Human rights situation still dire in North Korea—report

Commuters walk outside the central railway station in Pyongyang on May 2, 2020. AFP

SEOUL — North Koreans under leader Kim Jong-un live in dire human rights conditions, facing execution for watching or circulating South Korean TV dramas, the Korea Institute for National Unification said in its latest white paper on human rights in the North.

The extensive application and frequent implementation of the death penalty in the communist regime is a clear breach of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a multilateral treaty the United Nations adopted to safeguard individual liberties, the paper said.

Due process in trial is not guaranteed, with arbitrary detention enforced by authorities and prisoners forced into labor. But some North Koreans were afforded the right to attorney and an opportunity to challenge unlawful house searches, while other residents said violence during detention decreased, according to the paper.

Moreover, Pyongyang is still operating political prison camps, putting anyone into custody who has exchanges with Seoul, such as helping defectors or planning defection oneself.

The reclusive regime has stepped up crackdowns on defectors and tightened border controls since Kim came to power in 2011. Aborted defection attempts would likely greatly endanger lives of defector hopefuls, the paper added.

The annual paper published since 1996 was put together with the help of around a hundred defectors who offered their detailed account of life in the hermit country ruled by the Kim family. Official documents obtained from North Korea, the UN and other international organizations accounted for additional detail, the paper said.