North Korea human rights situation worsening, says UN
A new report based on hundreds of interviews says ‘no other population’ is restricted as much, including by a rise in forced labour
The human rights situation in North Korea has deteriorated, the UN warned on Friday in a report describing a decade of “suffering, repression, and increased fear”.
The UN first published a scathing report against North Korea in 2014 detailing a wide array of crimes against humanity, likened by the inquiry chairman to those of Germany’s Nazis, South Africa’s apartheid and Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge.
Information gathered since then by the UN human rights commissioner’s office shows that the situation has not improved and “in many instances has degraded,” with increased government overreach.
“No other population is under such restrictions in today’s world,” concluded the report, which is based on hundreds of interviews.
North Korea, ruled with an iron fist for seven decades by the Kim dynasty, maintains very tight control over its population.
“If the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) continues on its current trajectory, the population will be subjected to more suffering, brutal repression and fear,” warned UN rights chief Volker Türk.