North Korea imprisoned entire family, including a two-year-old child for life after a Bible was discovered in their possession

                        North Korea leader, Kim.

                             Chairman Kim

This was revealed by the US State Department's International Religious Freedom Report 2022, documenting the regime's crackdown on people having religious beliefs. According to a report released by a non-governmental organisation (NGO), it was noted that between 50,000 and 70,000 North Koreans have been imprisoned for 'being christians'. The report exposed further that a two-year-old was among those who were imprisoned. The baby alongside his/her entire family were sentenced to life in a political prison camp in 2009.

People who have been imprisoned in this camp described how terrible the living conditions in there are, not forgetting to note the physical maltreatment they face on a daily. The report stated that the ministry of state security was responsible for 90% of documented human right abuses against both shamanic adherents and christians.

The state department, citing a report by Korea Future, a non-governmental organisation working to accelerate justice and support accountability in North Korea, says that North Korea persecutes individual that engage in religious practices, possess religious items, have contact with religious persons, or share religious beliefs. Persecuted individuals are arrested, forced to labor, tortured, denied a fair trial, deported (as in the case of non-citizens) , denied the right to life and live or subjected to sexual violence.

In December 2021, Korea Future released a report that documented the abuse of religious freedom against women in North Korea. The report was based on interviews with 151 christian women who had experienced abuse. According to this report, it was noted that the most common form of abuse are arbitrary detention, torture, deportation, forced labor and sexual violence.

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