Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 2012: Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

摘要

The Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) is an authoritarian state led by the Kim family for more than 60 years. On July 17, Kim Jong Un became marshal of the DPRK and Supreme Commander of the Korean Peoples Army. Kim Jong Uns grandfather, the late Kim Il Sung, remains eternal president. The most recent national elections, held in March 2009, were neither free nor fair. Security forces report to Kim Jong Un and to the civilians and military officers that form the National Defense Commission, the supreme ruling body of the state. Citizens did not have the right to change their government. The government subjected citizens to rigid controls over many aspects of their lives, including denial of the freedoms of speech, press, assembly, association, religion, and movement and worker rights. There continued to be reports of a vast network of political prison camps in which conditions were often harsh and life threatening. Defectors continued to report extrajudicial killings, disappearances, arbitrary detention, arrests of political prisoners, and torture. The judiciary was not independent and did not provide fair trials. There continued to be reports of severe punishment of some repatriated refugees and their family members. There were reports of trafficked women among refugees and workers crossing the border into China. The government made no known attempts to prosecute officials who committed human rights abuses.