Ms. Kang Mi-ho was allegedly taken with her eleven-year-old son, Kim Jeong-nam, to Yodok political prison camp around May 2011. They were detained because she had reportedly received money from her brother, who had defected to South Korea. Mr. Shin Kyung-seop was taken to Camp No. 14 along with his parents and two brothers by the National Security Agency in 1965 because of his brother’s defection during the Korean War. The entire family has spent more than forty years in Camp No. 14, where they have allegedly been subject to torture. North Korea denied these alleged cases and did not provide any information about the current situation of the three individuals.
The WGAD concerned about human rights violations in North Korea and indicated that, under certain circumstances, widespread or systemic imprisonment or other sever deprivation of liberty may constitute crimes against humanity. The WGAD found that the deprivation of liberty of Ms. Kang, Mr. Kim and Mr. Shin is arbitrary and in violation of article 9 and 10 of the UDHR and article 9 and 14 of the ICCPR and falls within categories I and III. Further, the WGAD requested North Korea to release Ms. Kang, Mr. Kim and Mr. Shin immediately and award them compensation.