The government took no credible steps to prosecute officials who committed human rights abuses.
Significant human rights issues included: unlawful or arbitrary killings by the government forced disappearances by the government torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment and punishment by government authorities harsh and life-threatening prison conditions, including in political prison camps arbitrary arrests and detentions political prisoners and detainees politically motivated reprisals against individuals located outside the country no judicial independence arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy serious restrictions on free expression, the press, and the internet, including violence, threats of violence, or unjustified arrests and prosecutions against journalists, censorship, and site blocking substantial interference with freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association severe restrictions of religious freedom serious restrictions on freedom of movement inability of citizens to change their government peacefully through free and fair elections severe restrictions on political participation widespread corruption lack of investigation of and accountability for violence against women coerced abortion and forced sterilization trafficking in persons the outlawing of independent trade unions the worst forms of child labor the use of domestic forced labor through mass mobilizations and as a part of the re-education system and the imposition of forced labor conditions on overseas contract workers. Members of the security forces committed numerous abuses. Authorities maintained effective control over the security forces. A systematic and intentional overlap of powers and responsibilities existed between these organizations to prevent any potential subordinate consolidation of power and assure that each unit provides a check and balance on the other. The internal security apparatus includes the Ministries of Social Security and State Security and the Military Security Command. Kim Jong Un’s grandfather, the late Kim Il Sung, remains “eternal president.” The most recent national elections, held in March 2019, were neither free nor fair. His titles also include chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Worker’s Party of Korea, chairman of the State Affairs Commission, and supreme representative of the Korean People. Shortly after Kim Jong Il’s death in 2011, his son Kim Jong Un was named marshal of the country and supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) is an authoritarian state led by the Kim family since 1949. Advisory Commission on Public DiplomacyĪNNOUNCEMENT: The Department of State will release an addendum to this report in mid 2021 that expands the subsection on Women in Section 6 to include a broader range of issues related to reproductive rights.
Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance.Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security.Arms Control and International Security.Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization.Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources.Security Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority Special Representative for Syria Engagement.Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation.Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs.Global AIDS Coordinator and Global Health Diplomacy Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues.