North Korea Report Finds Freedom of Religion or Belief ‘Largely Non-Existent’

North Korea Report Finds Freedom of Religion or Belief ‘Largely Non-Existent’

By Michael Ireland, Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net)

NEW MALDEN, UNITED KINGDOM (ANS, Oct.1, 2016) -- A new report on freedom of religion or belief in North Korea, released by Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) www.csw.org.uk , provides further evidence that freedom of religion or belief is a human right that is “largely non-existent” in the country.

Titled ‘Total Denial: Violations of Freedom of Religion or Belief in North Korea’, the report details the persecution of Christians and discrimination against other religions and beliefs including Buddhism and Shamanism.

The report also explores the detention of North Korean refugees in China and the Chinese government’s policy of repatriating them to North Korea.

Recently, Save North Koreans Day, a global day of action was organized during which people around the world were slated to deliver a letter to Chinese embassies to urge China to change its policy and allow North Koreans safe passage through China to sanctuary in South Korea or beyond.

CSW says that in 2014, the United Nations Commission of Inquiry (COI) into human rights in North Korea found that, “there is almost complete denial of the right to freedom of thought conscience and religion as well as the right to freedom of opinion, expression, information and association” in North Korea, as well as possible crimes against humanity being perpetrated against the North Korean people. The Commission also noted that the regime in North Korea “considers the spread of Christianity a particularly severe threat” and as a result, “Christians are prohibited from practicing their religion and are persecuted.” Severe punishments are inflicted on “people caught practicing Christianity.”

CSW’s new report states: “Christians usually practice their faith in secret. If discovered they are subject to detention and then likely taken to prison camps (kwanliso); crimes against them in these camps include extra-judicial killing, extermination, enslavement/forced labor, forcible transfer of population, arbitrary imprisonment, torture, persecution, enforced disappearance, rape and sexual violence, and other inhumane acts. Documented incidents include Christians being hung on a cross over a fire, crushed under a steamroller, herded off bridges and trampled under-foot.”

CSW stated that practitioners of other religions, such as Buddhism, Shamanism and the native Korean Cheondoism – which combines elements of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taosim and Shamanism – also face restrictions and discrimination, but are treated more leniently. Christianity is repressed most harshly because it is viewed as a foreign religion, and Christians are suspected of being spies.

In Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, there are four churches – two Protestant, one Catholic and one Russian Orthodox – but these are widely regarded as Potemkin-style show churches for the benefit of foreign visitors.

Among its recommendations, the report calls for the North Korean government to acknowledge and implement the recommendations of the UN Commission of Inquiry and to allow the UN Independent Experts unhindered access to visit the country. CSW continues to call for North Korea to be referred to the International Criminal Court on account of evidence that crimes against humanity are being perpetrated in the country, or the establishment of an ad-hoc tribunal to ensure accountability.

According to CSW, The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), also known as North Korea, remains a uniquely isolated and repressed state in an increasingly interconnected global community. The isolation is maintained by multi-faceted aspects of the security and political situation, and confines the people of North Korea to a monolithic system of control by the dynastic Kim family. The hardships suffered by the North Korean people spanned decades, and the regime’s abuse of their rights continues unchecked.

The gravity and extent of these abuses were exposed in the groundbreaking United Nations Commission of Inquiry (COI) report on human rights in North Korea, published in February 2014 after a year-long investigation. The report calls for accountability for the widespread and grave violations of human rights in North Korea, states that these violations amount to crimes against humanity, and calls for a referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for prosecution for these crimes.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) has long expressed deep concern about the egregious human rights situation endured by the North Korean people. CSW’s report, "North Korea: A Case to Answer, A Call to Act," written in association with REDRESS and published in 2007, presented a legal analysis that the violations of human rights amount to crimes against humanity, and recommended that a COI be established to investigate these crimes. Both the COI’s and CSW’s reports document violations of the right to food, life, freedom of expression, freedom of religion or belief, freedom of movement, as well as various violations associated with prison camps. Torture and inhuman treatment, arbitrary detention, discrimination, and enforced disappearances – including in the form of abductions of nationals of other states – are also documented.

CSW’s East Asia Team Leader Benedict Rogers said: “North Korea is the world’s most closed, repressive State, where the regime is committing crimes against humanity. There is almost total denial of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. To follow any belief other than total loyalty to the ruling Kim dynasty is to risk very grave punishment, and in some instances, death. Our report aims to shine a light on the darkest corner of the globe and to call on the international community to act. We also urge China to behave responsibly and to cease its policy of forcible repatriation of North Korean refugees, which is tantamount to a death sentence. The time for change is long overdue.”

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is a Christian organization working for religious freedom through advocacy and human rights, in the pursuit of justice.

CSW’s new report on Freedom of Religion or Belief in North Korea is available here http://www.csw.org.uk/2016/09/22/report/3263/article.htm . For further information or to arrange interviews, please contact Kiri Kankhwende, Senior Press Officer at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on +44 (0)20 8329 0045 / +44 (0) 78 2332 9663, email kiri@csw.org.uk or visit www.csw.org.uk.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide UK office mailing address is: PO Box 99, New Malden, Surrey KT3 3YF, United Kingdom

Photo captions: 1) ANS founder, Dan Wooding, pictured with Dr. David Cho, a South Korean pastor, besides a huge statue of Kim Il-sung in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang. Dan is one of the few Christian journalists ever allowed to report from inside North Korea 2) North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, examining weapons. 3) Michael Ireland

About the Writer: Michael Ireland is a volunteer internet journalist serving as Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service, as well as an Ordained Minister who has served with ASSIST Ministries and written for ASSIST News Service since its beginning in 1989. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China, and Russia. Please consider helping Michael cover his expenses in bringing news of the Persecuted Church, by logging-on to: https://actintl.givingfuel.com/ireland-michael

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