave pre-school aged children in the care of elderly relatives or in state nurseries. According to the Constitution, women with large families are to work shorter hours. There were reports of trafficking in women and young girls among North Koreans crossing the border into China (see Section 6.f.).

Children

The State provides compulsory education for all children until the age of 15. However, some children were denied educational opportunities and subjected to other punishments and disadvantages as a result of the loyalty classification system and the principle of "collective retribution" for the transgressions of family members (see Section 1.f.).

Like others in society, children were the objects of intense political indoctrination; even mathematics textbooks propound party dogma

Persons with Disabilities

Traditional social norms condone discrimination against persons with physical disabilities. Apart from veterans with disabilities, persons with disabilities were almost never seen within the city limits of Pyongyang, and several defectors and other former residents reported that persons with disabilities were routinely relocated to rural areas
There are no legally mandated provisions for accessibility to buildings or government services for persons with disabilities.

. Trafficking in Persons

There were no known laws specifically addressing the problem of trafficking in persons, and trafficking was a growing problem. There were widespread reports of trafficking in women and young girls into China. Some were sold by their families or by kidnappers as wives or concubines to men in China; others have fled on their own volition to escape starvation and deprivation in North Korea. A network of smugglers reportedly facilitated this trafficking. Many such women, unable to speak Chinese, were held as virtual prisoners, and some were forced to work as prostitutes.

posted May 07, 2005 02:13 AM              

By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations on Thursday censured North Korea for "widespread and grave violations" -- including torture, executions and forced abortions -- drawing a sharp rebuke from the secretive communist state.

The U.N. Commission on Human Rights, whose 53 member states are holding an annual session, urged Pyongyang to cooperate with its special investigator on the Democratic Republic of Korea.

The resolution, brought by the European Union (EU) and Japan, was adopted by a vote of 30 countries in favor, nine against and 14 abstentions, including South Korea.

It expressed deep concern at torture, public executions, arbitrary detention, "infanticide," imposition of the death penalty for "political reasons," the existence of a "large number of prison camps" and extensive use of forced labour.

The United States delegation denounced North Korea's "deplorable human rights record."

U.S. delegate Sasha Mehra took the floor to say that in North Korea, "150,000 to 200,000 people were believed to be held at detention camps in remote areas for political reasons."

"Defectors report people dying of torture, starvation, disease and exposure or a combination of causes," she added. "We stand with the victims of the brutal regime."

But North Korea's delegation reacted angrily, accusing the forum of "politicisation, selectivity and double standards."

"The fundamental purpose of this resolution is to overthrow the state system of the DPRK," said member Choe Myong Nam.

RNGLEADERS

Most targets of the "naming and shaming" at the Commission were "developing countries pursuing independent policies with ideals different from those of the West," he added.

Choe singled out Britain and Japan as "ringleaders" of the text, saying Britain appeared "hell-bent on overthrowing the state system of the DPRK hand-in-hand with the United States."

China's ambassador Sha Zukang, who voted against the resolution, said: "The effective way to promote human rights does not lie in confrontation and shaming, but rather enlightened dialogue and cooperation."

"We are against the practice of using human rights issues to exert political pressure on developing countries," Sha added.

North Korea has refused requests by the U.N. special rapporteur or investigator, Vitit Muntarbhorn, to visit.

Muntarbhorn, a Thai law professor serving in the independent post established a year ago, has reported widespread abuses and urged North Korea to end capital punishment and forced labour.

South Korea's ambassador Choi Hyuck said that his country shared other countries' deep concerns about the state of human rights in North Korea but questioned the value of rebukes alone.

"We believe as important as it is for the international community to continuously express its concern over the situation...it is equally important to create an environment that encourages the DPRK to change voluntarily...," Choi said.

posted May 07, 2005 02:14 AM              

North Korea calls U.S. president a 'hooligan,' 'world dictator'
02:09 AM EDT May 07
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea on Saturday called U.S. President George W. Bush a "hooligan" and said it expected no solution of the international standoff over its nuclear program during the Bush administration.

The comments by North Korea's Foreign Ministry spokesman followed a White House news conference on Thursday at which Bush described North Korean leader Kim Jong Il as a "tyrant" and a "dangerous person."

"Bush is a hooligan bereft of any personality as a human being ... and a philistine whom we can never deal with," the ministry spokesman said Saturday, according to North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency.

North Korea "does not expect any solution to the nuclear issue or any progress in (North Korea)-U.S. relations during his term," the unnamed spokesman said.

