By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SEOUL, South Korea – Amid hearings at the UN Human Rights Council where wstern countries are demanding that North Korea cooperate with UN organizations and other aid agencies to help provide food and essential medical aid to their beleaguered population, there are also concerns that the winter months may intensify Pyongyang’s rights abuses.

Last week’s revaluation of the currency has left the North Korean currency worthless, increasing the threat of collapse of its already fragile food market.

The North Korean government said it would redenominated its currency to curb inflation and announced that limited amounts could be exchanged for new currency.  This has angered North Koreans who are reportedly burning banknotes in protest, and the government has sent soldiers out onto the streets to stop the protests.

In addition, calling malnutrition “a thing of the past,” a North Korean diplomat denied any accusations from UN members on Monday at the Human Rights Council meeting claiming that his people are not hungry nor are they facing imminent starvation.

North Korean soldier standing guard by Yalu River.  Courtesy of Reuters.  

Contrarily however, defectors from North Korea said that the majority of the population is limited to two small meals a day and that situation may worsen in the winter months. 

One rights group, Helping Hands Korea, said they are expecting more defectors this winter than usual because the harvest this year was extremely poor.

Moreover, there are reports saying that North Korean food prices are already soaring and this may push the poorest to the point of no return.

Andrew Natsios who wrote The Great North Korea Famine said this year’s harvest has been the worst since the mid 1990’s, adding, “[A]ll estimates say there will be a doubling of food prices over the next year, including rice, which is North Korea’s staple food.”

One Australian diplomat who spoke at Monday’s Human Rights Council meeting said, “We are concerned by the failure of the [North Korean] government to meet [the people’s] basic needs…[Pyongyang] needs to allow international agencies to do their work.”

North Korean Ambassador Ri Tcheul, in response, rebuffed, “Personally I think some distinguished representatives are just repeating or echoing information fabricated and spread by others as if they have seen or witnessed it themselves.”

Nevertheless, defectors have reported that hunger in North Korea remains rampant.

For more information, please see:

Christian Science Monitor – North Korea: Will winter shortages intensify rights abuses? – 11 December 2009

JoongAng Daily – Countries slam Pyongyang on human rights issue – 9 December 2009

The Star – North Korea rushes to starvation – 9 December 2009

By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

HYDERABAD, India – The Indian government finally announced that it would accept the country’s 50-year old request and make Telangana a state. Leading up to this decision, the people of Hyderabad and nine other surrounding districts endured a turbulent period of limbo.

After issuing the decision, thousands of supporters of Telangana flooded the streets as history was made and news spread that the government had risen to the peoples’ long-standing demands. Men and women of all generations gathered at the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences where the leader of the regional Telangana Rashtra Samiti party, K Chandrasekhara Rao, was under observation by doctors. 

The Talngana people and supporters celebrated in Hyderabad the announcement of a Telangana state. Photography courtesy of The New York Times. 

Rao, a 55-year-old supporter of the initiation of Telangana, began a “fast unto death” 11 days ago as a way to press the demand for Telangana state. During the course of his  fasting protest, Rao lost almost half of his original weight and has been suffering from many ailments and complications, although he emerged as a hero for the local masses when he refused to break his fast as his life became gravely in danger due to extreme starvation. In the course of his fast, Rao became known as the “Tiger of Telangana” to supporters of the new state. He swore to starve if India did not reconfigure its political map by carving out a new state anchored by this city, a major technology hub and host to multinationals like Dell and Motorola. The sprawling size of the current state, Andhra Pradesh, wrongly deprived people in the local region, he claimed. His actions sparked a chain reaction of demonstrations on college campuses and plunged Hyderabad into a political crisis. Several universities were shut down, students were jailed and thousands of police and paramilitary officers arrived after a two-day general strike effectively paralyzed the city of four million people.

 
K Chandrasekara Rao has become a hero. Fotograph courtesy of BBC World News

In the few days since India has recognized Telangana and Rao broken his fast, the country has ceaselessly expressed its excitement. “We are happy,” said Uppu Sudhaker, a Telangana supporter. “All these years, people from other regions have slighted us. Our areas were not properly developed. All our resources were misused. The jobs went to outsiders.” Even as many legislative hurdles must be navigated to create a new Telangana state, the drama underscores that while India represents an ancient civilization, it is a relatively young democracy whose internal political shape is likely to keep evolving.

For more information, please see:

Hindustan Times – Telangana does not mean new states everywhere: Pranab – December 13, 2009 

My Bangladesh – Telangana Tiger – December 11, 2009 

BBC World News – India’s ‘Tiger of Telangana’ feted –  December 13, 2009