BERGEN CONFERENCE ON NORTH KOREAN HUMAN RIGHTS

UNCLAS OSLO 000669

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TAGS: PREL PHUM CH KN KS NO
SUBJECT: BERGEN CONFERENCE ON NORTH KOREAN HUMAN RIGHTS



1. (SBU) SUMMARY AND COMMENT: The 7th International
Conference on Human Rights and Refugees "North Korea New
Approaches" held in Bergen, Norway May 9-11 brought together
government and NGO officials to discuss ways to advance human
rights in North Korea. Officials and NGOs agreed that while
little improvement has been made on human rights in North
Korea, consistently raising the issue in international fora,
in meetings with DPRK officials, and holding the DPRK
accountable to the few international agreements it has signed
can help improve the human rights situation in the country.
The tone of the conference was positive despite frustrations
expressed by government and non-government officials over
difficulties of working on the issue given the North Korean
government's extreme self-imposed isolation. Participants
worked to approach old problems from new angles. To help
broaden viewpoints, Norwegian hosts combined cultural
performance with substantive elements in the three day
program. Outcomes may be difficult to judge, but there was
no shortage of ideas for engaging with North Koreans in order
to improve human rights in the DPRK. Keeping NGOs on the
ground to provide emergency services, bilateral and
multilateral official contact for governments like Norway and
Sweden that have diplomatic relations with the DPRK, and
increasing North Koreans' access to information from the
outside world were discussed as ways to enhance human rights
in the DPRK and to bring North Korea into the community of
nations. END SUMMARY AND COMMENT


2. (U) Norwegian Human Rights NGO Rafto House and the
Citizens Alliance for North Korean Human Rights co-sponsored
the 7th International Conference on Human Rights and Refugees
May 9-11 in Bergen, Norway. The "New Approaches North Korea"
conference brought together government, UN, and NGO officials
as well as academics to discuss ways to improve human rights
in North Korea. Government officials attending the
conference included Japanese Ambassador to Norway Fumiko
Saiga, Ambassador and Special Advisor to Sweden on North
Korea Paul Beijer, South Korean Ambassador for Human Rights
Kyung-seo Park, and UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of
Human Rights in the DPRK Vitit Muntarbhorn. Former Norwegian
Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, National Endowment for
Democracy President USA Garl Gershman, Anti-Slavery
International Advocacy Officer Norma Kang Muico, and U.S.
Committee for Human Rights in North Korea Executive Director
Debra Liang-Fenton also participated. There were no official
USG presentations, but Pamela Spratlen, Deputy to Jay
Lefkowitz Special Envoy for Human Rights in North Korea and
USEMB Oslo poloff attended the conference. Initial
presentations focused on assessing the human rights situation
in North Korea and searching for ways to engage North Koreans
and the DPRK government on human rights. Subsequent breakout
sessions covered refugee issues, sports in politics,
communication strategies, and good NGO practices. Conference
organizers combined arts and cultural presentations (some by
North Koreans) with panel discussions and presentations.

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Engage with North Korea Whenever Possible
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3. (U) Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights
representative Benjamin Yoon began the discussion by focusing
on the benefits of public engagement with North Koreans on
human rights. He challenged the assembled government and NGO
leaders to apply an international standard of human rights to
the DPRK and to bring human rights issues to DPRK officials
attention whenever possible. There is value in publicizing
information about specific human rights cases and bringing
them to DPRK officials' attention, particularly in
international venues. North Korean officials are aware of
U.N. concerns about human rights in their country and the
DPRK will react positively to external pressure put on
specific human rights cases.


4. (U) National Endowment for Democracy, USA, President Carl
Gershman continued on the engagement theme stating that human
rights pressure is essential to provide support to those
seeking freedom inside the DPRK. Publicizing the plight of
detainees and following-up on their cases helps protect
refugees who return to the DPRK. Gershman advocated
integrating human rights discussions into talks on security
and economic development. While refugee advocacy is still a
priority for the Endowment, they also have plans to broadcast
information to North Koreans to debunk government propaganda.
In his assessment, a looming DPRK economic crisis will force
breakdown of the government's control. Consistent pressure
on human rights issues within North Korea will help speed
this breakdown as stories of life outside the DPRK are broadcast
to the North Korean people.


