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Email this citationCIAO DATE: 08/05
North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004: Issues and Implementation
Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland
April 2005
Abstract
It is an honor to be invited to testify before this committee. We would like to begin our testimony by restating a simple yet compelling point: The absence of human, civil, and political rights in North Korea and the humanitarian disaster that afflicts its population are inextricably linked.
North Korea's tragedy could have occurred only in a system in which the political leadership was insulated from events on the ground and shielded from political competition and freedom of association and speech. The failure of the North Korean government to guarantee adequate supplies of food to its population is directly related to the government's denial of a battery of other rights to its citizens: to confront public officials with their shortcomings and replace them for policy failures; to publicize information that allows government officials to know the extent of distress; and to organize collectively in the face of injustice and deprivation. If these rights were present, neither the great famine nor the ongoing shortages of food would have occurred, and we would not be meeting here this afternoon.
