By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

North Korea – A report presented by Vitit Muntarbhorn, a United Nations envoy to North Korea, states a “broad range of egregious human rights violations” in the country.  He accused North Korean authorities of committing widespread torture in prisons.  “Life in the reclusive communist-ruled country is ‘dire and desperate’,” said Vitit Muntarbhorn.

In addition, he claimed about almost 7 million North Koreans have not received the food assistance. Muntarbhorn criticized North Korean government for using access to food as a method of controlling its population.  In December, the UN World Food Programme estimated that approximately 40 percent of North Korea’s population, or 8.7 million people, would need food assistance in 2008 due to a deficit in domestic cereal production.

“The abhorrent prison conditions, including lack of food, poor hygiene, freezing conditions in winter time, forced labor and corporal punishment, result in a myriad of abuses and deprivations,” Muntarbhorn wrote in his report.

Muntarbhorn never gained entry to North Korea, but he has been investigated North Korea for years.  He often consulted with U.N. agencies working in North Korea and human rights groups outside.  In preparing his report, he also spoke with North Korean refugees in South Korea, Japan and Mongolia.

North Korea rejected the report, saying it was filled with “fabrications and distortions.” Sang Il Hun, a North Korea representative to the U.N. Human Rights Council, said the report was a politically motivated attack on the country, and that North Korea adequately protects human rights.

For more information, please see:

AFP – 6.9 million North Koreans lack food aid: UN expert – 16 March 2009

AP – UN expert: North Korea commits widespread torture – 16 March 2009

Bloomberg – North Korean Human Rights ‘Dire and Desperate,’ UN Envoy Says – 16 March 2009

Bloomberg – North Koreans Lacking Food Aid Total Almost 7 Million, AFP Says – 16 March 2009

Jurist – UN rights investigator cites North Korea for ‘egregious’ violations – 16 March 2009

Reuters – Life in N.Korea dire and desperate, U.N. forum told – 16 March 2009