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박탈, 부패, 억압의 악순환에 발 묶인 조선민주주의인민공화국 주민 – 유엔 인권최고대표사무소 보고서



제네바 (2019 5 28


– 조선민주주의인민공화국 주민은 국가가 기본적인 생활 필수품을 제공하지 못함에 따라 어쩔  없이 기초적인 시장에 의존하게 되지만 불확실한 사법 제도 속에서 여러 인권 침해에 직면하는 악순환에 빠진다유엔 인권최고대표사무소는 새로 보고서를 발간하며 이러한 상황을 조명한다.   


화요일에 발간되는 해당 보고서는 조선민주주의인민공화국  국가배급제도가 20 이상 제대로 작동하지 않고주민은 공식 경제와 공존하는 법적으로 불안정한 경제 속에서 근근이 생계를 이어가는 와중에 임의 체포자의적 구금  갈취에 노출되는 상황을 강조한다.


대한민국에 위치한 유엔 인권사무소 직원이 2017년과 2018년에 이탈자로부터 직접 214건의 진술을 받았고이를 바탕으로 조선민주주의인민공화국의 경제 운용 실패와 고질적인 부패로 말미암아 일반 주민의 가장 기본적인 권리가 광범위하게 침해되는  상황을 보고서에 기술한다.


유엔 인권최고대표 미첼 바첼렛은 식량권의료권거주권노동권이동의 자유와 자유권은 보편적이며 양도불가능한 권리이지만조선민주주의인민공화국에서는 이러한 권리를 향유할  있는지 여부가 개개인이 국가 공무원에게 뇌물을 주는가에 따라 크게  좌우된다 말했다.


1990년대 경제 붕괴 이래 국가가 일자리를 배정하고 식량의복 등을 배급하는  국가 주도의 중앙화된 경제 계획과 분배 제도로는 주민이 생계를 이어갈  없게 됐다국가가 일자리를 배정하고 식량의복 등을 배급하는 제도이다결과적으로 비공식 부문에서 일을 해야지만 생계를 꾸릴  있는데면담 대상자는 이러한 상황에 대해 국가가 하라는대로만 하면 굶어 죽는다 말했다.


하지만 국내를 이동하는  기초적인 상행위에 임하는 주민은 체포와 구금을 당할  있다국내 이동에는 허가가 필요하다이러한 상황은 언제나 심각한 인권 침해로 이어지는데법치주의가 부재하고 적법절차가 보장되지 않기 때문이다구금된 경우 비인도적이며 굴욕적인 처우를 경험하는 사례가 많으며심문과 교정 과정을 거치며 고문에 노출되기도 한다.


적합한 생활 수준과 관련된 전반적인 구조가 국가 공무원에게 뇌물을 주는 비공식적이고도 만연한 관행에 기반을 두고 있다해당 국가 공무원은 주민이 국가 차원의 요구와 규제를 우회하여 민간 부문에서 일하고 체포를 피할  있도록 조치할  있는 위치에 있다.


체포와 처벌의 위협이 상존하면서 국가 공무원은 이를 방편으로 삼아 비인간적인 환경에서 구금되지 않으려 필사적인 주민으로부터 돈을 갈취하거나 기타 요구를 한다고 보고서는 기술한다여기에 더하여 뇌물을 제공하는지에 따라 구금자의 구금 환경  처우가 달라질 수도 있다.


유엔 인권사무소 직원이 만난  다른 이탈자는 누구는 [구금에서 풀려나갈  있고 누구는 뇌물을   없어서 고통을 당하는게 부당하다고 느꼈다북에서 뇌물이  통한다북에서 뇌물 없이는 생활할 수가 없다 말했다.


해당 보고서는 특히 여성이 생계를 꾸릴 방법을 모색하는 가운데 브로커나 인신매매범   3자로부터 학대를 당하기 쉬운 상황에 놓인다고 상세하게 설명한다.

유엔 인권최고대표는 전반적인 변화를 촉구하며  보고서는 정부가 자국의 심각한 인권 문제를 반드시 해결해야 함을 분명하게 보여준다정부가 나서야지만 삶의 면면에 영향을 미치는 고질적인 부패 문제를 실질적으로 타개할  있다 말했다.


