Seventy-eighth session
Item 73 (c) of the provisional agenda
Promotion and protection of human rights: human
rights situations and reports of special rapporteurs
and representative
Situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
Note by the Secretary-General*
The Secretary-General has the honour to transmit to the General Assembly the report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Elizabeth Salmón, in accordance with Assembly resolution 77/226.
Summary
The present report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 77/226. In her report to the Assembly, the Special Rapporteur provides an update on the human rights situation and focuses on the impact of the prolonged state of conflict on human rights and the interlinkages between human rights and peace and security and between women and peace and security.
I. Introduction
1. In her previous reports (A/77/522 and A/HRC/52/65), the Special Rapporteur documented various human rights violations in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, including enforced disappearances, international abductions, arbitrary arrest, torture, constraints on the exercise of freedom of religion, expression, assembly and association and restrictions on the right to education. In addition, people’s right to privacy continues to be violated; a system of punishments exists for any person attempting to exercise his or her basic rights; and prisons in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea deny detainees decent food, drinking water and medical care. While the Special Rapporteur has continued to highlight concerns about gross violations of human rights, she has also sought to direct the international community’s attention to widespread and severe violations of the rights of the child (such as forced labour, discrimination, malnutrition and restrictions on access to information from the outside world) and of the rights of women (such as gender-based violence, lack of equality and violations of labour rights and reproductive rights), as grave concerns in the country. Furthermore, in her previous report (A/77/522), the Special Rapporteur emphasized the importance of a victim-centred approach as a way to provide a more holistic view of the experiences of affected individuals.
2. In the present report, the Special Rapporteur provides a brief overview of the human rights situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. She also analyses the interlinkages between human rights and the situation of conflict and peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and how the militarization of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has, directly and indirectly, affected the realization of the economic, social and cultural rights of the people, supported the repression of fundamental freedoms and entrenched the isolation of the country. She highlights the importance of active and broad-based participation by women in any peace and security processes on the Korean Peninsula and the need for the protection of the rights of women and girls in the country. She makes it clear that human rights are central to any peace and security initiatives on the Korean Peninsula and that sustainable peace cannot be achieved without addressing the long-standing human rights concerns, some of which are the direct consequences of the Korean War.
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