Korean+Conflict+Human+Rights

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= **Human Rights** = By Adam Klingenberger = =  The entire country of North Korea is dictated by one man: Kim Jong-il. Under his rule, millions of North Koreans have died from starvation, lack of medical care, or execution. North Koreans know few human rights, if any. According to the North Korea Freedom Coalition, the government strictly regulates the rights to "speech, opinion, thought, press, information, employment, movement, location of residence, food rations, assembly, association, and even the right to life" [NK Info] . It is not uncommon for petty crimes to land someone in a labor camp or for perceived loyalty to warrant an immediate execution. Prison detainees experience day-to-day torture, malnutrition, and other inhumane treatment.

http://www.nkfreedom.org/fileadmin/Image_Archive/Photo_2girls.jpg Even for the average citizen of North Korea, life is rough. An ineffective ideology of the regime is called Juche or self-reliance, which promotes political isolation and a lack of resources, is one of the major causes of starvation outside of Pyongyang, the North Korean capitol. Children suffer the most from the shortage of food. It was reported in 2003 that 42% of North Korean children suffer from chronic malnutrition [NK Info] .   This resulted in significant differences in height and weight compared with children from South Korea.

As to be expected, there are many refugees that try to escape the North Korean regime. Estimates place this number at about 300,000 refugees [NK Info] . The problem is worsened by China's refusal to accept refugees as temporary citizens. Some refugees attempt to survive within China's borders, living in constant fear of the authorities; other fortunate refugees manage to travel to South Korea by way of a series of "underground railroads" [NK Info]  set up by people secretly working in China. Furthermore, humanitarian aid workers found helping North Korean refugees are often prosecuted and imprisoned.



According to the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, there is a large network of labor camps in North Korea <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; vertical-align: super;">[NK Info] <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">. People are often imprisoned without a judicial process to work in these camps that many compare to the Nazi concentration camps. Brutal treatments in these camps include torture, hard labor, starvation, forced abortions, infanticide, public executions, chemical and medical experimentation on prisoners, and gas chambers. Thousands of deaths have occurred as a result of the camps.

http://www.linkglobal.org/xchange/images/Nk_refugees.jpg

http://www.nkfreedom.org/fileadmin/Image_Archive/satellite_photo_prisons.jpg <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Ms. Soon Ok Lee, a survivor of the North Korean labor camps, presents heartbreaking testimony: "A prisoner has no right to talk, laugh, sing or look in a mirror. Prisoners must kneel down on the ground and keep their heads down deeply whenever called by a guard, they can say nothing except to answer questions asked. Women prisoners' babies are killed on delivery. Prisoners have to work as slaves for 18 hours daily. Repeated failure to meet the work quotas means a week's time in a punishment cell. A prisoner must give up her human worth" <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; vertical-align: super;">[Lee] <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">. Lee's suffering brings an explicit call to action to all responsible nations of the world to end the restriction of human rights in North Korea.

For more information on human rights in North Korea, visit [].

To read the rest of Soon Ok Lee's testimony, visit [].