A/HRC/WGAD/2013/34 14. The National Security Agency interrogated Kwon Young Guen’s mother about her son’s defection twice, in March 1996 and over a year later. It was during her interrogation that she learnt from agents of the Agency of her son’s detention in a political prison camp. The source reports that Kwon Young Guen’s mother died in or around 1998 from the shock and mistreatment she suffered as a result of an excessively harsh interrogation by the Agency. 15. The source reports that Chinese police regularly repatriate defectors pursuant to the following agreements between the Governments of China and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea: Mutual Agreement on Surrendering Refugees and Criminals (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and China Agreement on Repatriating Illegal Entrants), 1966; Mutual Cooperation Protocol for the Work of Maintaining National Security and Social Order and the Border Areas, 1986; Bilateral Agreement on Mutual Cooperation for the Maintenance of State Safety and Social Order, July 1998; Treaty on Cooperation between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and China on Civil and Criminal Law, 2003. The source reports that no warrant is required when arresting a defector. The Chinese authorities immediately transfer defectors to the National Security Agency. 16. The source reports that defectors to the Republic of Korea are considered to have directly assaulted the authority of Kim Il Sung’s leadership, which is tantamount to committing treason against the State. It conjectures that the petitioners are being detained according to article 62(3) of the Criminal Law of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and pursuant to the “Party’s ten principles for the establishment of the one-ideology system”. The source notes as significant the fact that their period of arrest coincided with the mourning period for the death of Kim Il Sung, resulting in, according to the source, their particularly severe punishment. 17. The source reports that family members cannot petition the authorities for the release of detainees accused of political crimes, as advocating for political prisoners is considered an act of treason in itself. The source reports that no judicial remedies or appeal procedures are available to detainees of political prison camps. As such, the petitioners have not had the opportunity to seek redress for their sudden arrest, interrogation in a National Security Agency prison and indefinite detention in a political prison camp. The source argues that the deprivation of liberty of the petitioners falls within categories I and III of the arbitrary detention categories referred to by the Working Group. Response from the Government 18. By a letter dated 29 August 2013, the Working Group transmitted the above allegations to the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, requesting detailed information about the current situation of the above-mentioned petitioners. 19. The Government, in its reply dated 7 October 2013, stated that these alleged cases form part of a political plot against the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea by the authorities in the Republic of Korea. The Government therefore “categorically rejects the cases … as one of the anti-DPRK attempts”. Discussion 20. Three different communications were transmitted to the Government and it is unfortunate that in all three (see also No. 35/2013 ( Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) and No. 36/2013 ( Democratic People’s Republic of Korea)), it responded in exactly the same way as above, by means of the same letter, without any concrete response and without any attempt to discuss the serious allegations made against it. 4