해당 보고서는 국민의 적합한 생활 수준을 누릴 권리를 보장하도록 국제인권법이 국가에 부여한 의무를 충족시키지 못하는 상황을 강조한다조선민주주의인민공화국은 제대로 작동하지 않는 국가 제도를 수정하려 노력하지 않고제대로 기능하는 합법한 민간 부문을 구축하지도 않아 상당수 국민이 직면한 경제적 결핍을 해소하는  기여하지 못했다.


한편 상당한 자원이 지속적으로 군비로 지출됐다조선민주주의인민공화국은 전세계적으로 가장 대규모 상비군을 운영하며 인구 대비 상비군 비율이 세계에서 가장 높다이는 젊은 남성과 여성  100 명이 직장에서 군으로 차출되는 결과를 낳는다.


조선민주주의인민공화국에서 활동하는 유엔 기구에 따르면 2019 (전체 인구의 43퍼센트가 넘는) 1090  가량이 영양부족과 식량 불안정을 겪는다. 1000  가량은 안전한 식수에 접근하지 못하며 인구 16퍼센트는 기본 위생 시설에 접근성이 없어 질병과 영양실조 위험이 크다북동 지역  농촌 지역 거주자가 특히 기본적인 서비스에 접근하지 못해 고통을 겪는데, 2018 세계기아지수에서 조선민주주의인민공화국은 기아 수준이 심각하며 위험할  있는 수준으로 분류됐다바첼렛 인권최고대표는 유례를 찾아볼  없는 경악을 금치 못할 수치라며 분쟁으로 폐허가  국가에서도 이정도로 박탈을 경험하지는 않는다 문제에만 지속적으로 초점을 맞춰  백만 명의 주민이 겪는 심각한 인권 침해 상황으로부터 주의를 분산시키는 상황에 우려를 표한다시민적정치적 권리  아니라똑같이 중요한 사회적문화적정치적 권리도 마찬가지이다.”


조선민주주의인민공화국  적합한 생활 수준을 총체적으로 파악하기에는 데이터가 부족하다아울러 유엔 인권최고대표사무소뿐 아니라 경험이 있는 비정부기구가 해당국에 접근할  없어 더욱 파악이 어렵다여기에 더해 주민이 의사를 표현할  있는 공간이 없고독립적인 시민사회단체가 활동할  없으며언론인이 국내 상황을 자유롭게 보도할  없는 등의 억압적인 국내 환경이 상황을 더욱 악화시킨다.


해당 보고서는 형법을 비롯한 관련법을 검토하여 합법한 상행위에 참여한다는 

유로 처벌을 받지 않도록 하고국내외를 자유롭게 이동할  있는 권리를 존중하는  과감한 개혁을 권고한다아울러 보고서는 법률 개정뿐 아니라  근간이 되는 법치주의를 세우고 적법절차와 공정한 재판을 받을 권리를 보장해야  필요성을 강조한다


바첼렛 인권최고대표는 적합한 생활 수준을 누리려  이유만으로 체포구금처벌갈취의 대상이 되어서는 안된다 조선민주주의인민공화국은 이러한 문제를 해결함으로써 국가 전반에 존재하는 여러 인권 우려를 타개해나갈 길을   있을 것이다유의미한 개혁은 조선민주주의인민공화국 정부와 국제공동체를 포함하여 모두에게 이로울 이라고 말했다.


People in North Korea trapped in vicious cycle of deprivation, corruption and repression – UN human rights report


GENEVA (28 May 2019) – People in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 
(DPRK) are trapped in a vicious cycle, in which the failure of the State to provide for 
life’s basic necessities forces them to turn to rudimentary markets where they face  a 
host of human rights violations in an uncertain legal environment, according to a new 
UN human rights report. 

The report, published by the UN Human Rights Office on Tuesday, highlights how the 
public distribution system in the DPRK has been broken for over two decades and how, 
as people seek to eke out a living in a legally precarious parallel economy, they are 
exposed to arbitrary arrest, detention, and extortion. 

Based on 214 first-hand accounts of escapees gathered by UN Human Rights staff in 
South Korea in 2017 and 2018, the report describes how the most fundamental rights 
of ordinary people in the DPRK are widely violated because of economic 
mismanagement and endemic corruption. 

