Situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea A/RES/72/188 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 12 and the 1967 Protocol thereto 13 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 to take part i n 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 vulnerable 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 freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children and allegations of the possible use of persons with disabilities in med ical testing, forced relocation to rural areas and separation of children with disabilities from their parents; (x) Violations of workers’ rights, including the right to freedom of association and effective recognition of the right to collective bargaini ng, the right to strike as defined by the obligations of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 5 and the prohibition of the economic exploitation of children and of any harmful or __________________ 12 13 17-23184 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 189, No. 2545. Ibid., vol. 606, No. 8791. 5/10