So far Mr Corbyn did not reply but a reply came back from Ms Alexander which did not actually answer the question but instead responded with a litany of anti-DPRK slander and abuse , basically recycling old worn-out lies ,namely allegations of human rights abuse against the DPRK which came from the discredited UN Commission of Inquiry. Of course the "Commission of Inquiry " report was been refuted many times and torn apart .
We would reply as follows
Firstly, the so-called "Commission of Inquiry "(COI) was a product of an anti-DPRK conspiracy by US and world imperialism and a tool of US imperialism . The UN itself has degenerated into a tool of US imperialism , a sort of executive agency for the US . The so-called "Commission of Inquiry " consisted of extreme anti-DPRK, anti-communist elements and pro US elements such as Judge Michael Kirby who had been long involved in pro US organisations and CIA linked organisations . Judge Kirby put his home in Australia on the market and it was valued at $10 million showing that Kirby is in fact a wealthy individual , part of the bourgeois ruling class and unlikely to be well disposed or sympathetic towards any socialist country . Another member of the Commission M Darusman was a member of the Golkar party in Indonesia which earned an ill-fame by murdering with the CIA help 500 000 communists and people linked to leftist and labour circles in 1965. He is also an adviser to the United States Indonesia Society, a U.S. government front group and a member of the Global Leadership Foundation whose patrons include such unsavory characters as George W. Bush and Lech Walesa.
The "Commission of Inquiry " never once set foot in People's Korea , not once . It has never asked or consulted the 25 million people who actually live in the DPRK nor has it sought the views of organisations such as the Korean Friendship Association . So basically the 'findings' of the COI were bound to be distorted and inaccurate from the start. By excluding actual DPRK citizens living in the DPRK and organisations such as KFA the COI would actually fail an Equality and Diversity Audit massively !.The so -called evidence is purely second-hand or third hand and would actually be deemed invalid in a genuine court of law. The so-called "evidence " came from 'defectors ' from the DPRK ! . These are an unrepresentative group . constituting one about 0.1 per cent of the DPRK population (that is assuming the total number of "defectors " provided by the south Korean regime is accurate) .
Worse still , time and time again the stories of "defectors " have been proved to be false , they have been torn apart.! Prominent "defector " Shin Dong Hyuk (real name Shin In Geun) admitted to lying . Celebrity defector "Yeomi Park " , had her stories pulled apart several times . It was shown that her accounts were inconsistent and contradictory . The evidence of the "defectors " would be deemed as inadmissible in a court of law , yet the CoI used it . One writer , not sympathetic to the
DPRK argued that "Cash incentives and the western media’s endless appetite for shocking stories encourage refugees to exaggerate" ("Why do North Korean defector testimonies so often fall apart?" Guardian 13 October 2015).
Secondly, the DPRK guarantees people the right to work , the right to education , the right to health care . The DPRK Socialist Constitution states that " The State shall effectively guarantee the genuine democratic rights and freedoms as well as the material and cultural well-being of all its citizens. In the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea the rights and freedoms of citizens shall be amplified with the consolidation and development of the socialist system." (Article 64 ) ," Citizens enjoy equal rights in all spheres of State and public activity"(article 65),"All citizens who have reached the age of 17 have the right to elect and to be elected, irrespective of sex, race, occupation, length of residence, property status, education, party affiliation, political views or religious belief. Citizens serving in the armed forces also have the right to elect and to be elected." (article 66). This last point is interesting because in the UK , people in the armed forces and civil servants are barred from standing for parliament , so the DPRK is more democratic than the UK in this field . Article
67 states that "Citizens are guaranteed freedom of speech, the press, assembly, demonstration and association. The State shall guarantee the conditions for the free activities of democratic political parties and social organization".
In the DPRK elections are held every few years but almost 100 per cent of electors vote in the
elections meaning that those elected to People's Assemblies at all levels up to the Supreme People's Assembly have a real democratic mandate. They can also be recalled by by electors if they are not satisfied (Article 7 of the DPRK Socialist Constitution ). It is interesting to note that Ms Alexander herself was elected by 32,000 votes out of an electorate of 68,000 , in other words less than 50 per cent of the electorate whereas a member of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly would be elected by nearly 100 per cent of their electors. Whose has the real mandate? Which system is the most democratic ? , we will let you judge !
Thirdly, rather than being a human rights violator the DPRK improves the living standards and quality of life for its citizens. Even the heavily doctored and ungenerous UN statistics show that life expectancy in the DPRK leaped by 32 years , nearly doubling (of course this is an underestimate by
the UN , the DPRK's life expectancy was actually recorded as 74.6 years , a 36 year increase ) . People do not pay tax and get housing virtually free of charge. In recent years there has been massive housing construction in Pyongyang .
Fourthly, visiting the DPRK many times we have seen no evidence of human rights violations . As we pointed out back in 2015
"The imperialists claim that there are hundreds of thousands of people held in camps in the DPRK , such camps would have to be massive and with a huge number of guards but I did not see such a thing in the DPRK countryside. Moreover the DPRK is very peaceful and calm you rarely see emergency vehicles rushing through the busy streets. If it what the imperialists say about "human rights " and " forced labour camps " in the DPRK was true, then you would say police or security personnel on the streets arresting many people and putting them in lorries to go to "labour camps " or "concentrations camps " but I saw no such thing happen. I did not see heavily armed police on the streets that you sometimes encounter in London , either on the streets or at railway stations or at airports . Indeed I was able to go for a walk near the Mansudae Assemby Hall the home of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly , the highest organ of legislative power in the DPRK and roughly equivalent to the parliament. Now in London the area around parliament is a restricted area where movement is controlled and armed police units patrol. However in Pyongyang I see no police or security personnel in the area surrounding the Mansudae Assembly hall. Of course
the DPRK is a stable and harmonious unified society based on single hearted unity so there is no terrorism and no riots. In the DPRK there is unity between the armed forces and civilians so people do not fear or despise the armed forces.
I did not see the police oppressing anyone on the streets . I did not see anyone get arrested or the police in the DPRK shoot anyone dead ! In the USA , the so called "land of the free " , which is the country behind the clamour about " human rights in the DPRK , the police regularly shoot down people most of them black. The British newspaper "The Guardian" said so far this year 944 people had been killed by police in the USA so far this year ! . In the UK armed police units have been responsible for the loss of life notably innocent Brazilian electrician Jean Charles De Menezes and Mark Duggan (which sparked the 2011 riots"
In conclusion it is deeply regrettable that a time when there appears to be a lessening of tension on the Korean peninsula and the international prestige of the DPRK is soaring higher , Ms Alexander has chosen to recycle old imperialist rubbish about People's Korea.
UK KFA
Further reading
http://juche007-anglo-peopleskoreafriendship.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/report-of-dprk-association-for-human.htm
lhttp://juche007-anglo-peopleskoreafriendship.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/there-is-no-human-rights-problem-in.html
http://www.lulu.com/shop/dermot-hudson/who-are-the-real-human-rights-abusers-an-examination-of-the-human-rights-campaign-against-the-democratic-peoples-republic-of-korearevised-and-updated-edition/paperback/product-22162340.html
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