The sudden execution of Jang Song-t

158. 
     While an examination of the foregoing internal dynamics provides one explanation for the evolution of the DPRK and its human rights situation, it is also useful to examine the external environment to understand the particular influences that have shaped the character of the state. The end of World War II brought to the forefront aspirations of many colonized peoples for national independence, including the Koreans. At the same time, the new world order gave rise to rivalry between the United States and its allies and the Soviet Union and its allies. The Cold War has played an important role in the international relations that have impacted the DPRK. Equally important have been regional dynamics.
     
159. 
     China has repeatedly expressed the desire for denuclearization of the peninsula,¹¹³ and stability in the DPRK appears to be the main priority for China. Nevertheless, the majority of North Koreans who have sought to flee the DPRK have done so by crossing the border into China and transiting overland to reach South East Asia.¹¹⁴ This has raised questions regarding China’s treatment of these North Koreans and its adherence to international human rights law,¹¹⁵ while human rights violations in the DPRK have directly impacted China.
     
160. 
     The Japan-DPRK Pyongyang Declaration following the 2002 summit noted that “establishing a fruitful political, economic and cultural relationship between Japan and the DPRK through the settlement of unfortunate past between them and the outstanding issues of concern would be consistent with the fundamental interests of both sides, and would greatly contribute to the peace and stability of the region.”¹¹⁶ The process was derailed by the failure of the DPRK to follow up on its admission of the abduction of Japanese nationals.¹¹⁷ The abductions issue continues to resound forcefully with the Japanese public, as do the security threats from nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles that the DPRK has tested and continues to develop.
     
161. 
     Both the ROK and the DPRK have stated that unification of the peninsula is a goal. Under the ROK’s National Security Law, anyone who knowingly supports or encourages “anti-state” entities faces up to seven years’ imprisonment. Unauthorized trips to the DPRK also remain forbidden. In recent years, the ROK has increased efforts to assist DPRK citizens who have fled the DPRK. The DPRK has countered that citizens of the DPRK who have escaped or are attempting to flee have been trafficked. Since 2007, there have not been any ministerial level talks between the ROK and the DPRK. President Park Geun-hye announced a new framework in the ROK’s approach to relations with the DPRK, using the term “Trustpolitik” to refer to an incremental trust-building process that would both provide a tough position as well as flexibility for negotiating when there are openings.¹¹⁸ Cabinet-level talks that were scheduled for 12 June 2013 in Seoul were aborted after the two sides failed to agree on the composition of the delegations. Beyond the aborted ministerial level talks, the new administration’s experience in negotiating with the DPRK has yielded mixed results. While the Kaesong Industrial Complex was reopened in September 2013 after marathon rounds of talks, family reunions organized for the national Chosuk (Harvest Festival) holiday were abruptly cancelled by the DPRK, after having raised the hopes of long separated and mostly elderly family members on different sides of the Korean border. Following Kim Jong-un’s 2014 New Year’s address urging the ROK to “put an end to slander and calumny that brings no good to either side” and his offer to “join hands with anyone who opts to promote inter-Korean relations…regardless of his or her past”, President Park proposed resumption of temporary family reunions for the Lunar New Year. The proposal was rejected by the DPRK.
     
162. 
     The Commission recalls that the Korean War has not been concluded. In 2013, 85 year-old United States citizen Merrill Newman, a veteran who fought in the Korean War, was arrested and detained for over one month in the DPRK. This event again highlights the sensitivities over the Korean War that remain in the DPRK. Resolution of this conflict may need to be part of any process that integrates the DPRK into the international community as a responsible nation-state that respects the human rights of its own people. Likewise, the DPRK has continued to express discontent over the colonial occupation. These matters similarly require attention as part of that process. Pursuing gradual progress on these matters should not detract from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea's obligations under international law that it must immediately implement.
     

A. Violations of the freedoms of thought, expression and religion

163. 
     Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) provides for the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. The Commission considered this provision along with article 20 of the ICCPR when assessing the allegations of human rights violations regarding the indoctrination of the DPRK people by the state. It is noted that article 14 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) further provides the same right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion specifically for children.
     
164. 
     When looking at the extent the DPRK people are able to freely express their opinions, access information and join associations, the Commission is guided by articles 19 and 22 of the ICCPR as well as articles 12, 13, 15 and 17 of the CRC.
     

