Situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea A/RES/73/180 (iii) The forcible transfer of populations and the limitations imposed on every person who wishes to move freely within the country and travel abroad, including the punishment of those who leave or try to leave the country without permission, or their families, as well as punishment of persons who are returned; (iv) The situation of refugees and asylum seekers expelled or returned to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and retaliations against citizens of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea who have been repatriated from abroad, leading to punishments of internment, torture, other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, sexual violence or the death penalty, and in this regard strongly urges all States to respect the fundamental principle of non-refoulement, to treat those who seek refuge humanely and to ensure unhindered access to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and his Office, with a view to protecting the human rights of those who seek refuge, and once again urges States parties to comply with their obligations under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees 15 and the 1967 Protocol thereto 16 in relation to refugees from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea who are covered by those instruments; (v) All-pervasive and severe restrictions, both online and offline, on the freedoms of thought, conscience, religion or belief, opinion and expression, peaceful assembly and association, the right to privacy and equal access to information, by such means as the unlawful and arbitrary surveillance, persecution, torture, imprisonment and, in some instances, summary executions of individuals exercising their freedom of opinion and expression, religion or belief, and their families, and the right of everyone, including women, to take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives, of his or her country; (vi) Violations of economic, social and cultural rights, which have led to food insecurity, severe hunger, malnutrition, widespread health problems and other hardship for the population in the Democratic People ’s Republic of Korea, in particular for women, children, persons with disabilities, older persons and political prisoners; (vii) Violations of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls, in particular the creation of internal conditions that force women and girls to leave the country and make them extremely vulnerable to trafficking in persons for the purpose of prostitution, domestic servitude or forced marriage and the subjection of women and girls to gender-based discrimination, including in the political and social spheres, forced abortions and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence; (viii) Violations of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of children, in particular the continued lack of access to basic economic, social and cultural rights for many children, and in this regard notes the particularly v ulnerable situation faced by, inter alia, returned or repatriated children, street children, children with disabilities, children whose parents are detained, children living in detention or in institutions and children in conflict with the law; (ix) Violations of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of persons with disabilities, especially violations involving the use of collective camps and coercive measures that target the rights of persons with disabilities to decide __________________ 15 16 18-22276 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 189, No. 2545. Ibid., vol. 606, No. 8791. 5/10