North Korea: Human Rights

(asked on 5th April 2022) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the BBC report Beatings and Forced Abortions, Life in a North Korea Prison, published on 28 March, which outlined multiple allegations of rape, forced abortions, and other forms of sexual assault within North Korea’s penal system.


Answered by
 Portrait
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This question was answered on 22nd April 2022

The UK remains deeply concerned by the appalling human rights situation in North Korea, including within prison camps. We are reviewing the BBC report's findings and recommendations and considering how the UK Government can continue to address the appalling human rights situation in the DPRK.

We regularly raise our concerns about human rights violations directly with the DPRK authorities and in international fora. On 1 April 2022, the UK co-sponsored the resolution adopted at the Human Rights Council which seeks to shine a spotlight on the DPRK's human rights record.

In July 2020, the UK designated two DPRK entities through the Global Human Rights (GHR) sanctions regime, including the Ministry of State Security Bureau 7 and Ministry of People's Security Correctional Bureau, which together are responsible for the country's notorious prison camp system.

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