[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4011 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
<DOC>
[DOCID: f:h4011enr.txt]
H.R.4011
One Hundred Eighth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the twentieth day of January, two thousand and four
An Act
To promote human rights and freedom in the Democratic People's Republic
of Korea, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

719bd0a2b4e3c5a954d3f1a30aa50e03437901f5c65eb99ab4e87305ef3db5ed

This Act may be cited as the ``North Korean Human Rights Act of
2004''.

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The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

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9fbf53b830fcf5999c684d9d21fb7300c4ca47af16f7cd00382d5975069f8c00

TITLE III

-PROTECTING NORTH KOREAN REFUGEES

Congress makes the following findings:
(1) According to the Department of State, the Government of
North Korea is ``a dictatorship under the absolute rule of Kim Jong
Il'' that continues to commit numerous, serious human rights
abuses.
(2) The Government of North Korea attempts to control all
information, artistic expression, academic works, and media
activity inside North Korea and strictly curtails freedom of speech
and access to foreign broadcasts.
(3) The Government of North Korea subjects all its citizens to
systematic, intensive political and ideological indoctrination in
support of the cult of personality glorifying Kim Jong Il and the
late Kim Il Sung that approaches the level of a state religion.
(4) The Government of North Korea divides its population into
categories, based on perceived loyalty to the leadership, which
determines access to food, employment, higher education, place of
residence, medical facilities, and other resources.
(5) According to the Department of State, ``[t]he [North
Korean] Penal Code is [d]raconian, stipulating capital punishment
and confiscation of assets for a wide variety of `crimes against
the revolution,' including defection, attempted defection, slander
of the policies of the Party or State, listening to foreign
broadcasts, writing `reactionary' letters, and possessing
reactionary printed matter''.
(6) The Government of North Korea executes political prisoners,
opponents of the regime, some repatriated defectors, some members
of underground churches, and others, sometimes at public meetings
attended by workers, students, and schoolchildren.
(7) The Government of North Korea holds an estimated 200,000
political prisoners in camps that its State Security Agency manages
through the use of forced labor, beatings, torture, and executions,
and in which many prisoners also die from disease, starvation, and
exposure.
(8) According to eyewitness testimony provided to the United
States Congress by North Korean camp survivors, camp inmates have
been used as sources of slave labor for the production of export
goods, as targets for martial arts practice, and as experimental
victims in the testing of chemical and biological poisons.
(9) According to credible reports, including eyewitness
testimony provided to the United States Congress, North Korean
Government officials prohibit live births in prison camps, and
forced abortion and the killing of newborn babies are standard
prison practices.
(10) According to the Department of State, ``[g]enuine
religious freedom does not exist in North Korea'' and, according to
the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom,
``[t]he North Korean state severely represses public and private
religious activities'' with penalties that reportedly include
arrest, imprisonment, torture, and sometimes execution.
(11) More than 2,000,000 North Koreans are estimated to have
died of starvation since the early 1990s because of the failure of
the centralized agricultural and public distribution systems
operated by the Government of North Korea.
(12) According to a 2002 United Nations-European Union survey,
nearly one out of every ten children in North Korea suffers from
acute malnutrition and four out of every ten children in North
Korea are chronically malnourished.
(13) Since 1995, the United States has provided more than
2,000,000 tons of humanitarian food assistance to the people of
North Korea, primarily through the World Food Program.
(14) Although United States food assistance has undoubtedly
saved many North Korean lives and there have been minor
improvements in transparency relating to the distribution of such
assistance in North Korea, the Government of North Korea continues
to deny the World Food Program forms of access necessary to
properly monitor the delivery of food aid, including the ability to
conduct random site visits, the use of native Korean-speaking
employees, and travel access throughout North Korea.
(15) The risk of starvation, the threat of persecution, and the
lack of freedom and opportunity in North Korea have caused large
numbers, perhaps even hundreds of thousands, of North Koreans to
flee their homeland, primarily into China.
(16) North Korean women and girls, particularly those who have
fled into China, are at risk of being kidnapped, trafficked, and
sexually exploited inside China, where many are sold as brides or
concubines, or forced to work as prostitutes.
(17) The Governments of China and North Korea have been
conducting aggressive campaigns to locate North Koreans who are in
China without permission and to forcibly return them to North
Korea, where they routinely face torture and imprisonment, and
sometimes execution.
(18) Despite China's obligations as a party to the 1951 United
Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967
Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, China routinely
classifies North Koreans seeking asylum in China as mere ``economic
migrants'' and returns them to North Korea without regard to the
serious threat of persecution they face upon their return.
(19) The Government of China does not provide North Koreans
whose asylum requests are rejected a right to have the rejection
reviewed prior to deportation despite its obligations under the
1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees.
(20) North Koreans who seek asylum while in China are routinely
imprisoned and tortured, and in some cases killed, after they are
returned to North Korea.
(21) The Government of China has detained, convicted, and
imprisoned foreign aid workers attempting to assist North Korean
refugees in proceedings that did not comply with Chinese law or
international standards.
(22) In January 2000, North Korean agents inside China
allegedly abducted the Reverend Kim Dong-shik, a United States
permanent resident and advocate for North Korean refugees, whose
condition and whereabouts remain unknown.
(23) Between 1994 and 2003, South Korea has admitted
approximately 3,800 North Korean refugees for domestic
resettlement, a number that is small in comparison with the total
number of North Korean escapees but far greater than the number
legally admitted in any other country.
(24) Although the principal responsibility for North Korean
refugee resettlement naturally falls to the Government of South
Korea, the United States should play a leadership role in focusing
international attention on the plight of these refugees, and
formulating international solutions to that profound humanitarian
dilemma.
(25) In addition to infringing the rights of its own citizens,
the Government of North Korea has been responsible in years past
for the abduction of numerous citizens of South Korea and Japan,
whose condition and whereabouts remain unknown.