165. 
     The population of the DPRK is indoctrinated from a young age in accordance with the single state ideology and the Ten Principles as sustained by the Supreme Leader and the Workers’ Party of Korea to such a degree that it not only infringes on the freedom to seek and receive information as article 19 of the ICCPR and article 17 of the CRC envisage, but it also supresses the emergence and development of free thought and conscience, which is protected by article 18 of the ICCPR and article 14 of the CRC. The Human Rights Committee has commented that the latter right is far-reaching and profound, and encompasses freedom of thought on all matters. The fundamental character of these freedoms is also reflected in the fact that this provision cannot be derogated from, even in times of public emergency.¹¹⁹
     

166. 
     Children are taught to revere and idolize Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, and now Kim Jong-un. Plaques with slogans, posters and drawings expressing gratitude to the Supreme Leader are found in kindergartens irrespective of the children’s ability to fully comprehend these messages.¹²⁰ In addition to the usual subjects in schools, such as mathematics, science, art and music, an unusually large portion of the school syllabus is dedicated to the instruction about achievements and teachings of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, including the Ten Principles and the DPRK’s official version of its revolutionary history.¹²¹ One former educator in the DPRK suggests that the teachings of ideology based on the writings of and about Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il in fact “constitutes most of the education” in the DPRK.¹²² The contents of these teachings are customized to suit the students’ capacity to understand and then memorize them.¹²³ If the students do not perform well on the subjects of Kim Il-sung’s philosophy and revolutionary history, they may be punished even if they do extremely well in other subjects.¹²⁴ These educational goals are contrary to those outlined in article 29 of the CRC.
     
167. 
     There are two basic themes central to the North Korean indoctrination programme. One is to instil utmost loyalty and commitment towards the Supreme Leader. The other is to instil hostility and deep hatred towards Japan, the United States of America (USA), and the Republic of Korea (ROK). The latter objective is pursued with such deliberate and systematic efforts that it clearly amounts to advocacy of national hatred constituting incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence, and to propaganda for war, in violation of article 20 of the ICCPR.¹²⁵
     
168. 
     Children are taught that they should aspire only to emulate Kim Il-sung. For example, those inclined to drawing are encouraged only to draw pictures of the Supreme Leader or make drawings which might have pleased Kim Il-sung. Good drawings are put up in schools. Typically, they either depict the Kim family or they depict children stabbing Japanese or American soldiers with swords or pencils.¹²⁶
     

• 
  One witness stated that as a school student, drawing anything other than images to please Kim Il-sung never occurred to him. He was interested in becoming a great warrior, to become a killer of the enemies, going to the Republic of Korea and dying for the sake of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il.¹²⁷
  

169. 
     Children are encouraged to be willing to risk their lives for the values of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, more so than for their own parents.¹²⁸ Children are surrounded by patriotic images and slogans projecting Kim Il-sung as a fatherly figure, protecting the nation and providing for its citizens.¹²⁹ Such messaging and indoctrination serves not only to create loyalty to the leader from a young age, but effectively works to fracture familial ties as children are expected to display greater respect and commitment towards the Supreme Leader than their own parents.
     
170. 
     All school subjects are taught in a manner compatible with state ideology. For example, one witness described that, when reference was made to a chemical gas in chemistry lessons, a comparison had to be made between how the two Korean governments would use the gas.¹³⁰ According to this rhetoric, while the DPRK aimed at industrial development, ROK would use it for tear gas against protestors discontented with the conditions of their lives. In a 1981 speech, Kim Il-sung had reminded that:
     

171. 
     Article 29 of the CRC outlines the goals of education for children. Disproportionate time allocation to allow worship of the Kim family in school is contrary to these goals. Most alarming are the teachings of hate, violence and racism in direct contravention of sub-articles (1)(c) and (d) of article 29.
     

172. 
     Children and university students in the DPRK are regularly required to participate in parades, mass rallies and other choreographed performances which serve a political purpose. The largest of these performances is the annual mass gymnastics, today generally referred to as the Mass Games.
     
