A/HRC/WGAD/2013/34 21. The allegations in this case basically comprise arrests without warrants; indefinite interrogation periods in the premises of the National Security Agency; incommunicado detention; prosecution based on political considerations, including as an act of reprisal for leaving the country, or on the basis of vague offences that are general and imprecise; a total absence of judicial mechanisms to challenge the legality of the detention or to launch an appeal against the decisions of conviction; and indefinite detention in political prison camps, often following completion of a prison sentence. 22. In view of these serious allegations, the Working Group considers that the communication from the Government, which does not address any of these violations of international law relating to the arrest, detention, judgment, sentencing and appeal procedures concerning persons deprived of their liberty, is unlikely to facilitate any constructive dialogue. 23. As the Government has not provided any information about the situation of the petitioners, the Working Group, according to its methods of work, has to rely exclusively on the information provided by the source concerning the detention of the petitioners. 24. The Working Group recalls its Opinions Nos. 4/2012 and 47/2012 (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea), in which the Working Group held that the detention of the persons concerned was arbitrary. It requested that the Government take the necessary steps to remedy the situation, i.e. the immediate release of the individuals and according them an enforceable right to compensation in accordance with article 9, paragraph 5, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 25. The Working Group also takes note of Human Rights Council resolution 7/15 of 2008 on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and recalls all previous resolutions adopted by the Commission on Human Rights and the General Assembly on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, including Commission resolutions 2004/13 and 2005/11 and General Assembly resolution 62/167. 26. In addition, the Working Group refers to the concluding observations of a number of different treaty bodies in respect of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, including those of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (2009) (CRC/C/PRK/CO/4); the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (2005) (CEDAW/C/PRK/CO/1); the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (2003) (E/2004/22, paras. 510–558) and the Human Rights Committee, (2001) (CCPR/CO/72/PRK). The Human Rights Committee expressed serious concern at several issues related to detention and the lack of compatibility of legislation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea with the prohibition of forced labour contained in article 8, paragraph 3 (a), of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 27. The Working Group further notes the important work of other charter-based bodies of the United Nations, including resolution 2004/13 of the Commission on Human Rights on the appointment of a Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and reporting by the special procedures mandate holders. 28. In his most recent report to the General Assembly (A/68/319), the Special Rapporteur stated that: “According to the information received, labour camps for political prisoners have been in operation since the 1950s in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. It is reported that individuals who have committed or are perceived to have committed a political crime are involuntarily or forcibly taken to an interrogation facility, detained and typically subjected to torture until a confession is obtained. After being 5