page_title: Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
section_title: Methodology and challenges
hierarchical_section_title: Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea / Methodology and challenges
caption_attribution_description: English: Sonja Biserko, Marzuki Darusman, and Michael Kirby were commissioners of the 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea that found crimes against humanity have been and are currently being committed pursuant to the highest levels of the North Korean state. The image shows U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea Co-Chair Roberta Cohen and Executive Director Greg Scarlatoiu present UN COI Commissioners (L to R) Sonja Biserko, Marzuki Darusman, and Michael Kirby with HRNK’s first Human Rights Award
context_page_description: The Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the landmark document resulting from the investigations on human rights in North Korea commissioned by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2013 and concluded in 2014.
  The report unequivocally concluded that the North Korean government systematically violated human rights including freedom of thought, expression and religion; freedom from discrimination; freedom of movement and residence; and the right to food.
  The Commission further determined that North Korea had committed crimes against humanity and manifestly failed to uphold its responsibility to protect. These crimes entail "extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions and other sexual violence, persecution on political, religious, racial and gender grounds, the forcible transfer of populations, the enforced disappearance of persons and the inhumane act of knowingly causing prolonged starvation".
context_section_description: The panel conducted its investigations throughout several months, relying on first-hand witnesses and victims as the primary source of information. Eighty escapees, refugees, and abductees publicly testified, and 240 more were interviewed confidentially to protect them or their families from retaliation by North Korea. Interviews were conducted during visits to Seoul, Tokyo, Bangkok, London, and Washington, D.C., and through videoconferences and telephone calls. A wealth of other reports and written materials prepared by the UN, NGOs, governments, research institutes, and academics were used for context and corroboration. Historical official documents released from former Soviet countries (including archival records from the USSR) and leaked records from China and DPRK also fed into the commission's research. The Commission also relied on commercially available satellite images of prison camps, as well as clandestinely recorded videos and photographs with confirmed authenticity.
  The Commission stated in its report its awareness that most victims and witnesses cooperating with the Commission had an overall unfavorable opinion of the DPRK's authorities. To ensure balance, the Commission repeatedly invited the DPRK to provide information, but it always refused. In the absence of direct input by the DPRK, the commission reviewed documentation previously published by the DPRK. The report also noted that Chinese leaders refused to let the commission visit China's border provinces with North Korea and opposed the Commission's inquiry from the start. The Commission sent a letter to the Chinese government suggesting that they were “aiding and abetting crimes against humanity.”
  The determination of facts was based on the “reasonable grounds” standard of proof, with all facts independently corroborated by at least one other credible source of information.
  The Commission relied chiefly on the binding legal obligations that the country voluntarily assumed as a State party to the: International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Convention on the Rights of the Child; and Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The Commission also relied on other international and customary law, including international humanitarian law.
caption: The three UN COI commissioners receive a Human Rights Award from the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, presented by the organization's Co-Chair Roberta Cohen and Executive Director Greg Scarlatoiu
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