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Since 1995, North Korea has suffered from a devastating famine induced by the nexus of climatic events (both floods and droughts) and overzealous agricultural and economic policies. Since inception, the famine has killed upwards of 2 million North Koreans, or roughly 10% of the aggregate population. Confirmation is difficult, however, because of the exodus of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from North Korea, stymied in their efforts and too frustrated with the government’s corrupt and inhuman practices. In 1998, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) withdrew from North Korea, followed by Oxfam in 1999 and CARE in 2000.
In 1998, the World Food Program (WFP) conducted a study of child malnutrition in North Korea. The results showed that 15.6% of children were wasted and 63.8% were stunted. In its current report on North Korea, the WFP estimates that approximately 55% of North Koreans are malnourished, with the heaviest concentration in the Sino border provinces. Residents of these provinces bore the brunt of the famine; mortality in some villages was as high as 20-25%.
Exacerbating the crisis, residents of these provinces are generally relegated to the hostile class and, accordingly, receive the least — if anything at all — from North Korea’s inequitable food rationing system. By comparison, residents of Pyongyang and members of the military (i.e., the core class) remain reasonably well fed, often by siphoning off or diverting international aid. Consequently, in 2000, Action Against Hunger became at least the fifth major international NGO to suspend operations in North Korea, citing the DPRK’s failure to (i) provide a transparent food distribution system and (ii) grant access to the country’s most vulnerable people.
Notwithstanding these concerns, international aid has poured into North Korea since the famine began, through food donations administered principally by the WFP and energy assistance through the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO). The United States has been the largest donor over this period (with the possible exception of China, whose contributions are unknown), providing more than $1 billion of assistance from 1995-2003.
The final insult to the hostile and wavering classes is that they are also subject to arbitrary and extrajudicial punishment. In a recent report by David Hawk, an estimated 150,000-200,000 North Koreans (generally from the hostile and wavering classes) are currently imprisoned in Soviet-style “gulags,” or forced labor camps, where they are held for “trumped-up political ‘crimes,’ such as reading a foreign newspaper, singing a South Korean pop song, or ‘insulting the authority’ of the North Korean leadership.” Stemming from North Korea’s Confucian roots, up to three generations of a purged political prisoner’s relatives, and those otherwise guilty by association (such as neighbors or all the residents of the same apartment block), may also be sentenced to a lifetime of hard “slave” labor with no judicial process whatsoever.
Taken from: Seoul Train
-- Abraham | | |
| The report on concentrations of inhumanity distinguishes
between commonplace human rights violations such as miscarriages of
justice, more serious “consistent patterns of gross violations of
internationally recognized human rights,” and human rights violations
that are so egregious that they rise to the level of “crimes against
humanity,” “war crimes,” or “genocide.”
It analyzes, according to the provisions of the international law
defining crimes against humanity, the unique phenomena of repression
associated with the core element of the North Korean gulag: the kwan-li-so
political penal labor encampments where as many as 200,000 persons,
including both suspected wrong-doers and wrong-thinkers, and up to
three generations of their family members, are imprisoned without trial
and subjected to forced labor under extremely severe conditions.
In the report, David Hawk calls for two immediate measures: 1) for the
international community to recognize the severe human rights abuses in
North Korea as crimes against humanity; and 2) for the North Korean
government to begin the measures necessary to bring the kwan-li-so
labor camps into compliance with international norms, and amend the
practices that run afoul of standards set forth by international law.
All information was taken from nkfreedomhouse.org. A full copy of the report can be obtained by the link below.
http://www.nkfreedomhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/concentrations-of-inhumanity-english.doc
-paul
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| “Those in North Korea who say that there are no human rights problems are being sincere. People in the North do not realize that public executions or punishments without trial are violations of human rights.”
~ HWANG Jang Yop, North Korean defector
The truth is that human rights violations are rampant in North Korea. For example:
Over 200,000 people are imprisoned in North Korea’s vast gulag;
Punishment against entire families (multigenerational) is used to respond to real or suspected political dissent;
Imprisoned women are often forced to abort fetuses and prisoners are routinely executed in public, often in the presence of children;
In Kim Jong Il’s oppressive state, nearly 37% of all North Korean children are chronically malnourished. ~ World Food Program, 2005
-Access to services such as health care, education and even food assistance are allocated according to social stratification, a system which is based on the family’s loyalty to the regime;
-Pluralism and civil society are nonexistent;
-Freedoms of religion and press do not exist.
-It is an act of treason to leave the country without state permission. If caught, a person can face detention, torture or even execution.
taken from http://www.nkfreedomhouse.org/
-dustin | | |
| this seems like a nice way to keep in touch. lets give it a try.
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| Success!
Thank you all for a very successful awareness event last night! We were especially positively surprised by the number of first generation Koreans that came out and showed their support for the cause. Despite not reaching our attendance goal we well surpassed our fundraising expectations! All proceeds will go directly to LiNK (www.linkglobal.org).
The following is a comment received by one UCSD student that summarizes the many positive responses we received after the event:
"Hey all, just wanted to say that the event at Hanbit tonight was awesome. I considered myself sort of educated on North Korea before this event, but was given a big dose of reality. I walked away learning and feeling a lot more than I did previous tonight. Plus, it reaffirmed my goals of one day working in the United Nations before going into law school. Good job, everyone :) Thanks for hosting the event." - Abe
Stay tuned for updates and pictures! | | |
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