Post by Michael on May 11, 2004 5:06:23 GMT -5
Country Profile, North Korea
Overall Human Rights Situation
Human rights are repressed at every level in North Korea. Lack of the
rule of law and arbitrary treatment create a culture of repression
and fear. The practice of torture, violations of the right to life
and physical integrity appear to be frequent and systematic. Actions
or statements deemed to indicate a lack of total support for the
regime are harshly suppressed. Freedom of movement, assembly and
association are strictly controlled and even freedom of thought is
repressed.
Religious Liberty
Religious freedom is harshly repressed in North Korea. Following
Christianity is viewed as an extremely serious crime. Kim Il Sung,
the `Great Leader', has been exalted and is revered as a god to be
followed with unswerving obedience. Faith in a greater power is
ruthlessly repressed and the word for God has been banned in North
Korea.
Believers are not free to fellowship. Surveillance and informing is
so widespread that meeting together would be fraught with danger.
Even parents often do not allow their children to know of their
faith, as teachers ask the children questions to make them
unwittingly inform on their parents.
Severe Repression
Most North Koreans have never heard the gospel, met a Christian or
seen a church or Bible. North Koreans are brought up to believe that
Christians are deranged and often only know them by the term `crazy
people'.
Persecution of Christians
Before the communist regime was installed, the north was a centre of
revival and Pyongyang was known as the Jerusalem of the East. Most
Christians fled to the South during the Korean War, or were martyred.
A few Christians have managed to hold on to their faith despite the
horrific persecution. Many Christians have been publicly executed and
others have been taken away to camps where they are subject to brutal
treatment. They will never be allowed out of the camps, alive or dead
and are worked to death in brutal conditions and terrible
deprivation.
Christians suffer especially cruel treatment in these death camps as
they are under ongoing pressure to renounce their faith. They are
subject to frequent torture and abuse and are also forced to do the
most gruelling and dangerous work, both by guards and fellow
prisoners.
Execution
Even internment in prison is not the harshest punishment. Christians
are also executed for their faith.
Eyewitnesses have seen Christians dragged out, unable to stand due to
torture, denounced for their faith and shot dead. They are typically
tied to a pole - although it is even reported that victims are
attached to crucifixes - and then shot through the head, heart and
stomach by three marksmen.
Execution has been particularly commonly referred to as the
punishment for those North Koreans who return from China having had
contact with Christians or with South Koreans.
The Plight of Those Leaving the Country
Due to the food shortages, North Koreans have been fleeing into
China, where they are liable to fall into the hands of criminals.
Women, especially, are terribly vulnerable and are often unwittingly
sold to Chinese men, who frequently then keep them under lock and key
and subject them to terrible sexual, physical and emotional abuse and
then sell them on or rent them out to others.
As China deems all North Koreans to be illegal immigrants, the women
have nowhere to turn as they cannot appeal to the authorities. If
they are caught they are liable to be attached to others with wire -
which is passed through their wrists or noses - and sent back over
the border. In North Korea they face horrific treatment.
Some of those returned are executed, women found pregnant are often
subject to forced abortion or their babies are even killed in front
of them.
The alternative scenario for those escaping is that they are
protected by missionaries. These individuals face a much better
future. They are sheltered away from capture and are provided with
food and clothes. Their lives are not easy as they still cannot live
normally or provide for themselves, but they can live free from the
violence and abuse they could otherwise expect to experience.
North Koreans consider China a free and prosperous country. In their
first encounter with the outside world many realise that the forced
indoctrination and worship of North Korean leaders is false. While in
the care of the missionaries they are taught about God for the first
time in their lives and have their first opportunity to open their
hearts to the gospel.
The Cult of Kim Il Sung
Kim Il Sung, North Korea's dead but current head of state
and `Eternal President', and his son Kim Jong Il, the `Dear Leader'
are the subject of worship and veneration unique to political leaders
in the world today. Citizens are taught that all good things come
from the leaders, who deserve unending loyalty and devotion. Due to
the isolation, North Koreans genuinely believe this and worship them,
bowing before the enormous statue of Kim Il Sung and memorising his
speeches and texts. North Korean must have pictures of the two
leaders in their homes and failure to keep them clean is viewed as a
political crime. State propaganda accords the `Great Leader'
supernatural powers and control over nature.
Famine
North Korea has been devastated by famine in the last decade.
Estimates suggest that the death rate runs into the millions. Massive
floods swept much of North Korea in 1994, aggravating the country's
chronic food shortage caused by decades of inefficient collective
farming. Eighty-five percent of the country's children are
malnourished
World Food Program (WPF) is the largest international aid
organisation in North Korea. Since 1995, WFP has distributed a total
of 2 million metric tons of food aid worth $500 million. There are
grave concerns that much of this aid is diverted to the military and
does not reach the starving civilians.The famine has resulted in an
estimated 100 - 300,000 North Koreans crossing the border to China.
