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	DPR Korea still restricting basic human rights, says UN monitor by Vitit Muntarbhorn Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the DPRK   October 2007   The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has made some constructive attempts to engage with the outside world, but it remains a controlled, non-democratic State in which basic freedoms are restricted and severe food shortages are common, the United Nations human rights expert monitoring the country said today.   Vitit Muntarbhorn, the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the DPRK, told the General Assembly’s social, humanitarian and cultural (third) committee that the North Asian nation’s authorities repress the local population, despite a series of recent legislative improvements.   “There are continuing reports of violence… such as torture, public executions, persecutions of political dissidents and sub-standard prison conditions,” he said in his statement to the committee, while noting that re-education camps and forced labour programmes also exist.   “Freedom of expression and association and access to information are impeded by the closed nature of the State and rigid State control over the information flow and media. Despite official claims that religious freedom is allowed, reports indicate the contrary. Indeed, any imputed liberalization on this front tends to be due to the lure of money.”   Professor Muntarbhorn has not been allowed to visit the DPRK since he became Special Rapporteur to the country, but he said he had met staff of UN agencies operating there, travelled to several neighbouring countries, and held discussions with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and conducted interviews with refugees to build up a picture of the situation.   He said it was positive that Pyongyang is now a party to a handful of human rights treaties and recently allowed the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to visit, while progress has also been made on the Six-Party Talks concerning the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and an inter-Korean summit was held earlier this month.   But the ruling elite, including the military, continue to receive a disproportionate share of resources, creating budgetary distortions and leading to shortfalls and deprivations for the rest of the population.   That situation has worsened, he said, because of a combination of natural disasters and mismanagement in the past decade. Most recently, in August, the country was hit by devastating floods, particularly in the south, where the rice and crop basins are located.   He told reporters later that there will be severe food shortfalls inside the DPRK over the next year.   Professor Muntarbhorn also noted that civil society is increasingly agitating for senior figures in the DPRK Government to face personal responsibility for the worst human rights violations carried out by authorities, and that some groups are suggesting that what has taken place may constitute crimes against humanity.   “It remains to be seen how that advocacy will gather momentum, the Special Rapporteur said.   He called on Pyongyang to: increase access for humanitarian relief; to meet its international human rights obligations; to protect particularly vulnerable groups, such as women and children; reform its prison system; promote the rule of law and due process; and spell out a clear policy to not punish anyone who leaves the country without permission.
	Migrants endure increasing violence and discrimination, says UN rights expert by Jorge Bustamante Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants   26 October 2007   Migrants are increasingly subject to violence and discrimination, from prolonged detention to ill-treatment from authorities, in countries of both destination and transit, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants said today.   Jorge Bustamante told the General Assembly’s third committee (social, humanitarian and cultural issues) that his field visits during the past year have confirmed the rising attacks and other pressures that migrants are enduring.   “I received numerous reports of repeated cases of the detention of non-citizens, many times unlawfully for long periods,” he said in his statement to the committee. “A number of detained migrants suffer from ill-treatment, lack of medical attention, and abuse. Often, they lack access to justice, as many detained migrants are not granted access to lawyers for their defence.”   Professor Bustamante expressed particular concern at migrants who are subject to administrative, rather than judicial, proceedings in transit or destination countries.   “Legal grounds for administrative detention of migrants are often too broad and discretional and time limits are not always legally determined or respected.   “This is often coupled with the absence of automatic mechanisms for judicial or administrative review and with a lack of other procedural safeguards, such as access to interpreters and lawyers and limitations on the right to be informed of the grounds for detention, appeal mechanisms, and the right to have consular or embassy representatives.   “All these elements result in administrative detention that is not subject to control, disproportionate powers being exercised by immigration authorities, and incidents of discrimination and abuse.”   Professor Bustamante also highlighted what he said was an increasing trend of States to launch police raids on private homes in migrant neighbourhoods and arrest anyone who cannot show documents of legal residence.   This leads “to separation of children from their arrested parents, including children born in such countries.”   He noted that for many countries “migration carries with it the spectre of the abuse of national borders – by traffickers and people-smugglers – and prevailing fears about threats to ways of life or standards of living in host communities.”   Yet, rather than focusing on the negative perceptions of migrants, destination countries should also consider the positive contributions that migrant workers and their families provide.
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