Universal Pain
By: Patrick Brown
As North Korea shows off their nicely rehearsed military routines, celebrations, and parades, the ordinary citizens of North Korea are unlawfully abused, tortured, and in some cases executed for no cause. The North Korean government punishes citizens that have “committed crimes” with torture and forced labor, both leading to death in most cases. These actions violate article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 5 states that "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment." This means no human being should be tortured for any reason whatsoever and all human beings have protection from torture.
Many of the victims have not even committed a crime and are punished do to someone in their family's history. These actions have been occurring since the Kim dynasty came into power. Families and generations of families are sent to prison camps and at these prison camps, prisoners are beaten, starved, and forced to do hard labor. Prisoners are tortured if they are suspected of lying, not working fast enough, or they forget patriotic songs. They are torture by forced hard labor, starved, and beaten at prison camps. This torture, along with the inadequate food, and medical care, lead to death in the prison camps or soon after release. Many of 80,000 to 120,000 citizens in prison camps are reported "missing" and are never seen again. These acts are inhuman and wrong. No one should be punished to this extent and have their life put into jeopardy like this. Communication with North Korea is slim since they have closed all of their borders. But, there is something we can do.
We can raise awareness and fight this torture through our own government. The United States and President Obama have been meeting with Japan, South Korea, and the UN on inspections of North Korea and whether or not to involve the ICC (International Criminal Court). The US is still skeptical on what to do and if we give them our opinion and push them to fight against the tortures.
Many of the victims have not even committed a crime and are punished do to someone in their family's history. These actions have been occurring since the Kim dynasty came into power. Families and generations of families are sent to prison camps and at these prison camps, prisoners are beaten, starved, and forced to do hard labor. Prisoners are tortured if they are suspected of lying, not working fast enough, or they forget patriotic songs. They are torture by forced hard labor, starved, and beaten at prison camps. This torture, along with the inadequate food, and medical care, lead to death in the prison camps or soon after release. Many of 80,000 to 120,000 citizens in prison camps are reported "missing" and are never seen again. These acts are inhuman and wrong. No one should be punished to this extent and have their life put into jeopardy like this. Communication with North Korea is slim since they have closed all of their borders. But, there is something we can do.
We can raise awareness and fight this torture through our own government. The United States and President Obama have been meeting with Japan, South Korea, and the UN on inspections of North Korea and whether or not to involve the ICC (International Criminal Court). The US is still skeptical on what to do and if we give them our opinion and push them to fight against the tortures.