Situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea A/RES/80/220 the persons concerned; and refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of their liberty, which places them outside the protection of the law and which has inflicted severe suffering on them and their families; (iv) The forcible transfer of populations and the limitations imposed on persons wishing to move freely within the country or abroad, with even greater restrictions now compared to a decade ago, including harming or punishing those who leave or try to leave the country without permission, or their families; (v) The situation of refugees and asylum-seekers expelled or returned to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, including where the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea exerts pressure on returning States to effectuate such returns, and retaliation by the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea against its citizens who have been repatriated, including punishment by internment, torture, other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, sexual and gender-based violence, or the death penalty, and in this regard strongly urges all Member States to respect the fundamental principle of non‑refoulement, to take action to counter acts of transnational repression by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, to treat h umanely those who seek refuge and to ensure unhindered access to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and his Office, and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, with a view to protecting the human rights of those who seek refuge, and to refrain from sharing information about the contacts and conduct of refugees, asylum-seekers and other citizens of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea with the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and once again urges States Parties to comply with their obligations under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees 18 and the 1967 Protocol thereto 19 in relation to refugees from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea who are covered by those instruments, as well as under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment 20 and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime; 21 (vi) All-pervasive and severe restrictions, including an absolute monopoly on information and total control over organized social life, further tightened by recent laws which provide for severe punishments, including the death penalty, namely the Law on Rejecting Reactionary Thought and Culture (2020), the Youth Education Guarantee Law (2021) and the Law on Protecting the Pyongyang Cultural Language (2023), on the rights to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief, opinion and expression, peacefu l assembly and association, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, the right not to be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with individual privacy, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, or imprisonment of individuals exercising their rights to freedom of opinion and expression and religion or belief, and the right of everyone, including women, to take part without unreasonable restriction in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives, of their country; (vii) Violations of economic, social and cultural rights, exacerbated by the continued border restrictions of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, _______________ 18 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 189, No. 2545. Ibid., vol. 606, No. 8791. 20 Ibid., vol. 1465, No. 24841. 21 Ibid., vol. 2237, No. 39574. 19 6/14 25-20980