(DPRK/NORTH KOREA)
Religious freedom is essentially absent in North Korea, where the
government severely represses public and private religious activities
and enforces a policy of actively discriminating against religious
believers. The Commission has received reports that DPRK officials
have arrested, imprisoned, tortured, and sometimes executed North
Korean citizens who were found to have ties with overseas Christian
evangelical groups operating across the border in China, as well
as those who engaged in unauthorized religious activities such as
public religious expression and persuasion. According to testimony
delivered at the Commission's hearing on North Korea in January
2002, access to updated information about North Korea remains extremely
limited. There is no evidence that there has been any improvement
in the conditions for religious freedom in the past year.
In recent years, the government has formed several religious organizations
that it controls for the purpose of severely restricting religious
activities in the country. For example, the Korean Buddhist Federation
prohibits Buddhist monks from worshiping at "official"
North Korean temples. Most of the remaining temples that have escaped
government destruction since the Korean War are regarded as cultural
relics rather than religious sites. Similarly, the Korean Christian
Federation restricts Christian activities. Following the reported
wholesale destruction of over 1,500 churches during Kim Il Sung's
reign (1948-1994), two Protestant churches and a Roman Catholic
church, without a priest, opened in Pyongyang in 1988. However,
the absence of a priest for Roman Catholics means that Mass cannot
be celebrated and most sacraments cannot be performed. Several foreign
residents have reported that they regularly attend services at these
churches and that it is clear that whatever public religious activity
exists, such as services at these churches, is staged for their
benefit.
Persons found carrying Bibles in public or distributing religious
literature, or engaging in unauthorized religious activities such
as public religious expression and persuasion are arrested and imprisoned.
There continue to be reports of torture and execution of religious
believers. Although the practice of imprisoning religious believers
is apparently widespread, the State Department has been unable to
document the number of religious detainees or prisoners. According
to a press report from 2001, an estimated 6,000 Christians are incarcerated
in "Prison No. 15" located in the northern part of the
country. The Commission learned from testimony at its January 2002
hearing that prisoners held on the basis of their religious beliefs
are treated worse than other inmates. For example, religious prisoners,
especially Christians, are reportedly given the most dangerous tasks
while in prison. In addition, they are subject to constant abuse
from prison officials in an effort to force them to renounce their
faith. When they refuse, these religious prisoners are reportedly
beaten and have died following torture.
Officials have stratified North Korean society into 51 specific
categories on the basis of family background and perceived loyalty
to the regime. Religious adherents are by definition relegated to
a lower category, receiving fewer privileges and opportunities,
such as education and employment. Persons in lower categories have
reportedly been denied food aid.
Thousands of North Koreans have fled to China in recent years.
Refugees who are either forcibly repatriated or captured after having
voluntarily returned to the DPRK are accused of treason; those found
to have had contacts with South Koreans or Christian missionaries
are subjected to severe punishment, including the death penalty.
With regard to North Korea, the Commission has recommended that
the U.S. government should:
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develop and support ways to provide information to the people
of North Korea, particularly on religious freedom and other
human rights issues, including by expanding or developing broadcasts
that target a North Korean audience by the Voice of America
and Radio Free Asia;
-
use multilateral diplomacy to advance the protection of human
rights in North Korea, including by raising human rights violations
in North Korea in appropriate international fora, urging the
Republic of Korea and Japan to press for improvements on religious
freedom and other human rights in their talks with the DPRK,
and urging the European Union to include religious freedom concerns
as part of its human rights discussions with the North Korean
government;
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urge China, Russia, and other members of the international
community to grant refugee status to North Koreans;
-
urge the Chinese government to allow South Korean and international
non-governmental organizations greater access to northern China
and greater capacity to serve the needs of North Korean refugees;
-
use all available contacts to advance an agenda that includes
the provision of humanitarian assistance, the protection of
human rights, including the freedom of religion and belief,
and the reuniting of Korean Americans with their family members
in the DPRK, ensuring that the delivery of all humanitarian
assistance to North Korea is adequately monitored; and
-
work with the international community to urge the North Korean
government to permit monitoring of human rights conditions by
UN human rights mechanisms, and to lift restrictions on the
freedom of movement by foreign diplomats, independent journalists,
and others.
In addition, the U.S. Congress should fund an objective and comprehensive
study of human rights conditions in North Korea by a non-governmental
source, establish a congressional caucus to focus on human rights
in North Korea, and expand its funding for (a) organizations advocating
the protection of human rights in North Korea and (b) activities
that raise the awareness of human rights conditions in that country.
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