5. (U) Former Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik
called North Korea a society in crisis and the DPRK a
government that has lost respect for human dignity. He
underscored that the DPRK nuclear and WMD programs are a
serious concern, and that pressure must be maintained to get
six-party talks restarted; further, the DPRK must let IAEA
inspectoQin to their country and the DPRK must respect UN
human rights resolutions and allow Special Rapporteur Vitit
Muntarbhorn into the country. However, Bondevik cautioned
that if diplomacy is neglected when engaging North Koreans,
there is no certainty that the desired democratic outcome
will be achieved. He sees the South Korean government's
Sunshine Policy and the consistent and coordinated pressure
applied to South Africa's apartheid regime as models to
improve human rights in North Korea.

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UN Rapporteur: No Progress on Human Rights in the Last Year
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6. (U) United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in
the DPRK Vitit Muntarbhorn provided a bleak assessment of the
current human rights situation and outlined specific steps to
improve it. Note: Muntarbhorn, a Thai human rights lawyer,
was appointed in August 2004, but the DPRK government refuses
to recognize his mandate or invite him into the country. End
note. He described four general human rights concerns.
First, food shortages are still prevalent in North Korea and
aid agencies are still needed to distribute food aid. While
the WFP is providing aid, its development framework needs to
include human rights. Second, North Korea is not enforcing
existing labor laws or respecting international human rights
agreements. North Korea is party to four human rights
treaties and the DPRK recently changed its criminal code, but
terms of these agreements and changes are not being enforced.
Third, freedom of movement within North Korea is not being
respected. Returning refugees Q not granted freedom of
movement and they face officially sanctioned persecuted upon
return. Fourth, the right to self-determination / political
participation, access to information, freedom of expression
are all compromised within North Korea -- while some citizens
have access to foreign information, there is no genuine free
press, political dissent is repressed, citizens cannot have
computers or listen to foreign radio and TV without
government permission. Muntarbhorn had specific concerns
regarding respect for the rights of those most vulnerable in
North Korean society: women, children, and the disabled.
Again, while protections may be afforded in law for these
groups, implementation and enforcement within the North
Korean legal regime is not happening.

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A Bleak Picture, But Ways to Move Forward
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7. (U) While the Special Rapporteur cited no progress in the
North Korean human rights situation in the last year, he did
offer several specific actions that North Korea and the
international community could take to improve the situation.
He suggested that North Korea could allocate resources to
enforce compliance with existing human rights conventions,
reform national laws to regulate travel within the country,
and abolish sanctions for dissidents. He also urges that the
DPRK liberalize its legal system to promote the rights of the
disadvantaged and to build capacity for law enforcement.
Humanitarian agencies should be allowed to stay in the
country, and UN monitoring bodies and the UN Rapporteur
(hQself) should be allowed into the DPRK. The international
community needs to do its part by providing food aid,
supporting the UN Rapporteur's recommendations, respecting
asylum principles, and assisting the DPRK with prison reform.
Finally, the international community should link human
rights to security issues on the peninsula.

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A Norwegian View
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8. (U) Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs representative
Petter Wille offered a Norwegian view of how to improve the
human rights situation within the DPRK by coordinating
cooperation among civil society actors to promote human
rights. Humanitarian aid is a key to building civil society,
but NGOs find it more and more difficult to work in North
Korea due to increased government restrictions. Despite
these difficulties, Norwegians feel that NGOs must maintain
their presence to help those in need and to maintain contact
with the North Korean government to help prevent future
disasters. Norwegians deplore the North Korean WMD program
and all that the program does to undermine non-proliferation
efforts elsewhere in the world. While they want to pressure
North Korea to disarm and to resume six-party talks, they see
dialogue and consultation as the way to move forward.

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North Korean Migrants and Trafficking
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9. (U) Anti-Slavery International Education Officer Norma
Kang Muico described the causes of and current state of
trafficking in North Korea in one of the conference breakout
sessions. Declining trade, poor harvests, and a breakdown in
the North Korean food distribution system led to an increase
in economic migration from North Korea into China in the mid
1990s. Muico stated that while many migrants fled North
Korea for legitimate economic reasons, many women were sold
into marriages by their families and villages or sold
outright to trafficking agents. The continuing food crisis
in the region and demand for brides in rural areas of China
keeps these migration and trafficking patterns going. The
Chinese government policy of arrest and deportation back to
DPRK compounds the problem as repatriated trafficking victims
face discrimination and forced labor upon return to North
Korea.