173. 
     The Games feature approximately 100,000 children and young adults in a minutely choreographed display of gymnastics, dance, acrobatics, and dramatic performance. In a lengthy talk delivered to the producers of the Mass Games, Kim Jong-il in 1987 explained that the Mass Games not only aim at fostering a particularly healthy and strong physique in participants, but also a high degree of organization, discipline and collectivism in schoolchildren.¹³² He went on:
     

174. 
     The Mass Games have become a major source of foreign currency revenue for the DPRK. They attract large numbers of tourists, who are often unaware of the human rights violations endured by participating children, who are compelled to participate (unless their physical appearance does not meet the state-determined ideal). Training will often last an entire year, including 4-6 months during which the participants train all day at the expense of their schooling. Training practice is gruelling. Children who do not perfect their performances are subjected to physical punishment and additional evening training.
     

• 
  A former university sports teacher informed the Commission that he was required to train students for the Mass Games. He said students were forced to train 6-12 hours a day in very harsh conditions. Although most participants were school children and university students, some army personnel also participated. Anyone with any sort of disability was excluded. The witness recalled that many children fainted from fatigue during training. Many also suffered severe injuries.¹³³
  
• 
  In testimony before the Commission’s Tokyo Public Hearing, Ms L described how she missed an entire semester of university education because her class was required to practise for 6 months, 10 hours a day, for a short segment of a parade, to be held in the Kim Il-sung Stadium of Pyongyang in the presence of Kim Jong-il. Training was so intense that some participants fainted from exhaustion. Fainting was especially common during summer when students trained in the hot sun, on concrete floor. Practice emphasized perfection. Anyone who made repeated mistakes was made to remain on the training ground until midnight as a punishment. Ms L recalls that her teachers would invoke the example of a boy of 7 or 8 years of age who had practised through the intense pain of an acute appendicitis. He eventually died because he did not receive timely medical care. The dead child was treated as a hero because he had dedicated his entire life for an event in the presence of Kim Jong-il.¹³⁴
  

175. 
     The strict training routine for the Mass Games over such a long period and in such conditions is dangerous to the children’s health and well-being. The Commission finds such exploitation of children to be in contravention of articles 31 and 32 of the CRC providing for a child’s right to rest and leisure and to be protected from work that interferes with the child’s education or is harmful to the child’s health.
     

176. 
     Children in the DPRK are introduced at an early age to “confession and criticism” sessions. Children gather in groups weekly and take turns standing up and describing their activities for the previous week, as far as possible showing how they were living in accordance with the teachings of the Kim philosophy and the Ten Principles. The Principles are recited during the confession. Children must berate themselves if they have failed in some way during the preceding week; such as being absent from class or not having made a contribution as expected. They must then make a commitment to become better. They are also expected to describe the failings of at least one of their peers in the same group. Until they identify someone for criticism, they are not allowed to stand down.
     
177. 
     Weekly “confession and criticism” sessions constitute a method for the state to monitor any perceived foibles in its citizens.¹³⁵ These weekly sessions are carried out throughout the lives of the DPRK citizens. They take place in prison and labour training camps. They are also undertaken for those mobilized to carry out public construction works.
     
178. 
     Notably, sub-principle 4.5 of the Ten Principles calls for all to:
     

179. 
     It was reported in August 2013 that the Ten Principles were revised, for the first time in 39 years, to add Kim Jong-il’s name to that of Kim Il-sung to be honoured with loyalty by the people. It was further reported a month later that the DPRK authorities had “ordered a nationwide round of public criticism sessions and associated writings to determine whether [the revised Ten Principles] are being upheld”.¹³⁷
     
180. 
     In the aftermath of the execution of Kim Jong-un’s uncle, Jang Song-thaek, in December 2013, the number of indoctrination sessions across the country appears to have been increased, with the population expected to pledge their loyalty in writing and to reflect upon their own behaviour. The execution of Mr Jang had reportedly caused a considerable amount of bafflement and fear among the DPRK population.¹³⁸ However, there was no room for criticism of the process, its lack of transparency, its unseemly haste, and its violent ending. Only expressions designed to further the interests of the Supreme Leader and the dictates of the leadership are tolerated.
     

