Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea

The Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the document that presents the results of a major 2014 United Nations investigation into human rights in North Korea. The Commission found that the North Korean government did many harmful actions to its people in a planned, intentional, and serious way. These include not allowing freedom of thought, speech, religion, movement, and access to food.

The Commission found that crimes against humanity had been done under high-level state policy. These included killing, torture, slavery, locking people up, rape, secretly taking people away, and making people go very hungry on purpose.

In response, the United Nations General Assembly approved resolution 69/188 asking the Security Council to send the case to the International Criminal Court. However, the Security Council members did not reach an agreement on any next steps.

By 2024, ten years after the report was published, it was still the most detailed study of human rights in North Korea. Its findings were still seen as important, and most of its advice had not yet been followed by North Korea’s government.

Why the report was made
Since 2003, different parts of the United Nations spoke out about human rights problems in North Korea. A special investigator (Special Rapporteur) was chosen in 2004 to write reports every year, but North Korea did not agree to work with him. In 2009, it said no to all suggestions from the UN's first Universal Periodic Review on human rights. UN leaders said the situation was one of the worst in the world.

In 2012, many North Korean people who has escaped the country, and human rights groups, asked governments to start a full investigation. The special investigator said a new system was needed to record abuses, name those responsible, and help the world decide what to do. The goal was also to move global attention from nuclear weapons to human rights.

On 21 March 2013, the UN Human Rights Council created the Commission of Inquiry (COI) through resolution 22/13, approved without opposition.

The COI included three independent experts: Michael Kirby (leader, from Australia), Marzuki Darusman (special investigator, from Indonesia), and Sonja Biserko (from Serbia).

Its job was to look into very serious and planned human rights abuses—like not giving people enough food, prison camps, torture and cruel treatment, arresting people without reason, unfair treatment and denial of basic rights, not allowing free speech, killing people without cause, stopping people from moving freely, and secretly taking people from other countries—and to collect proof of crimes against humanity.

Results of the report

The report was published on 7 February 2014, and was called the most complete report about human rights problems in North Korea. It said that the government did many very bad things to many people. These crimes include killing people, causing hunger, rape, and forced abortion.

These were seen as crimes against humanity, and similar to crimes committed by Nazi Germany in World War II.

In March 2014, the Human Rights Council asked the United Nations General Assembly to send the report to the United Nations Security Council and to ask the Council to think about sending the case to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

On December 2014, the General Assembly approved a resolution that strongly criticized North Korea and again asked the Security Council to send the case to the International Criminal Court (ICC). The Security Council had its first official meeting about human rights in North Korea on December, even though China did not agree. China could still use its special power to stop the case from going to the Court.

In December 2015, the Security Council decided to talk about human rights in North Korea at regular meetings, even though China, Russia, and some other countries did not agree. In the same month, UN High Commissioner Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein asked the Council to send the case to the International Criminal Court.

In 2017, the Human Rights Council asked legal experts to help prepare for future trials and set up a place to keep evidence. But it was unclear if trials would happen.

Summary of violations of human rights
 Thought, expression, religion 

Complete control of thought: From birth, people are taught, watched, and given propaganda. School teaches loyalty to the Kim family, and private life is also watched. Activities like self-criticism meetings are used to keep people obedient.
No free ideas or religion: All news and groups are controlled by the government. Access to outside information is blocked. Religion is not allowed because it is seen as a threat to the government's control.
Harsh punishment: Small mistakes—like damaging a photo of the leader—can lead to torture, prison, or death. Often, the family of the person accused is punished too.
Limited change: Even with strict controls, some outside media are getting into the country because of new technology. There have been rare protests, especially about money and jobs.

 Discrimination 

Social class system: People are divided by songbun, which is based on family background and loyalty to the government. This decides where they live, what jobs they can do, and access to food and services. The lowest classes include former business owners, religious minorities, and prisoners of war. Songbun is passed down and is not seen by the person it affects.
Gender-based discrimination: Women face more problems because of poverty, unfair treatment, and no rights. Many experience abuse, including sexual violence and being sold, with little help from the law. Some women are hurt because they are successful in business.
Emerging markets: After the 1990s famine, small markets grew, making songbun less important for some people. Women who could not get State jobs often made more money in private trade, but this has caused anger and unfair treatment.

 Movement and residence 

Restricted residence: Loyal people are allowed to live in good areas, while others are sent to poor or faraway places. Families can be sent away if a relative commits a political crime.
Blocked reunions: The State stops families from meeting if they are separated between North and South Korea. These rules are seen as cruel.
Travel restrictions: People need permission to move inside the country. Almost no one can travel to other countries. People caught trying to escape are sent back by China and face torture or worse. They may be sent to work, education, or political prison camps—especially if they are linked to Christian groups or the South Korean government's spy agency.
Trafficking and abuse: Women who escape to China are at high risk of being sold or forced into marriage or sex work. Children born in China often have no nationality. Women sent back while pregnant may be forced to have an abortion, and babies are sometimes killed—especially if the father is not Korean.

 Food 


State control and starvation: Food has been used to control people. Many suffered from hunger and did not grow properly. Resources were given to the leaders, the army, and propaganda. Starvation was also used as punishment in prisons.
Systemic failures: The government stopped reforms and punished people who tried to survive, like by trading or moving to find food. Limits on speech and information made things worse during the famine.
Aid obstruction during famine: The government stopped or delayed help from other countries during the 1990s famine, making the situation worse.
Ongoing hunger since 2000: Food is still hard to get. Bad economic choices, inflation, and natural disasters have made things worse. International groups say that 36–40% of people are still not getting enough food.