10. (SBU) There are an estimated 50,000 North Koreans living
in Chinese border provinces. Estimates of the numbers of
persons trafficked into China are difficult to obtain due to
lack of access to officials and the sensitivity of the
subject. Private estimates are that there may be several
hundred thousand individuals trafficked into China in recent
years. Muico outlined some specific steps that can be taken
to combat trafficking into China and improve human rights for
refugees returning to North Korea. The North Korean
government should stop the use of forced labor in detention
camps and change their criminal code. China should give
humanitarian status to North Korean women who have been
trafficked and should give the UNHCR access to North Koreans
in China. The international community should raise
protection of North Korean refugees in meetings with Chinese
officials.

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Official Views: Sweden, Japan, South Korea
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11. (U) Special Advisor to the Swedish Government on Korea,
Ambassador Paul Beijer, who served as his government's
Ambassador to North Korea from 2001-2005, gave his take on
the donor dilemma issue. Isolationist DPRK propaganda links
outside assistance with outside interference and the West's
desire for regime change. This leads North Koreans to view
assistance as a threat to their way of life and aid as
something that should not be accepted. The collectivist
mindset of the North Korean government sees no contradiction
in denying food or human rights to individuals as long as
collective rights (to their way of life) are protected. In a
doctrinaire regime, only systemic change will improve things.
Bringing about such change requires new approaches.
Traditional methods of applying pressure to governments don't
work with North Korea: Military threats only deepen the
country's war footing; isolation keeps the government in
control; naming and shaming human rights abuses only results
in a shutdown of NGO work. Other methods may bring some
partial results, but have unintended consequences: Economic
sanctions only feed the government's desire for isolation and
self-sufficiency; dialogue is difficult since the government
is manipulative and good at negotiation. Beijer sees
engagement as the only way forward and the only way to break
through a system that is, as he says, strong but brittle. EU
and Swedish engagement on humanitarian assistance gave North
Korean citizens exposure to new ways of doing things.
Through constant contact the DPRK government's control over
its citizens can be lessened and eventually overcome.


12. (U) Japanese Ambassador to Norway Fumiko Saiga outlined
her government's efforts to normalize relations with North
Korea and build a comprehensive peace in Northeast Asia.
Continuing bi-lateral and multi-lateral engagement helps make
North Korea a more normal society. By focusing on important
issues (abductee repatriation, normalization of relations)
Japan can help pull the DPRK into community of nations.
Rejoining stalled six-party talks will do the same thing.
Ambassador Saiga stressed that it is vital that North Korea
keep a positive attitude toward resolving outstanding
problems.


13. (U) South Korean Ambassador at Large for Humanitarian
Affairs Kyung-seo Park sees peace and stability as key to
creating an environment that will move the DPRK forward.
While North Korea is ultimately responsible for itself, there
are actions the ROK can take to improve human rights in North
Korea. The first priority is securing North Koreans' right
to food. The ROK will increase monitoring of food aid to
North Korea. The second priority for his government is to
provide defectors assistance with resettlement,
re-integration, and employment. Reuniting separated
families, engaging in north-south talks, and providing
humanitarian and economic assistance are also key ways to
support human rights within North Korea.

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Communication Strategies: Engagement and Broadcast
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14. (U) In another breakout session, Vincent Brossel from
Reporters Without Borders, documentary producer Nicholas
Bonner, and Tae Keung Ha from Open Radio for North Korea
discussed communication problems in North Korea. Cultural
exchanges may slowly erode rigid cultural barriers to
communication for a few, but the lack of independent media or
a functioning and free press make it very difficult to reach
large groups within the DPRK. Medium wave and short wave
radios are available and broadcasting into North Korea may be
the best way to get information to the North Korean people.
According to Tae Keung Ha, who represents a South Korean NGO
broadcasting messages into North Korea, penalties for
listening to non-official stations on non-registered radios
are decreasing. Since possession of transferable media such
as CDs and tapes reportedly result in very severe penalties,
broadcasting into the DPRK is, as he puts it, the best way to
provide "mental food" not just food aid to North Korean
people.

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