Human Rights: USINFO Article

North Korea's Human-Rights Record Remains "Extremely Poor"

State Department's human-rights report cites long list of abuses

By Jane Morse
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- North Korea's human-rights record remained "extremely poor" in 2005, according to the U.S. Department of State's annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK, or North Korea) is a dictatorship under the absolute rule of Kim Jong Il, the report says.  According to the report, Pyongyang's human rights abuses in 2005 included:

• Abridgement of the right to change the government;

• Extrajudicial killings, disappearances and arbitrary detention, including many political prisoners;

• Harsh and life-threatening prison conditions;

• Torture;

• Forced abortions and infanticide in prisons;

• Lack of an independent judiciary and fair trials;

• Denial of freedom of speech, press, assembly and association;

• Government attempts to control all information;

• Denial of freedom of religion, freedom of movement and worker rights; and

• Severe punishment of some repatriated refugees.

The report said North Korea is typical of countries in which power is concentrated in the hands of unaccountable rulers. As a result, those countries tend to be "the world's most systematic human rights violators."

North Korea’s "systematically repressive regime continued to control almost all aspects of citizens' lives, denying freedoms of speech, religion, the press, assembly, association, and movement, as well as workers' rights. In December 2005, the regime further receded into isolation by calling for significant drawdowns of the international nongovernmental organization (NGO) presence in the country," according to the report.

The report emphasized that human rights and democracy are linked closely, and that both are essential to long-term stability and security.

The annual preparation of this report on human rights is required by the Foreign Assistance Act.  Prepared by the U.S. Department of State, the report is transmitted by the secretary of state to the speaker of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.  (See related article.)

For additional information on U.S. policy, see Human Rights.

The North Korea section of the 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights is available on the State Department Web site.