Satellite images identify 47 mass grave sites in North Korea

A Seoul-based NGO has used publicly available satellite imagery and testimony from hundreds of defectors to identify 47 potential mass graves in North Korea.

In a 58-page report released on Wednesday, The Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG) said it believes that more sites have yet to be identified and that it hopes its ongoing research will be used in the future in legal actions against North Korean officials accused of crimes against humanity.

Founded by human rights activists from five nations, the group began its research in 2015 and said its Mapping Project had the potential to contribute to the international database “to support the push for accountability, as well as for future efforts to institute a process of transitional justice following a change in the political conditions in North Korea”.

To date, 375 defectors from North Korea have been interviewed and asked about public executions they had witnessed, mass graves they had seen or other atrocities they had heard about perpetrated against other citizens.

The interviewees were invited to examine large-scale satellite images of the towns where they used to live and, once they had found their bearings by identifying key landmarks, such as train stations and offices of the ruling party, asked to point out locations where they had witnessed a public execution.

Designed to instil loyalty into the general public, executions are typically carried out in town squares, sports stadiums or marketplaces and local residents are summoned to watch.