UN: "Forced Repatriation of North Korean Defectors from China Violates Universal Declaration of Human Rights"

China Repatriated About 500 North Korean Defectors in October Last Year
UN: "Act of Deprivation of Freedom... Perpetrators Must Be Punished"

The UN Human Rights Council's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) has determined that China's large-scale forced repatriation of North Korean defectors in October last year was an act violating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

According to the UN Human Rights Council on the 20th, WGAD stated in a recently released decision regarding the repatriation of North Korean defector Kim Cheol-ok that "the Chinese authorities' deprivation of Kim's liberty constitutes an arbitrary act in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights." It further pointed out that "the North Korean authorities' deprivation of Kim's liberty also violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights," indicating that North Korea's actions likewise constitute 'arbitrary acts.'

Defector Kim Gyuri is holding a protest in front of the North Korean Embassy in London, UK, last October, urging to return her younger sibling to the family. Photo by Yonhap News

WGAD called for Kim's immediate release and urged an independent investigation and accountability for those responsible. It also referred Kim's repatriation case to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture (responsible for torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment) and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID).

Kim was among approximately 500 North Korean defectors who were simultaneously repatriated by China through border areas immediately after the closing of the Hangzhou Asian Games in October last year. Kim's family appealed to the government and the international community for rescue, and with the help of human rights organizations, requested WGAD to determine whether Kim's repatriation constituted 'arbitrary detention' without due process; this is the result of that request.

Meanwhile, WGAD is also reviewing whether the cases of missionaries Kim Jung-wook, Kim Guk-gi, and Choi Chun-gil, who were detained by North Korea between 2013 and 2015, constitute arbitrary detention.