South Korea Issues Report On Human Rights Violations In North Korea

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South Korea Issues Report on Human Rights Violations in North Korea

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th March, 2023) South Korea has released for the first time details of its report on human rights abuses in North Korea, highlighting widespread violations such as public executions and torture, media reported on Thursday.

The 450-page report by South Korea's Unification Ministry, which will be officially released on Friday, was written based on some 1,600 human rights violations shared by 508 North Korean defectors between 2017 and 2022, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported. Seoul began compiling the report back in 2018 under the North Korean Human Rights Act passed in 2016.

"The publication of the report reflects the government's commitment to improving the North's human rights situation in a practical manner," the ministry said, as quoted by the agency.

According to the report, the right to life of the North Korean people is "seriously" threatened because of the authorities' "arbitrary" use of power to violate human rights.

North Korean authorities reportedly impose the death penalty, including on minors and pregnant women, for actions such as watching and distributing videos produced in South Korea, as well as actions related to religion and superstition, in an attempt to tighten state control over people's ideology.

In addition to the death penalty, the ministry noted other types of human rights violations, such as torture, sexual violence, and medical experiments without people's consent. According to the report, there are 11 political detention camps in the country with five currently operating.