"Bush is, indeed, a world dictator whose hands are stained with the blood shed by innocent civilians," he said.
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/050430/w043018.html

no...YOU are...!!

posted May 29, 2005 09:40 PM              

Taking baton from Bolton, Cheney slams North Korean leader 1 hour, 47 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Vice President Richard Cheney launched a personal attack on North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, calling him an irresponsible leader who "doesn't take care" of his people as he strives for nuclear power status for his country.

"Noooo ....but i hear you are...."

The comments, made in an interview with CNN's "Larry King Live" program due to be aired late Monday, marked an escalation of US rhetoric toward Pyongyang as the administration of President George W. Bush is stepping up diplomatic pressure to make Pyongyang return to six-party talks focused on North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

North Korea has refused to attend a fourth round of these talks that were to have taken place last September because of what it described as a "hostile" US attitude toward it.

The negotiations that in addition to the United States and North Korea involve China, Russia, South Korea and Japan have been stalled since then.

A Russian delegation that returned from Pyongyang earlier this month said North Koreans want the Bush administration to apologize for publicly branding Kim a "tyrant" and their country "an outpost of tyranny."

But according to excerpts of the interview released by the TV channel, Cheney made clear Pyongyang should not expect any softening of the US tone, let alone an apology.

"I am concerned about it," Cheney said of the stalled negotiations, "Partly because ... Kim Jong Il, who's the leader of North Korea, is -- I would describe as one of the world's more irresponsible leaders."

The vice president accused Kim of running "a police state" and one of the most heavily militarized societies in the world while the bulk of the North Korean population lived "in abject poverty and stages of malnutrition."

"He doesn't take care of his people at all," Cheney continued. "And he obviously wants to throw his weight around and become a nuclear power."

Cheney called the stalemate with North Korea "a major problem" and assured that the Bush administration was "continuing to work it very hard" to re-launch the talks.

He said officials in Pyongyang must "understand that they're not going to have normal relationships with the outside world, in terms of commerce, industry and trade, if they become a nuclear power."

The vice president also urged China to more aggressively use its clout with Pyongyang in trying to persuade it to return to the negotiating table.

"The Chinese need to understand that it's incumbent upon them to be major players here," Cheney said.

Cheney's attack appeared to echo comment made by Undersecretary of State John Bolton in Seoul two years ago, when he called Kim Jong Il as a "tyrannical dictator" who has made life is "a hellish nightmare" for many North Koreans.

In response, North Korean diplomats refused to deal with Bolton during the talks, and the remarks have been seen as a major contributing factor to their breakdown.

Bolton's nomination to be US ambassador to the United Nation is now at the center of a bitter political battle in the US Senate, where he was accused, among other things, of not clearing his Seoul remarks with other top State Department officials responsible for the North Korea portfolio.

But Cheney defended Bolton's record, calling him "a superb public official" who is particularly needed at the United Nations now that the organization is losing public confidence.

"He's tough," Cheney acknowledged. "But I can't think of sending somebody to the United Nations as our ambassador who's not tough."
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050529/pl_afp/usnkoreacheney_0505292348 35

"No!! You are!!....."

posted June 05, 2005 12:15 AM              

Taking the issue to the U.N. Security Council, something Pyongyang opposes, "is something we're giving increasing study to and probably will come to a decision over the next several weeks," the official told reporters.

"We have the one anniversary (of the last six-party talks in June 2004) but moreover we have an escalating downward spiral of threats by North Korea and it appears to be marching to its own frustration drum. It's a very good time to be talking about it, the June-July period," he said.

© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved. http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=8697235

***********

posted June 12, 2005 01:48 PM              

Seattle Times staff reporter

Donald Hellmann, East Asia expert

A University of Washington professor has done what U.S. political leaders have failed to do for more than a year: hold talks in North Korea aimed at averting a nuclear crisis.

While official negotiations have been stalled since last June, veteran East Asia professor Donald Hellmann visited North Korea for three days last week to conduct what he called the first international academic conference ever held there.

Hellmann said he was moved to help organize the conference out of frustration over the stalemate between the United States and North Korea over North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

"Our policy regarding North Korea has simply not worked," he said by phone from South Korea.

"I wanted to do by example what I thought ought to be done: to assemble people from the negotiating parties and get their views on the table."

Hellmann, 70, teaches in the Jackson School of International Studies and directs the UW's Institute for International Policy. He specializes in East Asian politics and economics, and has taught at the UW for more than three decades.

