UN human rights expert: NKorea intimidates citizens with executions

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
North Korea is using public executions to intimidate its citizens and has imposed restrictions on long distance calls to block the spread of news about rising food shortages, the UN investigator on human rights in the reclusive nations said Thursday. Vitit Muntarbhorn told the UN General Assembly's human rights committee that North Korea has also imposed more severe sanctions on people seeking to leave the country and those forcibly returned, and still detains "very large numbers" of people in camps. On a more positive note, he told reporters the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program have created some space to discuss human rights concerns, which he welcomed.