New report finds no improvement in human rights

A new report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on North Korea finds that the situation of human rights in the country has not improved since the publication of the landmark 2014 report of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The report is the product of an inquiry which gathered evidence of human rights violations between 2014 and 2020/1 in consultation with members of the North Korean diaspora, as well as with human rights organisations and members of civil society.

The inquiry finds that North Korean officials have been involved in a wide range of severe human rights violations, including murder, torture, sexual and gender-based violence, modern day slavery, and persecution based on religion or belief.

The APPG claims that the atrocities “amount to crimes against humanity,” and suggests that “there are reasons to believe that some of the atrocities reach the threshold of genocide, particularly in relation to three groups: Christians; half-Chinese children; and the ‘hostile’ group.”

The report makes extensive recommendations to the UK government, including to “assess cases of possible genocidal atrocities”; to “ensure comprehensive humanitarian assistance to all those affected by atrocity crimes in the DPRK”; to “review the options for accountability for the crimes in the DPRK”; and to “make the best of their sanction regimes to target individual perpetrators.”

CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: “CSW welcomes the publication of this report by the APPG on North Korea, which highlights the sad truth that there have been no human rights improvements in the country over the past seven years. We urge the UK government to take heed of the report’s recommendations, and continue to call on North Korea to ensure that all human rights are upheld and defended by the government.”