- Including 105 Q&A papers that make specific statements on human rights violations –
The Center for North Korean Human Rights Records under the Ministry of Unification began an official investigation into the North Korean human rights situation in January 2017 and transferred the compiled data on human rights violations to the Ministry of Justice on April 20.
The transferred records are the results of investigation into the human rights situation in North Korea involving 253 North Korean defectors who entered Hanawon from January to March 2017.
- The 1,300 pages of original documents were collected from 105 North Korean defectors (female: 73, male: 32) who alleged that their human rights had been violated.
- Specific cases include human rights violations at investigation agencies during and after compulsory repatriation to North Korea, cruel treatment at detention facilities, confiscation of property, and forced abortion.
* Among the human rights violations reported by the 105 North Korean defectors, 69% were cases experienced first-hand, 22.3% were witness accounts, and the remaining 8.7% were cases related by third parties.
The types of transferred records include North Korean defectors’ written consents to investigation of the human rights situation in North Korea, question and answer papers, handwritten affidavits, statement recording files, and montages of primary perpetrators made in cooperation with the National Police Agency.
The collected and compiled data obtained through the investigation of the North Korean human rights situation by the Center are used for making policy to improve the human rights situation of residents in North Korea and help the international community investigate who is responsible for crimes against humanity in North Korea. The specific cases and evidence of human rights violations are transferred to and kept and managed in the Ministry of Justice.
Considering the value of these records, the Center has gone to great lengths to prevent the original documents from being damaged or lost, keep the identities of persons who made statements confidential, and maintain cyber security.
