Human Rights in North Korea

Human rights in North Korea
Torture and other ill-treatments:  At the moment there are 200’000 people in prison camps in North Korea. They all have to work very hard and nearly all of them are subjected to torture.  North Korea has political and non political prison camps. The conditions in the prison camps for political crimes are much harder.  Prisoners are punished if they for e.p. do not work fast enough or if they forget the prison rules or the text of patriotic songs.  Forms of punishment include beatings, forced exercise, sitting still for prolonged periods of time and humiliating public criticism. Death penalty:  In North Korea, the death penalty is typically carried out by firing squad or hanging  Most of the executions take place in secret but some of them are held in public as an example for others.  In 2008 15 people were killed because they tried to flee to China Abductions:  Since the Korean War (1950-1953) the North Korean government conducts abductions.  The government has abducted then thousands of people, people from North Korea but also from other countries like Japan and South Korea  The government denies that they have ever abducted somebody. Freedom of movement:  People in North Korea have absolutely no right to move where they want to. They are not even allowed to move around inside the country. They need permission if they want to move to another place.  Those people who cross the border to China face torture and detention and some even death if they have to return to North Korea. In some cases the North Korean government even tortured the families of those people who crossed the border to China. Freedom of opinion and expression:  Freedom of opinion and expression is severely restricted in North Korea. Having a different opinion than the government is not tolerated.  All the Media is controlled by the state. People who listen to radios that are not controlled or who watch TV shows which are not allowed are sent to prison for