A non-profit charitable organization called Korea Future Initiative released a nearly 100 page report detailing violations of religious freedom in North Korea. Korea Future Initiative equips governments and international organizations with human rights information to bring positive change in North Korea. The reported violations included in the report span from 1990 to 2019. Korea Future Initiative says they communicate their work to the target audience of decision-makers who are responsible for creating or applying policies in North Korea.
The report titled Persecuting Faith: Documenting religious freedom violations in North Korea Volume I was written from 117 interviews of survivors, witnesses, and perpetrators conducted over seven months. The report says, “In total, 273 victims of religious freedom violations were identified by investigators. Of the 273 documented victims, 215 had adhered to Christianity and 56 had adhered to shamanism. Their ages ranged from 3-years old to over 80-years old. Women and girls accounted for nearly 60 percent of documented victims.”
Persecuted victims faced criminal charges of religious practice, religious activities in China, possessing religious items, contact with religious persons, attending places of worship, and sharing religious beliefs.
The actions that resulted from those charges included arbitrary arrest, arbitrary detention, arbitrary imprisonment, arbitrary interrogation, refoulement, punishment of family members, torture and sustained physical assault, sexual violence, execution, and public trials and resident exposure meetings.
“I could hear the sound of torture from the cell where my husband was held […] Until the end, my husband declared, ‘Why is it a crime to believe in God?’” – Interviewed Survivor
The report claims it it is just factual findings, not a legal analysis, to inform the international community and to lend support in the hopes it may detour future religious freedom violations in North Korea, possibly leading to some accountability.
Some of the key findings as listed within the report are the following:
• The report includes documented information from 117 interviews with exiled North Koreans that were conducted over a period of seven months in 2019-2020.
• The investigation documented 273 victims of religious freedom violations.
• Of the 273 identified victims, 215 had adhered to Christianity and 56 had adhered to shamanism. Two victims had adhered to other religions or beliefs.
• The investigation identified 54 individual perpetrators of religious freedom violations.
• The names of 34 of these perpetrators were retained alongside additional identifying information, such as rank, location, physical description, and associated organization.
• Documented organizations associated with religious freedom violations included Ministry of State Security; Ministry of People’s Security; Ministry of Public Security (China); and Border Security Command.
• Documented criminal charges included:149 charges of religious practice; 110 charges of religious activities in China; 78 charges of possessing religious items; 77 charges of contact with religious persons; 72 charges of attending places of worship; and 22 charges of sharing religious beliefs. Users of this report should pay close attention to the documented number of victims and take care not to overcount the documented charges. In some cases, a single victim experienced multiple criminal charges.
• Documented violations included 244 incidents of arbitrary arrest; 195 incidents of arbitrary detention; 125 incidents of arbitrary imprisonment; 111 incidents of arbitrary interrogation; 79 incidents of refoulement; 36 incidents of punishment of family members; 36 incidents of torture or sustained physical assault; 32 incidents of sexual violence; 20 incidents of execution; and 19 incidents of public trial or resident exposure meetings. Users of this report should pay close attention to the documented number of victims (273) and take care not to overcount the documented violations. In many cases, a single victim experienced multiple violations.
“I was tortured in prison and physically assaulted. These experiences remain with me as trauma. I have nightmares in the middle of the night […] The memory of living among a pile of corpses is still there.” Interviewed Survivor
• Documented violations were located in 85 named facilities in North Korea and China, including 25 North Korean government offices; 21 North Korean pre-trial detention centers; 10 Chinese penal facilities; 8 North Korean holding centers; 7 North Korean sites of execution, public trial, and resident exposure meetings; 6 North Korean long-term re-education camps; 5 North Korean labor training camps; 2 North Korean political prison camps; and 1 North Korean internment camp.
• Facilities where multiple victims were documented included North Pyongan Provincial Ministry of State Security pre-trial detention center (64); North Hamgyong Provincial Ministry of State Security pre-trial detention center (42); Dandong border detention center (34); Onsong County Ministry of State Security pre-trial detention center (26); and Chongjin Susong political prison camp (22).
• The investigation’s factual findings span the years 1990-2019.
• The ages of documented victims range from 3-years old to over 80- years old.
• Women and girls account for nearly 60 percent of documented victims.
• Data contained in this report is representative of the experiences of documented North Korean victims, witnesses, and perpetrators. Victims of religious freedom violations who were not interviewed for this project may have undergone fundamentally different experiences.
“I was half my weight when I was being refouled […] I did not pray. I begged to God every morning and every night. It made me feel more at peace because it gave me the sense that I had someone to depend on”. – Interviewed Survivor
North Koreans are told “there is no religion in the world and Kim Jong-il is God,” as one survivor reported. Even possessing a Bible could get you executed in front of crowds to invoke governmental fear in others. One victim reported that a government official was executed at a Hyesan airfield for possession a Bible. Another Christian was tied to a wooden stake at a Musan Market in front of over 1,000 citizens and executed. A witness stated, “I saw the flesh fall off. That is how close I was.”
Read the entire report here.