 Arbitrary detention, torture, executions, and prison camps 

Torture: State agencies like the State Security Department regularly torture people during questioning. Many die from abuse, hunger, or untreated illness. Political crimes often lead to prison without a trial.
Political prison camps: These kwanliso are for people seen as threats to the government. Prisoners are kept without contact with others, often with their families, and forced to starve, work, suffer abuse, be raped, or be killed. Hundreds of thousands have died in these camps.
Ordinary prisons: Kyohwaso hold common criminals and some political prisoners. Conditions include forced work, torture, and abuse. Prisoners have limited rights, and sentences are not always for life.
Executions: Executions—often public—are used to scare people. During the famine, people were killed for small crimes like stealing food. Today, executions also target smugglers and people who disagree with the government. Some happen secretly.
Diminishing guilt by association: Sending whole families to camps because of a relative’s political crime has become less common than before.

 Abductions and enforced disappearances from other countries 


During the Korean War, the DPRK took an estimated 96,000 South Korean civilians and did not return about 50,000 prisoners of war, many of them forced to work in dangerous mines. Thousands of South Koreans were taken in the years after the war, and hundreds are still missing. Victims were used for political teaching or trained as spies, and were often taken by sea or during hijackings. Under past South Korean governments, their families faced discrimination; later changes gave some recognition and support.

From 1959 to 1984, over 93,000 ethnic Koreans moved from Japan under DPRK propaganda. Once in North Korea, they were closely watched, given low status, and not allowed basic freedoms. Some secretly warned their families not to come. In the 1970s–80s, the DPRK took Japanese and other foreigners to help with spying, including language training for agents. Some were forced to marry other foreigners to stop mixed-race children.

Since the 1990s, North Korean agents have taken escapees and their helpers from China, including South Korean and Chinese citizens, to stop information leaks and prevent people from leaving.

Crimes against humanity
The Commission found that North Korea committed crimes against humanity with "no parallel in the contemporary world," carried out through state policies at the highest level. These crimes include mass killings, torture, forced labor, sexual violence, political persecution, abductions, and starvation. They are ongoing because the same institutions and policies continue to exist.

This was the first UN investigation to formally conclude that crimes against humanity were being committed in North Korea. Chair Michael Kirby said: "Now, the world does know. And the question is whether the world will respond effectively and take the necessary action."

The Commission noted that hundreds of thousands have died in prison camps, often targeted with the goal of eliminating entire families or social groups. While these actions resemble genocide, the legal definition does not cover political groups. The report instead emphasized crimes against humanity as an equally serious violation that requires an international response.

Holding leaders responsible
Crimes against humanity are prohibited under international customary law and apply to all states, whether or not they have signed specific treaties. Individuals in the DPRK can be held criminally responsible, even if they acted under orders.

The report identified senior North Korean leaders who should face accountability.

The Commission recommended three options for international action:
 Referral to the International Criminal Court by the Security Council  
 Creation of a special tribunal, as with Yugoslavia or Rwanda  
 A tribunal established by the General Assembly under the Uniting for Peace resolution

How the report was made
The Commission did several months of investigation, using testimony from over 300 victims and witnesses. It also used satellite images, checked photos and videos, leaked documents, and reports from other sources.

North Korea refused to help, denied entry to investigators, and ignored all requests for information. The Commission also reviewed official DPRK materials. China stopped access to border areas and opposed the investigation.

The Commission used a “reasonable grounds” standard of proof, with each fact supported by at least one independent source.

Its legal framework included North Korea’s treaty obligations—covering civil and political rights, children, and women—as well as customary and humanitarian law.

North Korea's reactions

North Korea rejected the Commission and its findings, calling the UN resolution a “product of political confrontation and conspiracy.” Officials described it as a “political conspiracy by the United States and hostile forces,” and called defectors who testified “human scum.”

The DPRK denied the existence of human rights abuses and refused all cooperation, including requests for information and access. It claimed there were no prison camps, only “detention centres where people are improved through their mentality.”

Months later, North Korea released its own report defending its record, omitting mention of prison camps and claiming citizens enjoy full rights. It also issued critical reports on the U.S. and South Korea.

After international pressure grew, North Korea’s foreign minister appeared at the UN General Assembly for the first time in 15 years and offered limited openness to dialogue. The DPRK later submitted delayed responses to UN recommendations, accepting some but rejecting those related to the most serious abuses.

By late 2014, after the UN General Assembly referred the case to the Security Council, North Korea stopped all cooperation with UN human rights organizations.

Later events
In the years after the report, the UN extended the mandate of the special investigator and opened a field office in 2015 to monitor human rights in North Korea. North Korea strongly opposed the office and threatened UN staff.

One defector who had testified later admitted to giving false details. However, the UN and experts stated that the report’s findings remained solid, as they were based on hundreds of sources.

In 2023 and 2024, governments and researchers marked the 10th anniversary of the Commission. The report was still seen as the most thorough investigation of human rights in North Korea, with most of its recommendations yet to be acted on.

References

Further reading

Other websites

 Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea official website
 UN Security Council Documents for DPRK (North Korea) (UNSC Resolutions and statements)
 UN Security Council Reports on the DPRK (North Korea) (UNSC Reports)
 Video: Keynote address at the Brookings Institution by Michael Kirby, chair of the UN Commission of Inquiry
 Video: North Korea: The Human Rights and Security Nexus, a meeting to remember the second anniversary of the COI report
 The Commission's Public Hearings (Programs, Videos, Transcripts)
 North Korea's rebuttal report on its human rights record  (Archived here, here, and here)
 by the International Coalition to Stop Crimes Against Humanity in North Korea (ICNK)
 by ICNK

Category:Human rights
Category:United Nations
Category:Crimes against humanity