A/HRC/WGAD/2013/36
the relevant international instruments accepted by the States concerned, is of such gravity
as to give the deprivation of liberty an arbitrary character (category III);
(d)
When asylum seekers, immigrants or refugees are subjected to prolonged
administrative custody without the possibility of administrative or judicial review or
remedy (category IV);
(e)
When the deprivation of liberty constitutes a violation of international law for
reasons of discrimination based on birth, national, ethnic or social origin, language,
religion, economic condition, political or other opinion, gender, sexual orientation, or
disability or other status and which aims towards or can result in ignoring the equality of
human rights (category V).
Submissions
Communication from the source
3.
The case concerns five individuals, all nationals of the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea, usually residing in Hoiryeong, North Hamkyung Province. These
individuals attempted to defect and seek asylum in the Republic of Korea. In doing so, they
crossed the border into China and were arrested by agents of the National Security Agency
of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Following their repatriation, they were
detained at the Hoireyong National Security Agency before being transferred to Susung
Kwanliso Political Prison Camp No. 25 in Chongjin, where they are believed to remain
today. The petitioners have been kept incommunicado from the time of their arrest.
4.
Choi Sang Soo, male, born in 1921, is a prisoner of war from the Republic of Korea,
who failed to be repatriated after the Korean War. He was 78 years old at the time of his
arrest. His son, Choi Seong Il, born in 1948, worked as a farmer at Wonsan 5-ban Work
Unit in Hoiryeong. He was 51 years old at the time of his arrest.
5.
In July 1999, Choi Sang Soo and Choi Seong Il fled from the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea to China. On 18 September 1999, at approximately 9 pm, they were
arrested by four agents of the National Security Agency in their hotel room in Yanji, Jilin.
Following their repatriation, they were both detained in the Hoiryeong National Security
Agency for a period of three months. The source cites an eyewitness account of the severe
physical abuse they suffered whilst in detention there. On 12 December 1999, Choi Sang
Soo and Choi Seong Il were transferred to Camp No. 25. Their former cellmate in the
Hoiryeong detention centre and the wife of Choi Sang Soo report they were informed of
this fact by agents of the National Security Agency.
6.
The source alleges that the detention of Choi Sang Soo and Choi Seong Il was
ordered by a branch of the National Security Agency in charge of the Hoiryeong cropprocessing factory, the conspiracy research office of the National Security Agency in North
Hamkyung Province and the National Security Agency in Pyongyang.
7.
Kim Hyeon Sun, female, born on 6 February 1971, residing at 5-ban, Ohsanduckdong, was 40 years old at the time of her arrest. Her son, Kim Gyeong Il, born on 10 May
1994, was a student at Dongmyung Middle School.
8.
Kim Yong Sik, the husband of Kim Hyeon Sun and the father of Kim Gyeong Il,
who resides in the Republic of Korea, commissioned two defection brokers in Hoiryeong,
Kim Eung Guk and Kim Eung Chan, to assist his wife and son with crossing the border into
China. In January 2011, Kim Hyeon Sun and Kim Gyeong Il were arrested by three agents
of the Hoiryeong National Security Agency at the Tumen riverside, Manghyang-dong,
Hoiryeong, whilst attempting to cross the border in to China. They were thereafter
repatriated to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, where they were detained in the
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