Source: Christian Solidarity Worldwide
Overall Human Rights Situation
Human rights are repressed at every level in North Korea. Lack of the
rule of law and arbitrary treatment create a culture of repression
and fear. The practice of torture, violations of the right to life
and physical integrity appear to be frequent and systematic. Actions
or statements deemed to indicate a lack of total support for the
regime are harshly suppressed. Freedom of movement, assembly and
association are strictly controlled and even freedom of thought is
repressed.
Religious Liberty
Religious freedom is harshly repressed in North Korea. Following
Christianity is viewed as an extremely serious crime. Kim Il Sung,
the `Great Leader', has been exalted and is revered as a god to be
followed with unswerving obedience. Faith in a greater power is
ruthlessly repressed and the word for God has been banned in North
Korea.
Believers are not free to fellowship. Surveillance and informing is
so widespread that meeting together would be fraught with danger.
Even parents often do not allow their children to know of their
faith, as teachers ask the children questions to make them
unwittingly inform on their parents.
Severe Repression
Most North Koreans have never heard the gospel, met a Christian or
seen a church or Bible. North Koreans are brought up to believe that
Christians are deranged and often only know them by the term `crazy
people'.
Persecution of Christians
Before the communist regime was installed, the north was a centre of
revival and Pyongyang was known as the Jerusalem of the East. Most
Christians fled to the South during the Korean War, or were martyred.
A few Christians have managed to hold on to their faith despite the
horrific persecution. Many Christians have been publicly executed and
others have been taken away to camps where they are subject to brutal
treatment. They will never be allowed out of the camps, alive or dead
and are worked to death in brutal conditions and terrible
deprivation.
Christians suffer especially cruel treatment in these death camps as
they are under ongoing pressure to renounce their faith. They are
subject to frequent torture and abuse and are also forced to do the
most gruelling and dangerous work, both by guards and fellow
prisoners.
Execution
Even internment in prison is not the harshest punishment. Christians
are also executed for their faith.
Eyewitnesses have seen Christians dragged out, unable to stand due to
torture, denounced for their faith and shot dead. They are typically
tied to a pole - although it is even reported that victims are
attached to crucifixes - and then shot through the head, heart and
stomach by three marksmen.
Execution has been particularly commonly referred to as the
punishment for those North Koreans who return from China having had
contact with Christians or with South Koreans.
The Plight of Those Leaving the Country
Due to the food shortages, North Koreans have been fleeing into
China, where they are liable to fall into the hands of criminals.
Women, especially, are terribly vulnerable and are often unwittingly
sold to Chinese men, who frequently then keep them under lock and key
and subject them to terrible sexual, physical and emotional abuse and
then sell them on or rent them out to others.
As China deems all North Koreans to be illegal immigrants, the women
have nowhere to turn as they cannot appeal to the authorities. If
they are caught they are liable to be attached to others with wire -
which is passed through their wrists or noses - and sent back over
the border. In North Korea they face horrific treatment.
Some of those returned are executed, women found pregnant are often
subject to forced abortion or their babies are even killed in front
of them.
The alternative scenario for those escaping is that they are
protected by missionaries. These individuals face a much better
future. They are sheltered away from capture and are provided with
food and clothes. Their lives are not easy as they still cannot live
normally or provide for themselves, but they can live free from the
violence and abuse they could otherwise expect to experience.
North Koreans consider China a free and prosperous country. In their
first encounter with the outside world many realise that the forced
indoctrination and worship of North Korean leaders is false. While in
the care of the missionaries they are taught about God for the first
time in their lives and have their first opportunity to open their
hearts to the gospel.
The Cult of Kim Il Sung
Kim Il Sung, North Korea's dead but current head of state
and `Eternal President', and his son Kim Jong Il, the `Dear Leader'
are the subject of worship and veneration unique to political leaders
in the world today. Citizens are taught that all good things come
from the leaders, who deserve unending loyalty and devotion. Due to
the isolation, North Koreans genuinely believe this and worship them,
bowing before the enormous statue of Kim Il Sung and memorising his
speeches and texts. North Korean must have pictures of the two
leaders in their homes and failure to keep them clean is viewed as a
political crime. State propaganda accords the `Great Leader'
supernatural powers and control over nature.
Famine
North Korea has been devastated by famine in the last decade.
Estimates suggest that the death rate runs into the millions. Massive
floods swept much of North Korea in 1994, aggravating the country's
chronic food shortage caused by decades of inefficient collective
farming. Eighty-five percent of the country's children are
malnourished
World Food Program (WPF) is the largest international aid
organisation in North Korea. Since 1995, WFP has distributed a total
of 2 million metric tons of food aid worth $500 million. There are
grave concerns that much of this aid is diverted to the military and
does not reach the starving civilians.The famine has resulted in an
estimated 100 - 300,000 North Koreans crossing the border to China.
Source: Christian Solidarity Worldwide