As concerns about human rights in North Korea and the need for monitoring continue to rise, it has been reported that North Korea’s Ministry of State Security and Social Security has recently been given the first ratification task to clarify the standards for public and private executions.
Daily NK, a source inside North Korea, said on the 18th, “The first (Chairman Kim Jong-un) ratification task of strengthening the standards for judicial executions and institutionalizing non-public executions was handed over to the relevant legal agencies under the Ministry of State Security and the Ministry of Social Security on the 13th.” He said.
In North Korea, executions are carried out in public or privately, and public executions in particular are used as a means of creating fear among the population in order to maintain the regime.
Through this first ratification task, North Korea clearly distinguished the standards for public and private executions and instructed the central and local Party Safety Committees to strengthen deliberation standards and make decisions.
The source explained, “Previously, when deciding on a public execution, it was quickly approved at the discretion of the local Party Safety Committee without a comprehensive review by the central government, but from now on, it must undergo comprehensive approval and strengthened deliberation by the central judicial body.”
In addition, he added, “Most executions, except for special cases, will be carried out in private, and supplementary provisions for ratification and deliberation for this purpose have also been enacted.”
It has been reported that North Korea has requested that the Ministry of State Security and the Ministry of Social Security take responsibility for monitoring and supervising the thorough execution of ratification tasks, and not to overlook abnormal phenomena, and to ensure principled execution by all security and security agencies.
It is reported that this task will be officially implemented from the 1st of next month after a working-level discussion period. Accordingly, institutional work to clearly distinguish between public and private executions is expected to be carried out within this month.
Meanwhile, it is said that some people in North Korea still believe that public executions are essential for controlling the population.
The source said, “Some security officials say that public executions are effective in awakening the public,” and “Some also say that the perception that life and death can be determined by a single word from the enemy (Chairman Kim) rather than the law cannot be changed.” “He said.
Meanwhile, this first ratification task is noteworthy in that it came after the UN’s 4th Universal Periodic Review (UPR) held on the 7th (local time) in Geneva, Switzerland, on human rights in North Korea.
In this UPR review, North Korea acknowledged the practice of public executions. They say that although the death penalty is confidential, there may be exceptions. This suggests that North Korea is still using public executions as a means of maintaining its regime and controlling its population.
In relation to this, Shin Hee-seok, a legal analyst at the Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG), said, “Following the 3rd UPR in 2019, North Korea justified that in the 4th UPR, in the case of violent criminals, public executions will be carried out if the victims’ families wish, but this ratification task guideline does not. “Nevertheless, it shows that North Korea is conscious of the international community’s criticism of public executions and is trying to reduce them,” he said.
Legal analyst Shin continued, “Seeing that there is no mention of the victim’s family’s wishes in the first ratification task, I wonder if it is an excuse for the UN to mention the victim’s family.” He added, “The fact that the party’s safety committee ratification is also involved in the decision to execute public executions. “It is also meaningful that it has been confirmed,” he said.
Source: www.dailynk.com
