Gross Human Rights Violations in North Korea

Gross Human Rights Violations in North Korea

The United Nations has recently released a report on the gross human rights violations in North Korea. For many years the world has suspected these gross human rights violations, but until recently there has not been a comprehensive report into such violations. North Korea has made headlines over the last few years regarding issues such as propaganda, Human Rights Violations, Political corruption and many other issues. This Article will briefly discuss Gross Human Rights Violations.

Political Genocide

The United Nations reports that “hundreds of thousands” of prisoners in North Korea prison camps have been killed. Many of these mass killings are due to racial, ethnic or religious backgrounds. Many Korean activists have been killed in the fight for equality, freedom and justice. It was reported that anyone who spoke out about inhumane nature of the prison camps were tortured, punished and some were taken away and never again seen. It is estimated that there are thousands of political prisoners in North Korean prison camps today.

Starvation

In 1999 a report was released that estimated approximately 3.5 million North Koreans died of starvation between the years of 1995 and 1999. The commission has found evidence that starvation was used and is still used as a form of torture in the prison camps. And it has been said that it is a way of reducing the amount of prisoners in the camps.

Kang Choi-Hwan who was a political prisoner in a North Korean Prison camp in the 1980’s described the kinds of torture methods that were used. Mr Hwan said that in order to survive him and many others had to cut grass to cook porridge in order to survive. The political prisoners in his group were only given a fistful of Kernels once a month. Mr Hwan said that he once had to bury 300 people who had died as a result of starvation in the Prison Camp.

Forced Abortions

The commission found that women who fled to china and were captured were forced to have abortions as there was a risk the father of the unborn child was a Chinese man. The abortions were carried out in order to maintain the purity of the Koreans. Some of the women were allowed to give birth and once the child was born it would be terminated. Women who were raped in the prison camps by military men had to give birth and once the child was born it would be taken off the mother and terminated.

Conclusion

These Human Rights Violations are only a handful of such violations that occur in North Korea and they should be stopped. A United Nations Panel has warned that Kim Jong Un may be held accountable for such human rights abuses. To this day he has not been held accountable.

Jack Murphy

GCD FLAC

For more on this follow the link to the Office of the High Commissioners website here: http://www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/hrc/coidprk/pages/commissioninquiryonhrindprk.aspx

The report from the Commission Of INquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea can be found here: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/CoIDPRK/Pages/ReportoftheCommissionofInquiryDPRK.aspx.