2017 International Symposium on North Korean Human Rights

Some of our members were lucky enough to go to the 2017 International Symposium on North Korean Human Rights on the 18th May! The conference focused on the state of Human Rights in North Korea currently, and on finding solutions for improving human rights.

Attending were the the All Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, and the European Alliance for Human Rights in North Korea will co-host the 2017 International Symposium on North Korean Human Rights. The conference brought together policy makers, UN representatives, politicians, North Korean exiles, academics, and members of the public. Topics of dicussion included media access in North Korea, children’s rights, and accountability.

Our chair Laura Bates, was able to attend, and took some interesting notes at the conference:

Seminar 1: Media Access

  • many people have Chinese phones
  • peer to pear sharing of information
    • USB, DVD etc
  • foreign radio is key to establishing human rights
    • broadcasted from South Korea
    • we need to pay attention to content and language
      • needs to feel relevant and familiar
    • incredibly low levels of internet access
      • even elites only have intranet access
      • digital media
        • we should look at who is providing blocking software
          • some are produced in the EU
        • could be interesting to try broadcasting satellite internet from the border
          • see if Chinese phones can connect
        • North Korea has produced many of the best hackers
          • possibly responsible for the NHS attack
        • GCHQ has looked into offensive attacks
          • very small numbers use intranet so there is not much point
          • perhaps look at spreading false information?
        • psychological effects of censorship
          • people don’t know what they think because they can’t discuss
          • North Koreans are very keen to know what other people about the leadership
        • if North Korea falls it will be due to a elite coup
          • so we should focus on them because they are easier to access
        • foreign attempts to access North Korea
          • BBC is starting a broadcast in September
          • US may pass a law to fund media access
          • leaflet dropping used to happen from South Korea
            • but 2004 was banned by the government
            • NGOs continued
            • but it’s getting harder due to threats of missile attacks
            • exiles say it is incredibly effective
          • experiences of exile
            • she watched South Korean movies and US dramas
            • she owned a Chinese cell phone
              • to stay in touch with her mother in China
            • media exposure made leaving less unimaginable
          • why is media access significant?
            • media is not a silver bullet
            • but effect on individuals can become collective action
            • media sharing creates horizontal bonds
              • counteracting atomisation
            • preference falsification – why revolutions erupt so quickly
              • everyone keeps private thoughts of dissent
              • but only once other people voice them do people suddenly express them
              • cascade effect
            • look at private economic enterprise
              • stalls and small trading are basically legal
              • within these there are markets for information

 

Seminar 2: Children’s Rights

  • forced labour, exile and the role of the UN
    • UN report on Children with Disabilities
      • reports of sterilisation, isolation and murder
      • but failed to mention the exit community
        • key audience for the UN
      • state deliberately targets children
        • forced labour for social control
        • children work around 4 hours a day after school
      • exiled children adapt well and speak English
        • around 400 exiled children in the UK
        • but they need better role models and mentoring
        • and they need English and Korean language classes
      • two recommendations
        • all development projects should be attached to a human rights requirement
        • government should finance information dissemination about labour and children’s rights
      • using international law North Korea
        • you can use law for advocacy
          • harder for a government to fight back if they’ve ratified it
        • UN mechanisms are key
          • because there is not regional ASEAN court
        • child refugees
          • apples to all North Koreans
          • important legal implications for China
            • does not recognise child refugees
            • UN needs to put more pressure on it
            • and they should not be able to return children
          • in September North Korea will be examined by the UN on children’s rights
        • Convention of Children’s Rights
          • North Korea has been very active in writing reports
          • they seem to be using the language of rights to show they are protecting women and children
            • but this seem unlikely to be implemented
          • three social classes in North Korea
            • 1st class (28% of people)- important elites
            • 2nd class- ordinary people
            • 3rd class- hostile people and political criminals
          • children’s rights are decided by the class
          • and there are many economic problems for children
            • malnutrition is at 28%
            • and there is a lack of clean water and medicine
          • education is very limited
            • much of it is indoctrination or forced labour
            • many children drop out to support themselves
          • sanctions could worsen children’s lives
            • lack of food and medicine
            • very controversial in South Korea
            • since the Sunshine Policy help fun Nuclear Weapons
          • we should support service NGOs
            • so it is not diverted to the military
            • although this is getting harder
          • experience of a defector
            • North Korea is the 7th high risk list of starvation
              • ½ suffer from starvation, majority are children and the elderly
            • children in education
              • education begins with worshipping Kim family
              • forced labour begins at 9
                • as well as life review and peer surveillance
              • children must clear the classroom for weekly inspections
              • many children have to do farming after school
              • at 14 the full forced labour system begins
                • Red Youth Guard
                • working on farms and building sites
                • even during holidays
              • 14-16 there is also military training
                • learn to shoot
                • and at 17 you must join the army
              • disabled children
                • no really provision
                • North Korea is very sensitive to criticism of children
                • it has a very different definition of disability