“The rights to food, health, shelter, work, freedom of movement and liberty are 
universal and inalienable, but in North Korea they depend primarily on the ability of 
individuals to bribe State officials,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, 
Michelle Bachelet.

Since the economic collapse of the 1990s, people have been unable to survive through 
a State-led model of centralized economic planning and distribution,  which includes 
State-assigned jobs and the dispensation of food, clothes and other rations. As a result, 
working in the informal sector has become an essential means of survival – or else, as 
one interviewee put it: “If you just follow instructions coming from the State, you starve 
to death.”

However, when people try to engage in rudimentary market activity, they face arrest 
and detention, including for travelling within the country, for which a permit is required. 

This situation invariably leads to a series of further serious human rights violations, due 
to absence of rule of law and due process guarantees. People often experience 
inhumane and degrading treatment in detention, and are sometimes subjected to 
torture during interrogation and disciplinary procedures.

The whole system is based on the informal but pervasive practice of bribing State 
officials who are in a position to enable people to side-step State requirements and 
regulations in order to work in the private sector and avoid arrest.

The constant threat of arrest and prosecution provides State officials with  a powerful 
means to extort money and other favours from people desperate to avoid detention in 
inhumane conditions, the report says. In addition, the living conditions and treatment of detainees can also depend on the payment of bribes.


As another escapee said to UN human rights officials: “I felt it unfair that one could 
bribe one’s way out of [detention], when another suffers much more as a result of being unable to bribe. Bribery is effective in North Korea. One cannot lead a life in North Korea if he or she does not bribe his or her way.”

The report also details how women seeking ways to make ends meet are particularly 
vulnerable to further abuse at the hands of third parties, including brokers and 
traffickers.

The UN Human Rights Chief called for far-reaching changes: “Our report is a stark 
illustration of how important it is that the Government tackles the country’s profound 
human rights problems. Only then can the endemic system of corruption which 
pervades all aspects of life be effectively dismantled,” she said.

The report stresses how the State has not fulfilled its obligations under international 
human rights law to realize the right of its citizens to an adequate standard of living. It 
has neither sought to modify a failed public system, nor helped to establish a functional 
and legal private sector to alleviate the economic destitution facing much of the 
population. 

Meanwhile, huge resources continue to be directed towards military spending. The 
country maintains one of the world’s largest standing armies, representing the world’s 
highest ratio of military personnel to the general population. This has also resulted in 
the removal of over one million young men and women from the workplace and into the armed forces. 

According to UN entities operating in the DPRK, in 2019 around 10.9 million people 
(over 43 per cent of the total population) are undernourished and suffer from food 
insecurity. Almost 10 million people do not have access to safe drinking water and 16
percent of the population does not have access to basic sanitation facilities, increasing 
the risk of disease and malnutrition. People living in northeastern and rural provinces 
suffer most from the lack of basic services, and the 2018 Global Hunger Index 
classified the level of hunger in the country as “serious” and “bordering on alarming.” 

“These are extraordinary and appalling figures,” said Bachelet. “You rarely find this 
level of deprivation even in countries wracked by conflict. I am concerned that the 
constant focus on the nuclear issue continues to divert attention from the terrible state 
of human rights for many millions of North Koreans. Not just civil and political rights, but also social, cultural and economic rights which are just as important.”

The full picture of the standard of living in the DPRK is far from clear due to the scarcity 
of data and the lack of access to the country by UN human rights staff, as well as 
experienced NGOs. This is compounded by the oppressive domestic environment, in 
which there is no space for people to express their views, for independent civil society 
organizations to operate, or for journalists to report freely on the situation.

The report recommends drastic reforms, including reviewing the criminal code and 
other relevant legislation to end prosecutions for engaging in legitimate market 
activities, and to respect the right to freedom of movement within the country and 
across its borders.  The report highlights that, underlying such legislative changes,
there is an imperative to establish the rule of law, with due process and fair trial rights 
guaranteed. 


“People must not be arrested, detained, prosecuted or subjected to extortion simply for
trying to acquire an adequate standard of living,” Bachelet concluded. “Addressing 
these issues could open a path to tackling the wider range of human rights concerns 
that exist in the DPRK today. A significant set of reforms would be in everybody’s 

interests, including those of the Government and of the international community.”


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