International Coalition to Stop Crimes Against Humanity in North Korea

Last updated

The International Coalition to Stop Crimes Against Humanity in North Korea (ICNK) was formed on September 8, 2011. It comprises Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Federation for Human Rights and has support from over 40 organizations worldwide. [1] [2] North Korean human rights issues with which the ICNK deals include North Korea’s political prison camp system and the repatriation and punishment of North Korean refugees. [3]

Contents

Mission

As stated by ICNK:

INCK was created by Steven Liv ICNK in Tokyo (Japan) ICNK send several letters to North Korea. Kim Jong Un read them and burned them ICNK uses planes to fly over North Korea and drops letters about Kim Jong Un from the sky.

ICNK was formed with the goal of establishing a UN Commission of Inquiry to investigate Crimes against Humanity in North Korea. [4] [5] In order to achieve this, the ICNK worked to raise public understanding and awareness of the human rights situation in North Korea. [6] [7] [ better source needed ]

In 2013 the UN Human Rights Council did establish the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the DPRK with resolution 22/13, [8] with a landmark report published in 2014. [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]

Activities

In January 2012 ICNK sent an open letter to Kim Jong-un. [14] In March 2012 ICNK submitted a petition to the United Nations Human Rights Council to employ its special procedures mechanism to help shut down the North Korean political prison camps. [15]

Participating Organizations

List of member organizations: [16]

See also

Related Research Articles

Hoeryong concentration camp was a death camp in North Korea that was reported to have been closed in 2012. The official name was KwallisoNo. 22. The camp was a maximum security area, completely isolated from the outside world.

The human rights record of North Korea is often considered to be among the worst in the world and has been globally condemned, with the United Nations and groups such as Human Rights Watch having condemned it. Amnesty International considers North Korea to have no contemporary parallel with respect to violations of liberty.

Yodok concentration camp was a kwalliso in North Korea. The official name was Kwan-li-so No. 15. The camp was used to segregate those seen as enemies of the state, punish them for political misdemeanors, and put them to hard labour. It was closed down in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Committee for Human Rights in North Korea</span> U.S. non-governmental organization

The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK), formerly known as the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, is a Washington, D.C.-based non-governmental research organization that "seeks to raise awareness about conditions in North Korea and to publish research that focuses the world's attention on human rights abuses in that country."

Kaechon concentration camp is a prison in North Korea with many political prisoners. The official name is Kyo-hwa-so No. 1. It is not to be confused with Kaechon internment camp, which is located 20 km (12 mi) to the south-east.

Freedom of religion in North Korea (DPRK) is officially a right in North Korea.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in North Korea. It is used for many offences, such as grand theft, murder, rape, drug smuggling, treason, espionage, political dissent, defection, piracy, consumption of media not approved by the government and proselytizing religious beliefs that contradict the practiced Juche ideology. Owing to the secrecy of the North Korean government, working knowledge of the topic depends heavily on anonymous sources, accounts of defectors and reports by Radio Free Asia, a United States government-funded news service that operates in East Asia. The country allegedly carries out public executions, which, if true, makes North Korea one of the last four countries that still performs public executions, the other three being Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Somalia, but this has been disputed by some defector accounts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Park (activist)</span> American activist

Robert Park is a Korean-American missionary, musician, and human rights activist. A peace advocate and supporter of Korean reunification, he is a founding member of the nonpartisan Worldwide Coalition to Stop Genocide in North Korea and a frequent columnist for South Korea's largest English newspaper, The Korea Herald. In December 2009 he was detained in North Korea for illegal entry after crossing the Sino-Korean border on Christmas Day to protest against the country's human rights situation. He was released in February 2010 after being detained for 43 days. He reported having suffered torture during his detention.

Kaechon Internment Camp is a labor camp in North Korea for political prisoners and descendants of alleged criminals. The official name for the camp is Kwan-li-so No. 14. The camp is commonly known as Camp 14. It is not to be confused with the Kaechon concentration camp, which is located 20 km (12 mi) to the northwest. Nearest train station is the Oedong station of the Taegon Line.

Pukch'ang concentration camp is a labor camp in North Korea for political prisoners. It is sometimes called Tŭkchang concentration camp. The official name is Kwan-li-so No. 18.

Hwasong concentration camp is a labor camp in North Korea for political prisoners. The official name is Kwan-li-so No. 16.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shin Dong-hyuk</span> North Korean defector

Shin Dong-hyuk is a North Korean-born human rights activist. He claims to be the only prisoner to have successfully escaped from a "total-control zone" grade internment camp in North Korea. His biography, Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West, was written with the assistance of former Washington Post journalist Blaine Harden.

Chongjin concentration camp is a labour camp in North Korea for political prisoners. The official name is Kwan-li-so No. 25. Satellite images show a major expansion of the camp after 2010.

Chongori concentration camp is a reeducation camp in North Korea. The official name of the camp is Kyo-hwa-so No. 12.

