South Korean NGO publishes details of Pyongyang's human rights abusers
South Korean NGO warns Pyongyang of potential day of reckoning when two Koreas unite
A non-governmental organisation in South Korea released a booklet on Wednesday containing the personal details of North Korean human rights abusers to warn Pyongyang of a potential day of reckoning when the two Koreas are unified.
In the publication, the Database Centre for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB) listed different cases of rights violations in the Stalinist country, such as torture, execution, imprisonment in gulags, and revealed the names of supposed perpetrators, along with their birthdays and affiliations.
Perpetrators of horrible human rights abuses committed in North Korea will be held responsible
“Perpetrators of horrible human rights abuses committed in North Korea will be held responsible,” explained Yoon Yeo-sang, a co-founder of NKDB. “North Korean authorities must stop all types of violence and torture.”
The aim of publicising the personal details of human rights violators was to use fear of punishment to discourage North Koreans in powerful positions from engaging in abusive activities, noted South Korean media.
The booklet, the first of its kind made available to the South Korean public, was a compilation of 48 newsletters produced by NKDB in Seoul.
One case of rights violation listed in the report was that of a prisoner named Won Myung-hwa, who was beaten to death in February 2011 after stealing some equipment at Chongori Re-education Camp. The suspected perpetrator Kim Chang-soo, born in October 1978, was a member of North Hamgyong province’s Ministry of People’s Security.