International Mechanism Submissions

This report addresses the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (hereinafter “North Korea”) compliance with its international human rights obligations with respect to the death penalty, arbitrary and unlawful arrests and detentions, conditions of detention, and the administration of justice and fair trial. North Korea has not abolished the death penalty or implemented a moratorium on executions, nor has it limited the application of the death penalty to the “most serious” crimes. The people under sentence of death in North Korea also experience poor detention conditions, including verbal abuse, beatings, and torture that occur inside detention facilities run by North Korean law enforcement agencies, including the Ministry of State Security and the Ministry of Social Security in violation of the Nelson Mandela Rules and the Bangkok Rules.

This report examines the current state of the death penalty in North Korea and recommends North Korea abolish the death penalty and ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). This report further recommends, in the meantime, that North Korea: (1) institute an official moratorium on executions, (2) limit the death penalty to the “most serious” crimes, as defined by international human rights standards, (3) prohibit imposition of the death penalty for anyone under the age of 18 at the time of the alleged crime, (4) ensure conditions of detention are in line with the Nelson Mandela Rules and Bangkok Rules, (5) ensure access to competent counsel for all capital defendants, (6) take measures to guarantee fair trial to defendants in capital cases, and (7) commute death sentences for all people who have been held in condemned cells.