For Immediate Release

19 December 2011
 

 

 In the wake of thedeath of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, Christian Solidarity Worldwide(CSW) is calling on the North Korean regime to bring an end to the brutaloppression of its citizens, amounting to crimes against humanity.

 

Kim Jong-il reportedly died of a heart attackon Saturday 17 December, though the news was only reported by state mediatoday. His youngest son, Kim Jong Un, has been named the ‘Great Successor’,although it is unclear whether he will have real power or whether seniormilitary figures will take charge.

 

Kim Jong-il presided over the world’s mostclosed nation with one of the worst human rights records in the world. Thecountry has a system of prison camps with an estimated 200,000 people jailed indesperate conditions and subjected to the worst forms of torture and cruel anddegrading treatment. Summary executions are common. The practice of “guilt byassociation” often means that entire families are often imprisoned, andpunished for the crimes of family members up to the third generation. NorthKorea has no religious freedom, and Christians are jailed and sometimesexecuted for their beliefs.

 

CSW has been campaigning for an end to theNorth Korean regime’s crimes against humanity for over a decade. This year CSWhosted North Korean defectors Shin Dong-hyuk and Kim Hye Sook, who testified inhearings in the British Parliament. CSW has also testified on North Korea inthe US Congress, and hosted North Korean defectors in previous years who havetestified in the European Parliament. On 8 September CSW helped to establishthe International Coalition to Stop Crimes Against Humanity in North Korea(ICNK), incorporating 40 global human rights organisations, including AmnestyInternational, Human Rights Watch and the International Federation for HumanRights. In 2007, CSW published a landmark report on North Korea’s prison campsystem and the case for a Commission of Inquiry into crimes against humanity, North Korea: ACase to Answer, A Call to Act.

 

CSW’s Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said,“There is now a real opportunity for North Korea to change direction, end itsisolation, stop the brutal oppression of its own people and open up to the world.North Korea should invite the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in NorthKorea to visit the country and access their notorious prison camps. CSW urgesthe North Korean regime to take the initiative at this unique moment in time inorder to introduce fundamental changes and close the prison camps, end torture,slave labour and summary executions, respect religious freedom and release allprisoners of conscience. The international community should seize the moment topress for these changes.”

 For further information or to arrange interviews please contact Kiri Kankhwende,Press Officer at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on +44 (0)20 8329 0045 / +44(0) 78 2332 9663, email kiri@csw.org.uk or visit www.csw.org.uk.

ChristianSolidarity Worldwide (CSW) is a Christian organisation working for religiousfreedom through advocacy and human rights, in the pursuit of justice.

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Notesto Editors:

 
For     more information on the International Coalition to Stop Crimes Against     Humanity in North Korea, please visit the website: www.stopnkcrimes.org