Welcome to BASE21

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) remains one of
the most isolated countries in the world, although substantial changes
have taken place within North Korea itself and the world around it in
recent years. Despite the politically isolated North Korea, contacts with
rest of the world are slowly being developed and foreign presence seems to
grow stronger, the information flow from the country is still limited.
While information about life in general in North Korea is scarce, reliable
and independent information on human rights issues is almost non-existent.
The North Korean Government seems to have almost completely monopolized
information on human rights issues. Its Criminal Law has broadly-worded
provisions punishing disclosure of information which the authorities deem
to constitute secrets. It makes so many difficulties for human rights
organizations to know the reality of North Korea.

In August 1998, the UN sub-commission on Prevention of Discrimination and
Protection of Minorities adopted a resolution calling on North Korea to
cooperate fully with the procedure and services of the UN. They urged the
government to facilitate inquiries by independent national and
International human rights monitoring organizations concerning the current
human rights within the country and to allow the publication and
distribution of all finding inside North Korea. The North Korean
government failed to submit its overdue report to UN Human Rights
Committee, in accordance with its obligations under the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. There are some sources of the
continued detention of thousands of political prisoners in North Korea.
But these reports couldn't be confirmed. They are concerned that economic
hardship is likely to have led to a marked deterioration in conditions of
detention and to have resulted in acute food shortages for prisoners. In
1998, several public executions were reported to have been carried out,
but independent confirmation was unavailable. According to Amnesty
International, conditions of the detention centers are harsh, with little
lights and no heating cells.

North Korean government should treat the issue of human rights with
openness and as a matter of international responsibility. The government
should ratify against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Punishment or Treatment. If any such North Koreans have been imprisoned as
prisoners of conscience, the government should release them immediately
and unconditionally. All people forcibly returned North Korea should be
allowed to contact relatives and others outside North Korea. We are
watching the human rights situations behind closed doors. Please let us
know where human rights are in North Korea. This is a simple question of
international community to North Korean government.