A/HRC/WGAD/2012/4
19.
Mr. Oh has attempted to obtain information about the family he left behind when he
left DPRK in 1986. The Government responded on 27 April 2012 that Ms Shin Sook Ja had
died and that Oh Hae Won and Oh Kyu Won “strongly refuse to deal with Mr. Oh and ask
him not to bother them anymore.” However, the Government has not responded to the
Working Group’s request to provide detailed information about the current situation of Oh
Hae Won and Oh Kyu Won, and to provide clarification about the legal provisions
justifying their continued detention.
20.
The source has put forward a prima facie case that Shin Sook Ja, Oh Hae Won and
Oh Kyu Won have been held in detention for many years, without any legal basis justifying
their deprivation of liberty and in breach of the international norms relating to the right to a
fair trial. Their detention is of such gravity as to give the deprivation of liberty an arbitrary
character.
21.
The Government has not provided information about their current situation, nor has
it challenged or rebutted the claims by the source that Mr. Oh’s two daughters are
arbitrarily detained beyond stating that “the case mentioned in your letter has nothing to do
with arbitrary detention.” The Working Group has no other means of ascertaining Oh Hae
Won and Oh Kyu Won’s current situation than through the cooperation of the Government;
as must therefore rely on the source’s information concerning their long-term detention, and
possibly ongoing detention.
22.
The Working Group takes note of Human Rights Council resolution 7/15 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.
23.
The Working Group also notes the concluding observations of different treaty bodies
relating to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, including by 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 noted
serious concerns about several issues of detention and the compatibility of DPRK’s labour
legislation with the prohibition of forced labour contained in article 8, paragraph 3 (a), of
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
24.
The Working Group further notes the important work of other charter bodies of the
United Nations, including the Commission on Human Rights resolution 2004/13 on the
Situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and the reports by
special procedures mandate holders, including the most recent report of the Special
Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
(A/HRC/16/58), in which he states (para. 57) that:
“[…] he will continue to focus on correctional centres and other forms of detention
facilities in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, with the hope that this will
ultimately prompt the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to take measures to
improve the situation in various detention centres and prisons.”
25.
The Working Group is aware of the disturbing reports from non-governmental
organizations and other sources in the public domain alleging widespread arbitrary
detention and links to forced labour. This includes factual situations that are similar to those
of the present case before the Working Group, with extremely long terms of deprivation of
4