World News

22058 readers

28 users here now

Breaking news from around the world.

News that is American but has an international facet may also be posted here.

Guidelines for submissions:

Where possible, post the original source of information.
- If there is a paywall, you can use alternative sources or provide an archive.today, 12ft.io, etc. link in the body.
Do not editorialize titles. Preserve the original title when possible; edits for clarity are fine.
Do not post ragebait or shock stories. These will be removed.
Do not post tabloid or blogspam stories. These will be removed.
Social media should be a source of last resort.

These guidelines will be enforced on a know-it-when-I-see-it basis.

For US News, see the US News community.

This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

Forced labour is widespread and institutionalized across North Korea, maintained through violence and recrimination, the UN human rights office says (news.un.org)

submitted 4 months ago by tardigrada@beehaw.org to c/news@beehaw.org

8 comments fedilink hide all child comments

In a report based on 183 interviews with victims and witnesses of forced labour who managed to escape DPRK and now live abroad, the UN human rights office OHCHR cited one person’s testimony that if a daily work quota was not met, workers would be beaten and have their food ration cut.

“These people are forced to work in intolerable conditions – often in dangerous sectors without pay, freedom of choice, the ability to leave, protection, medical care, time off, food, and shelter,” said OHCHR spokesperson Liz Throssell.

“They are placed under constant surveillance, regularly beaten, while women are exposed to continuing risks of sexual violence.”

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] FlashMobOfOne@beehaw.org 9 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Sounds like what we do to prison inmates here in the US.

[–] tardigrada@beehaw.org 13 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Sounds like whataboutism tankies do to users here on Lemmy.

[–] FlashMobOfOne@beehaw.org 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Partisans do like to pretend that they don't support fascism, but really they just ignore it and enjoy their brunches. It doesn't affect them personally, therefore it doesn't exist at all.

[–] tardigrada@beehaw.org 7 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Tankies do like to pretend that they don't support fascism, but they really just ignore it and enjoy their brunches. Forced labour and other human rights violations in autocracies don't effect them personally, therefore it doesn't exist at all.

[–] Crotaro@beehaw.org 1 points 4 months ago

Maybe we should acknowledge that neither North Korea nor the USA are without fault and that in some aspects they are similar enough that they would be confused with each other in a blind test.

The main difference for the vast majority here is that public outrage and votes in elections for their respective governments won't change a thing in North Korea.

[–] GiveMemes@jlai.lu 2 points 4 months ago

There are some parallels but overall this is a vast oversimplification. However, I'd like to hear your case.