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Date : November 5, 2015
North Korea putting thousands into forced labour abroad, U.N. says
   http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/29/north-korea-workers-force [1134]

United Nation's special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea, Marzuki Darusman, claims that tens of thousands of North Koreans are being sent to work abroad in conditions that amount to forced labour, in order to generate up to $2.3 billion in foreign currency for the country.

Darusman accused the country's government of violating the International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights, which bans forced labour. He said more than 50,000 North Koreans are employed in foreign countries and these workers earn $120-$150 per month on average and are sometimes forced to work up to 20 hours a day with insufficient food.

According to former workers interview by rights groups, jobs are assigned by a worker's social class, and workers are under constant surveillance by the North Korean government.

Darusman put the spotlight on forced labor as a human rights violation in his report, which also cited summary executions, arbitrary detention, torture, and widespread ill-treatment of individuals in political prison camps. 

He remains convinced that the U.N. Security Council should refer North Korea's human rights situation to the International Criminal Court, but such a move is likely to be vetoed by China and possibly Russia. 

Source: The Guardian


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