North Korea Claims to Have the “Most Advantageous Human Rights System”

By Courtney Cox

North Korea released a report on its human rights practices last week. The country’s Association for Human Rights Studies purported that citizens enjoy “genuine human rights,” including freedom of religion. According to the report, citizens are not subject to inhumane treatment. In fact, the country boasts having “the world’s most advantageous human rights system.”

North Korea is facing increasing international outrage in reaction to the U.N. Commission of Inquiry’s February report chronicling the country’s widespread human rights violations (many of which may rise to the level of crimes against humanity). The U.N. Commission’s findings included gender inequality, suppression of political and religious expression, as well as rampant incommunicado detention and torture in prison camps. The Wall Street Journal stated that North Korea’s human rights report was an attempt to correct the misunderstandings promulgated by the United Nations.