Human Rights and Democracy - Official Documents

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has repeatedly claimed that
international concern about its human rights has the sole aim of undermining the
regime, and that it has its own, adequate system for the protection of human rights.
However, information from a variety of sources, much of it from North Korean
defectors, paints a picture of serious and widespread abuse. This includes political
prisons and labour “rehabilitation” camps; regular use of the death penalty, including
extrajudicial and public executions; routine use of torture and inhumane treatment;
and severe restrictions on freedom of speech, movement, assembly, and
information. Human rights, as understood by the rest of the world, do not exist in the
DPRK.
In March, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution condemning the
“systematic, widespread and grave violations of civil, political, economic, social and
cultural rights” in the DPRK. Similar UN Human Rights Council resolutions have
been passed annually since 2003 and are likely to continue unless there is evidence
of improvement. In December, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution
expressing “very serious concern” at the “persistence of continuing reports of
systematic, widespread and grave violations” of human rights in the DPRK. We
worked alongside EU Partners to ensure the success of the initiative. The UN
adopted the resolution with more support than in previous years. We remain greatly
concerned at the DPRK's continued refusal to grant access to the UN Special
Rapporteur on Human Rights in the DPRK. We take every appropriate opportunity
to urge the DPRK to allow the UN special rapporteur access to conduct a full
assessment of the human rights situation. This was raised most recently during the
EU delegation’s visit to Pyongyang in November.
In October, we discussed the human rights situation in the DPRK with the newly
appointed UN special rapporteur, Marzuki Darusman, at his first presentation to the
UN General Assembly. We expressed deep concern at the DPRK’s refusal to
engage constructively on serious human rights issues, and were disappointed that
once again the DPRK used the opportunity to state that it did not recognise the
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