181. 
     Article 22 of the ICCPR, article 15 of the CRC, and the DPRK Constitution provide for the right to freedom of association.¹³⁹
     
182. 
     The DPRK has claimed that if anyone wishes to form a democratic social organization, an application should be sent to the Cabinet thirty days in advance, specifying the purpose of the organization, the number of its members, its organizational structure, date of inauguration, and the name of the leader, accompanied by a copy of the proposed statute.¹⁴⁰ There are reportedly associations such as the Unified Culture and Arts League, the Democratic Attorneys’ Association, the Anti-Nuclear Peace Committee and the Africa-Asia Coalition Committee. However, all of these bodies appear to also be under the oversight of the Workers’ Party of Korea.¹⁴¹ In practice, not a single officially registered political party or civil society organization appears to exist that is not effectively under the control of the state and of the Workers’ Party of Korea.
     
183. 
     All citizens are required to become members of and participate in the activities of mass associations that are under the oversight of the Workers’ Party of Korea.¹⁴² Membership starts on entry to elementary school.¹⁴³ All children aged between 7 and 13 are made members of the Children’s Union. Their activities are overseen by officials of the Kim Il-sung Socialist Youth League, which is made up of DPRK citizens aged between 14 and 30.¹⁴⁴ After the age of 30, a citizen becomes a member of the General Federation of Korean Trade Unions, Democratic Women’s Union or the Union of Agricultural Working People depending on one’s employment and marital status.¹⁴⁵ Although the on-going socio-economic changes make Party membership less attractive than in the past, most citizens would still aspire to become a member of the Workers’ Party of Korea. This is, however, a privilege granted only to about 15 per cent of the population. Party members also become officials of the mass associations controlled by the Party.¹⁴⁶ It is compulsory to be a member of one of these associations until one’s death.¹⁴⁷ One witness remarked that even those who were forcibly repatriated would resume membership upon release from detention.¹⁴⁸
     
184. 
     Membership of these associations serves several basic functions. One is to organize and monitor the daily activities of the people whether at work or outside of work. Another is to ensure continued indoctrination through regular classes on teachings of the Kim philosophy as well as sharing of information on current and foreign affairs.¹⁴⁹
     

• 
  A former official for the Kim Il-sung Socialist Youth League spoke of four categories of basic duties to be discharged by members of the Youth League. First and foremost is the duty to “worship the Kim family”. Second is the duty to “arm the people” with revolutionary ideas. Third is the duty to “secure the nation” through the monitoring and assessment of loyalty. Fourth is the duty to “build the socialist economy” by mobilizing select groups of people to carry out construction and related works.¹⁵⁰
  
• 
  Once a member of the Children’s Union, one witness spoke of striving to be a model student, and to be exemplary in her studies and in extra-curricular activities. She and other students were also expected to contribute towards their school by donating materials such as used paper and used vinyl paper.¹⁵¹
  
• 
  Another witness spoke of the Children’s Union members being engaged in certain activities such as chanting slogans of the Workers’ Party of Korea and beating drums on the street to secure public attention. They would also be asked to carry out activities aimed at generating income for the state as well as to chant slogans during election periods.¹⁵²
  
• 
  One witness who was one of the officials for the Women’s Democratic Union explained that they are responsible for, among others, ensuring that lectures are administered for its members on Juche and revolutionary history, as well as on internal politics and foreign affairs. Members are also assigned to attain goods which may be sold to earn foreign currency. For example, in one year members are expected to deliver one gram of gold, two adult hares’ skin and two dogs’ skin. These would be collected and sent to the central level of the Party.¹⁵³
  

185. 
     A major activity undertaken by the Youth League is to mobilize its members and administer “volunteer” labour units to carry out public construction works. It is expected that ordinary DPRK citizens, aged from 17 years old onwards, would be mobilized and enlisted into groups to work on various construction projects building roads or public structures. At the level of a county, only a group of 1,000 would be required; 20,000 at the provincial level and as many as 100,000 people would be necessary for projects in a large city such as Pyongyang.¹⁵⁴ Those selected to perform these duties reportedly consider it an honour to serve in this way. Such participation is viewed as one of the stepping stones to improving one’s chances of becoming a member of the Workers’ Party of Korea or being accepted for further study.
     
186. 
     Refusing participation in these activities does not appear to be an option as doing so would reduce one’s prospects for social and political mobility and leave a black mark on one’s dossier.¹⁵⁵ In addition to a registration system where all DPRK citizens are issued an identity card which they keep in their possession, there is another record system maintained by the Government with respect to each individual which has direct impact on one’s ability to succeed and advance in society, and which the individual has no right to access.¹⁵⁶