North Korea

 North Korea is probably the most repressive country in the world. Their supreme leader, Kim Jong Un, uses threats of execution, arbitrary punishment of crimes, and detention and forced labor to maintain fearful obedience. He also tightly restricts travel out of the country and communication with the outside world. The government also strongly dislikes dissent. They ban independent media, civil society, and trade unions, and systemically denies basic rights, including freedom of expression, assembly, association, and religion. They also systemically extract forced, unpaid labor from its citizens to build infrastructure and implement public projects. Lastly, they also fail to protect or promote the rights of numerous at-risk groups, including women, children, and people with disabilities. During 2014, a report on human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea concluded that the government committed crimes against humanity, including extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, and other forms of sexual violence, and forced abortion. In 2019, the North Korean government continued to try and stop people from leaving North Korea without permission. They do this by jamming Chinese mobile phone services at the border, arresting those communicating with people outside the country or trying to leave, and publicizing punishments imposed on people caught escaping. The government systemically requires forced, uncompensated labor from most of its population, including workers at state-owned enterprises or deployed overseas, women, children, and prisoners, to control its people and sustain its economy. Ordinary North Koreans are also not allowed to choose their own jobs. The government assigns jobs to both men and unmarried women from cities and rural areas. In North Korean detention facilities, security personnel have subjected women to rape and other sexual violence. Human traffickers and brokers, often linked to government actors, subject women to sexual exploitation and sexual slavery in China, including through forced marriage. These are just some of the multiple crimes North Korea commits against their citizens and fails to protect them against.

Works Cited: https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/country-chapters/north-korea

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