Seminar 3- Accountability

  • no one can claim not to know what has happened in North Korea
  • huge scale of crimes against humanity
    • forced disappearance, torture, rape, mass starvation etc
  • how to bring them to account?
    • we can use dialogue to change the regime
    • sanction have limited effects on the elite
    • but the idea of justice provides hope for the future
  • current plans
    • Russia and China are blocking taking North Korea to the International Criminal Court
    • more engagement with exiles in needed
    • also more engagement with ASEAN
      • South Korea views the North as part of its territory
    • we need plans for future truth and reconciliation commissions
  • recommendations
    • more funding from the US, Japan and South Korea
    • South Korea could try North Koreans in absentia
    • radio broadcasts should include warnings of consequences of human rights abuse
    • should create files on individuals to be held accountable
  • what is justice for North Koreans
    • it uses the language of justice against Japan and South Korea
    • justice for children?
      • what about the 50,000 homeless children
      • and the children of hostile elements
    • justice for prisoners?
      • there has been recorded extermination of prisons
      • the Chinese return people to be tortured
    • future for North Korea
      • three possible scenarios
      • outbreak of diplomacy
        • pushed by China and sanctions
      • regime collapse
        • by coup, war or by natural disasters
      • remaining the same
        • our aim is clear in this case
          • maintain accountability
          • facilitate exiles
        • we need to think about what happens if they fall
          • there may be regime collapse
          • we will need transitional justice
            • need public confidence and accountability
            • recognition of abuses
            • will require victim participation
          • we could use the ICC or South Korea courts
            • is this victors justice?
          • or a North Korean court with mixed judges
        • the aim is record history not just for individual justice
        • we should consider a trusteeship for power vacuum
          • give a voice to the international actors
          • and South Korea could be the administrator
        • people’s tribunals
          • ASEAN takes a very ‘sovereignty first’ view
            • Burma and North Korea can do what they want internally
          • problem with South Korean courts would be that they are based on the argument that Korea is united
            • would would South Korea be responsible for the injustices?
          • ICC is difficult because North Korea did not sign up
            • Russia and China may block it
          • trusteeship is a bit colonial
          • can civil society do it through a People’ Tribunal
            • do you use the permanent Tribunal or an independent one?
            • what do you call it?
              • Inquiry, Commission, Tribunal etc
            • who are the participants
              • public, lawyers, witnesses, defence?
            • do you use international law?
            • how do you legitimise it?
              • does it make its own legitimacy through its functions?
              • how can it appoint itself to the role?
            • what are the aims?
              • inform the public
              • create collective memory
              • make recommendations
              • give voice to the victims
            • gendered barriers to truth telling
              • truth commissions assume that truth exists as a single entity
                • lens of a privileged group
              • normally women are excluded using arguments that their concerns are not pressing
              • key questions for post conflict reconstruction
                • what specific dangers did women face?
                • healthcare and social provision specifically aimed at women
                  • STDS or post-rape abortions
                • key suggestions
                  • including and diverse commission panels
                  • gender sensitivity trading
                  • consult with female survival groups
                  • don’t use gender neutral human rights
                    • use the Discrimination Against Women Act
                  • don’t only look at sexual violence
                    • force disappearance of relatives, lack of legal options etc
                  • trauma sensitivity training
                    • be aware of stigma of sexual violence
                    • evidence collection by female officials
                    • be aware of gender based threats
                  • think about access to commission
                    • work around child care
                    • think about how information is delivered
                      • and how feedback works
                      • it should be a cathartic process
Cover Photo Credit: http://londonkoreanlinks.net/2017/04/29/event-news-the-2017-international-symposium-on-north-korean-human-rights/

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