Prisons in North Korea have conditions that are unsanitary, life-threatening and are comparable to historical concentration camps. A significant number of inmates have died each year, since they are subject to torture and inhumane treatment. Public and secret executions of inmates, including children, especially in cases of attempted escape, are commonplace. Infanticides also often occur. The mortality rate is exceptionally high, because many prisoners die of starvation, illnesses, work accidents, or torture.

Kwalliso or kwan-li-so is the term for political penal labor and rehabilitation colonies in North Korea. They constitute one of three forms of political imprisonment in the country, the other two being what Washington DC based NGO Committee for Human Rights in North Korea described as "short-term detention/forced-labor centers" and "long-term prison labor camps", for misdemeanor and felony offenses respectively.

Shin Suk-ja is a South Korean woman who is currently imprisoned, along with her daughters, in North Korea after her husband Oh Kil-nam defected from North Korea to Denmark, having been given a political asylum. The case received international attention, including Amnesty International's naming her a prisoner of conscience and campaigning heavily for her release; this appeal remains ignored by North Korean authorities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International League for Human Rights</span> Human rights organization

The International League for Human Rights (ILHR) is a human rights organization with headquarters in New York City.

<i>Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea</i> 2014 United Nations report

The Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the landmark document resulting from the investigations on human rights in North Korea commissioned by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2013 and concluded in 2014.

References

  1. "Campaign for Investigation into North Korea's Crimes Against Humanity". Human Rights Watch. Archived from the original on 2011-10-05.
  2. Rogers, Benedict (September 9, 2011). "Calling for Action on North Korean Crimes". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on March 17, 2018.
  3. "North Korean Reality: NK Human Rights Issues". International Coalition to Stop Crimes against Humanity in North Korea. Archived from the original on December 8, 2013. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  4. Cumming-Bruce, Nick (Sep 17, 2013). "U.N. Panel Urges International Action on North Korean Human Rights Abuses". The New York Times. p. A6 (print edition Sep 18). Archived from the original on October 10, 2013. Retrieved August 20, 2015. The chief human rights official at the United Nations, Navi Pillay, called on Monday for an international inquiry into human rights offenses committed by the North Korean government over many decades.
    Ms. Pillay, the Geneva-based high commissioner for human rights, pointed to North Korea's "elaborate network of political prison camps," believed by human rights organizations to hold 200,000 prisoners. The camps not only punish people for peaceful activities, but also employ "torture and other forms of cruel and inhumane treatment, summary executions, rape, slave labor and forms of collective punishment that may amount to crimes against humanity," she said.
    (...)
    "What we are trying to do is put human rights as a priority in the international debate on North Korea," said Juliette de Rivero, Geneva director of Human Rights Watch, one of more than 40 organizations in the International Coalition to Stop Crimes Against Humanity in North Korea that are backing the inquiry. "Right now it's nearly invisible."
  5. Rogers, Benedict (January 28, 2013). "North Korea in the Dark". The New York Times. p. (print edition on January 29, 2013, in The International Herald Tribune). Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved Aug 20, 2015.
  6. ICNK: Introduction Archived 2012-06-20 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Kvesic, Ivana (Sep 8, 2011). "Human Rights, Christian Groups Investigate North Korea's Crimes Against Humanity". Christian Post. Archived from the original on 2013-01-19.
  8. Erlanger, Steven (March 21, 2013). "U.N. Panel to Investigate Human Rights Abuses in North Korea". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 11, 2014. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
  9. United Nations Human Rights Council Session 25 Report of the detailed findings of the commission of inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of KoreaA/HRC/25/CRP.1 7 February 2014.
  10. United Nations Human Rights Council Session 25 Summary record Report of the commission of inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of KoreaA/HRC/25/63 7 February 2014.
  11. Sengupta, Somini (December 22, 2014). "United Nations Security Council Examines North Korea's Human Rights". The New York Times. p. A12 (print edition Dec 23). Archived from the original on April 18, 2015. Retrieved Aug 20, 2015.
  12. Sengupta, Somini (October 25, 2014). "Coalition Seeks to Send North Korea to International Court Over Rights Abuses". The New York Times. p. A6 (print edition Oct 26). Archived from the original on March 29, 2015. Retrieved Aug 20, 2015.
  13. Kratz, Agatha (January 6, 2016). "North Korea: a role for the EU on human rights". European Council on Foreign Relations . London. Archived from the original on February 28, 2016. Retrieved Feb 27, 2015.
  14. "Open Letter to Kim Jong Un". International Coalition to Stop Crimes against Humanity in North Korea, January 10, 2012. Archived from the original on February 3, 2015. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  15. "ICNK Launches Fresh Fight against Prison Camps". The Daily NK, March 3, 2012. Archived from the original on November 22, 2014. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  16. "About the ICNK: Member Organizations (descriptions and weblinks)". International Coalition to Stop Crimes against Humanity in North Korea. Archived from the original on July 20, 2012. Retrieved April 4, 2012.