Human Rights and Democracy - Official Documents

to the British way of life and values, as well as such themes as multiculturalism,
equality and tolerance.
Freedom of religion and belief
There is no freedom of religion in the DPRK. We believe that the Protestant and
Catholic churches in Pyongyang are show churches, aimed at foreign visitors. The
Russian Orthodox Church has a regular foreign congregation from within the
Russian community. The state ignores the “freedom of religion” provision in the
constitution, and persecutes all illegally held religious services and bans missionary
activities.
Women’s rights
The rights of women are enshrined in the DPRK constitution. However, sexual
harassment and violence, both domestic and in detention, against women are
widespread. There have also been reports of forced abortions in prisons and
infanticide. Human trafficking remains one of the gravest crimes against North
Korean women and we understand that the victims are not helped, but treated as
criminals within the DPRK system.
Children’s rights
Children in the DPRK are not guaranteed the right to food and health. Due to
economic hardship, children below the age of 16 are routinely used as cheap labour
in the workforce.
Other issues: Right to food
A severe famine in the 1990s is estimated to have caused up to 2 million deaths.
There is no evidence of such levels of starvation now. However, the DPRK
continues to deny the population access to sufficient food, directing its scarce
resources instead to missile, nuclear and other military programmes. A Crop and
Food Security Assessment carried out by the World Food Programme/Food and
Agriculture Organization in 2010 estimated that the DPRK would face a shortfall of
more than 1 million tons of grain in 2011.
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