Thursday through yesterday, he and more than 20 scholars from the United States, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea met in a North Korean mountain resort not far from the South Korean border. In a compound surrounded by armed North Korean soldiers, they discussed the North Korean nuclear stance and what it would take to make future talks successful.

Institute for International Policy: www.iip.washington.edu
No U.S. government representatives or North Koreans took part, but the North Koreans listened in on the proceedings.

The conference arose out of a partnership between the UW and the Peace and Reunification Project at Seoul National University in South Korea.

It coincided with President Bush's meeting with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun on Friday to discuss efforts to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weaponry.

Hellmann criticized what he sees as a narrow U.S. focus on terrorism that has ignored the long-term economic and security efforts necessary to resolve the crisis on the Korean peninsula.

Dealing with North Korea, a rogue state with a collapsed economy led by paranoid dictator, he said, calls for skilled leadership, not name-calling. Economic problems such as energy and transportation need to be addressed, along with talks on the nuclear issue.

Requiring North Korea to give up nuclear weapons before the U.S. agrees to talk "makes it improbable that they will ever talk," Hellmann said.

Others who traveled into North Korea for the conference included Clark Sorensen, UW associate professor of international studies; Darryl Johnson, former U.S. ambassador to Thailand who also teaches at the UW; and Melvin Gurtov, a professor from Portland State University.

Tensions over North Korea's nuclear ambitions have intensified over the past several years. In 2002, the United States accused North Korea of having a secret nuclear-weapons program and stopped shipping oil to the country. North Korea responded by restarting its nuclear reactor, throwing out international inspectors and withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Six-nation talks have been held off and on since early 2003 without any significant progress. North Korea has said it has the material to make nuclear bombs and may soon move to test a nuclear weapon.

The last round of six-party negotiations ended a year ago. Since then, North Korea has refused to resume talks because it says the United States is trying to antagonize it with hostile rhetoric.

Bush, who three years ago called North Korea part of an "axis of evil" with Iraq and Iran, changed his tone recently, referring to the North Korean leader as "Mr." Kim Jong Il.

Anand Yang, director of the Jackson School of International Studies, called Hellmann's project "an attempt to keep [the same] engagement going at an academic level that we're struggling to do diplomatically."

Yang said the school is moving toward engaging in foreign policy outside the classroom.

posted June 12, 2005 01:57 PM              

Finally.....someone who speaks the truth.

------------------

posted August 14, 2005 12:38 AM              

By Agencies ( Monday, August 08, 2005)

China has said international talks aimed at persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear programme are to go into recess until the end of August.

It comes after delegates from the six nations involved remained deadlocked after a 13th day of negotiations.

North Korea has blamed the deadlock on the US. "We had to produce nuclear weapons because the US is threatening us with nuclear weapons," it said.

The US said North Korea's demand to use light-water reactors was the obstacle.

The two Koreas, the US, China, Japan and Russia have been holding talks in China's capital, Beijing, since 26 July.

The US wants North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons in return for aid and security guarantees.

But North Korea insists it has the right to conduct nuclear activities as long as they are peaceful - for example, for generating electricity.

Speaking after the talks broke up, the chief US negotiator, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, said North Korea's insistence on being allowed to have light-water reactors for energy purposes had prevented an agreement.
http://www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?ID=31522

posted August 14, 2005 12:38 AM              

N. Korea Warns Against Military Exercises
By Associated Press

August 13, 2005, 6:54 PM EDT

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea on Saturday criticized joint military exercises involving South Korea and the United States, saying the maneuvers were a final preparation for an attack on the communist state.

North Korea also said high-level military talks between it and South Korea cannot resume because of the military exercises.

The South Korean-U.S. military drills were a war rehearsal aimed at "finalizing preparation for pre-emptive attacks," said a statement quoting an unidentified military spokesman and carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA.

The U.S. military says the exercise is largely a computer-simulated war game.

The last high-level military talks between North and South Korea were held in June 2004. But negotiations have been on hold over mass defections of North Koreans to the South. Official meetings between the two Koreas resumed in May, and the two have since agreed to a series of new reconciliation moves.

On Friday, military officers from the two Koreas failed to agree on a date for new talks.

North Korea routinely condemns the joint military exercises of South Korea and Washington, which have been conducted annually since 1976, as preparation to invade the communist state.

No peace treaty was signed at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, leaving the two Koreas still technically at war.
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-koreas-military,0,7710831.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines

where have i heard that before??..

quote:

---

Further, it's no technicality to say that a state of war still existed between UN states and Saddam's Iraq.--jwhop

---