북한의 시민적 권리의 침해와 국제법적 평가에 관한 연구

It is woefully deplorable that the level and depth of academic research on the human rights situation in North Korea does not meet the expectation of the international human rights community, not alone the heart-felt desires of the victims of the human rights violation in North Korea. The possible reasons for this lack of such efforts may derive from the fact that the realities of criminal justice in North Korea remain so distinct from the wordings of its laws and regulations. Or it could be mainly due to the simple lack of information, and difficulties in getting access to the evidences of the atrocities. The state of human dignity deprivations in North Korea can hardly be compared to those occurring in other countries. Such wrongful practices are perpetrated in manifest breach of international covenants on human rights, international customary principles on human dignity, and numerous international standards on human protection. Such examples of wrongs as public execution, arbitrary detention, unfair trials, severe tortures against inmates, dependency of the judiciary upon the political bodies, maintenance of the political prisoners' camps, are mere illustrations of the much bigger and grimmer picture of human dignity deprivations in North Korea. With regard to the future implementation of the human rights protection policy in North Korea, it is highly recommended that any policy design be firmly based upon the rules and principles of international human rights, and the objective findings and suggestions of the international human rights community, including the United Nations, Human Rights Council, Human Rights Committee, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situations in North Korea.