It is sadly ironic that North Korea’s
appalling human rights record is essentially a direct outcome of the North
Korean system. Kim Jong Un enforces a cult of personality to sustain a system
of oppression founded upon the idea of a sole leader, just as his forefathers
did, while flagrant violations of human rights continue unabated. Far from the
ideals of an ‘earthly paradise’, it would not be an understatement to instead
describe North Korea as a human rights hell on Earth.
Reports from defectors confirm ongoing blatant
violations of the rights of society’s most vulnerable individuals, including
women, children, the elderly, and the disabled. The traditional North Korean
family mentality tolerates a certain extent of oppression of women and
children, but the inability of disabled individuals and the elderly to work is
used to openly disqualify them as ‘people’.
According to the North Korean Human Rights
White Paper released in 2015 by the North Korean Database, the right to life,
education, and the dignity and liberty of the individual are just some of the
fundamental human rights that are being systematically violated in North Korea.
Women within North Korea typically suffer
disproportionately due to their vulnerability, enduring gender-based violence
such as rape, molestation, and sexual harassment. In labor camps, political
prison camps, and labor training camps, sexual violence is endemic.
The NKDB report quotes a defector from Ryanggang
Province, who requested to remain anonymous, as saying, “In 2009, I entered a
labor detention facility, where a party secretary summoned me in the middle of
the night and ordered me to take off my pants and lie down. When I protested,
he forced himself on top of me and raped me. I was so ashamed afterwards that I
never told anyone about it.”
In a recent interview with Daily NK, Park
Young Ho, a visiting professor at Gangwon University, explained that within
North Korea’s repressive environment, the human rights of women are virtually
ignored. North Korea’s dysfunctional social structure ensures that incidents
such as these not only remain unresolved, rather, they are becoming more
frequent.
The fundamental right to an education for
many of the children of North Korea is also being violated. Although North
Korea boasts that the right to 12 years of ‘compulsory and free education’ is
enshrined within its laws, in reality the proportion of children who do not
have access to education is alarming, due to poverty, political issues
concerning family members, the guilt-by-association system, and many other
reasons. As a result, many children are forced to enter the workforce early or
begin working in the markets from a very young age.
According to NKDB, the number of children
attending kindergarten and nursery schools fell by 60% following the great
famine of the 1990s, while attendance at elementary, middle, and high schools
fell by 40%.
A defector from Jagang Province who
provided a testimony to NKDB stated that, “When my father was charged with ‘revolting with words’ [anti-state remarks], our entire family was sent to a political prison
camp, and although I was of school age I was unable to attend. Because we were
poor, I had no choice but to go to the mountains and survive on tree bark and
roots. It was, of course, impossible for me to study.”
Although an event has not been held in
recent years, in the past, North Korea mobilized approximately 100,000 people
in preparation for the mass propaganda performance Arirang. For at least ten
months for every event, hundreds of children and teenagers were required to
practice for more than ten hours per day. The excessive mobilization of minors
by the North Korean authorities for the performance of Arirang has been
highlighted by international human rights organizations as a clear example of
child abuse for which the regime must be held accountable.
The elderly of North Korea are also
suffering, as their fundamental rights to not only food, but also basic welfare
remain unfulfilled. According to NKDB, although violations of the right to food
for the elderly are gradually receding, elderly people are continuing to starve
to death even after 2010.
North Korea’s senior citizen welfare system
collapsed in the 1990s. As a result, many are forced to earn their livelihood
by working in the markets long after their retirement, as the regime does not
distribute welfare provisions of any kind.
The disabled of North Korea are also
severely abused and deprived of their fundamental right to human dignity. In
North Korea, where only those who are able to work are recognized as citizens,
the disabled are subject to forcible deportation or detention.
A defector from Ryanggang Province told
Daily NK, “In Ryanggang Province there was a ‘dwarf village’, where those with
stunted growth were interned and forced to live in isolation with no outside
contact. The regime rationalized this by claiming that those with disabilities
may give birth to disabled children, so isolated was justified.”
The source went on to explain that when
children with disabilities are born in hospitals, they are frequently neglected
in the hope that they will die. “As North Korea does not recognize the sanctity
of life, this sort of cruelty is a frequent occurrence,” the source said.
Kim Su Am, former director of the
Unification Research Center, noted that although North Korea has a legal system
and laws pertaining to the socially vulnerable, these are for propaganda
purposes only and are not upheld. The elite and their lifestyles are
prioritized above all else, creating a massive discrepancy between what the
laws stipulate and the horrifying reality.
