DPRK

A report published today by the UN Human Rights Office vividly details the ongoing suffering of victims of enforced disappearance and abduction by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The report calls for renewed efforts for truth, justice, reparations and guarantees of non-recurrence.

“The anguish, sorrow and reprisals that families – across multiple generations – have had to endure are heart-breaking,” said UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk. “The testimonies from this report demonstrate that entire generations of families have lived with the grief of not knowing the fate of spouses, parents, children and siblings.”

The report is based on interviews with 38 male and 42 female victims of abduction and enforced disappearance, including relatives of forcibly disappeared people. The testimonies lay bare the severe and sustained psychological harm and emotional suffering, as well as the economic impact, such violations have had on their lives. The effect was particularly severe where a family’s main income earner was targeted, leaving remaining family members at acute risk of poverty and discrimination.

Read the full press release here