North Korea is one of the world’s most repressive states. The government restricts all civil and political liberties for its citizens, including freedom of expression, assembly, association, and religion. It prohibits all organized political opposition, independent media, civil society, and trade unions. The government routinely uses arbitrary arrest and punishment of crimes, torture in custody, forced labor, and executions to maintain fear and control. In recent years, the government has tightened domestic restrictions on travel and unauthorized cross-border travel with China, and punished North Koreans making contact with the outside world.
Explanation:On December 11, 2017, for the fourth consecutive year, the UN Security Council put North Korea’s egregious human rights violations on its formal agenda as a threat to international peace and security. On March 23, 2018, the Human Rights Council adopted without a vote a resolution that maintained pressure on the need for advancing accountability mechanisms for the eventual prosecution of North Korean leaders and officials responsible for crimes against humanity.
North Korea has signed and ratified several human rights treaties, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the United Nations Charter, all of which obligate North Korea to cooperate with a variety of UN institutions and treaty bodies.