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The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to promote respect for and protection of fundamental human
rights in North Korea;
(2) to promote a more durable humanitarian solution to the
plight of North Korean refugees;
(3) to promote increased monitoring, access, and transparency
in the provision of humanitarian assistance inside North Korea;
(4) to promote the free flow of information into and out of
North Korea; and
(5) to promote progress toward the peaceful reunification of
the Korean peninsula under a democratic system of government.

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In this Act:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on International Relations of the House
of Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
(2) China.--The term ``China'' means the People's Republic of
China.
(3) Humanitarian assistance.--The term ``humanitarian
assistance'' means assistance to meet humanitarian needs, including
needs for food, medicine, medical supplies, clothing, and shelter.
(4) North korea.--The term ``North Korea'' means the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea.
(5) North koreans.--The term ``North Koreans'' means persons
who are citizens or nationals of North Korea.
(6) South korea.--The term ``South Korea'' means the Republic
of Korea.

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It is the sense of Congress that the human rights of North Koreans
should remain a key element in future negotiations between the United
States, North Korea, and other concerned parties in Northeast Asia.

9d69eaefca1c323e231a60c39a6ab976df16667659032abc9cb0f88b00e5f40e

TITLE I

-PROMOTING THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF NORTH KOREANS

(a) Support.--The President is authorized to provide grants to
private, nonprofit organizations to support programs that promote human
rights, democracy, rule of law, and the development of a market economy
in North Korea. Such programs may include appropriate educational and
cultural exchange programs with North Korean participants, to the
extent not otherwise prohibited by law.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--
(1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated to the
President $2,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2005 through 2008
to carry out this section.
(2) Availability.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to the
authorization of appropriations under paragraph (1) are authorized
to remain available until expended.

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(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the United
States should facilitate the unhindered dissemination of information in
North Korea by increasing its support for radio broadcasting to North
Korea, and that the Broadcasting Board of Governors should increase
broadcasts to North Korea from current levels, with a goal of providing
12-hour-per-day broadcasting to North Korea, including broadcasts by
Radio Free Asia and Voice of America.
(b) Report.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Broadcasting Board of Governors shall submit
to the appropriate congressional committees a report that--
(1) describes the status of current United States broadcasting
to North Korea; and
(2) outlines a plan for increasing such broadcasts to 12 hours
per day, including a detailed description of the technical and
fiscal requirements necessary to implement the plan.

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(a) Actions.--The President is authorized to take such actions as
may be necessary to increase the availability of information inside
North Korea by increasing the availability of sources of information
not controlled by the Government of North Korea, including sources such
as radios capable of receiving broadcasting from outside North Korea.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--
(1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated to the
President $2,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2005 through 2008
to carry out subsection (a).
(2) Availability.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to the
authorization of appropriations under paragraph (1) are authorized
to remain available until expended.
(c) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment
of this Act, and in each of the 3 years thereafter, the Secretary of
State, after consultation with the heads of other appropriate Federal
departments and agencies, shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report, in classified form, on actions taken pursuant to
this section.

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It is the sense of Congress that the United Nations has a
significant role to play in promoting and improving human rights in
North Korea, and that--
(1) the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) has
taken positive steps by adopting Resolution 2003/10 and Resolution
2004/13 on the situation of human rights in North Korea, and
particularly by requesting the appointment of a Special Rapporteur
on the situation of human rights in North Korea; and
(2) the severe human rights violations within North Korea
warrant country-specific attention and reporting by the United
Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Working Group on
Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances, the Special Rapporteur on
Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions, the Special
Rapporteur on the Right to Food, the Special Rapporteur on the
Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and
Expression, the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or
Belief, and the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women.

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(a) Findings.--The Congress finds that human rights initiatives can
be undertaken on a multilateral basis, such as the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which established a regional
framework for discussing human rights, scientific and educational
cooperation, and economic and trade issues.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the United
Sates should explore the possibility of a regional human rights
dialogue with North Korea that is modeled on the Helsinki process,
engaging all countries in the region in a common commitment to respect
human rights and fundamental freedoms.

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(a) Special Envoy.--The President shall appoint a special envoy for
human rights in North Korea within the Department of State (hereafter
in this section referred to as the ``Special Envoy''). The Special
Envoy should be a person of recognized distinction in the field of
human rights.
(b) Central Objective.--The central objective of the Special Envoy
is to coordinate and promote efforts to improve respect for the
fundamental human rights of the people of North Korea.
(c) Duties and Responsibilities.--The Special Envoy shall--
(1) engage in discussions with North Korean officials regarding
human rights;
(2) support international efforts to promote human rights and
political freedoms in North Korea, including coordination and
dialogue between the United States and the United Nations, the
European Union, North Korea, and the other countries in Northeast
Asia;
(3) consult with non-governmental organizations who have
attempted to address human rights in North Korea;
(4) make recommendations regarding the funding of activities
authorized in section 102;
(5) review strategies for improving protection of human rights
in North Korea, including technical training and exchange programs;
and
(6) develop an action plan for supporting implementation of the
United Nations Commission on Human Rights Resolution 2004/13.
(d) Report on Activities.--Not later than 180 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, and annually for the subsequent 5 year-
period, the Special Envoy shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report on the activities undertaken in the preceding 12
months under subsection (c).

2994c184634a0074e2932c9a0d044e0d72379d7686e41910f49c93e1d16129e7

(a) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and in each of the 2 years thereafter, the
Administrator of the United States Agency for International
Development, in conjunction with the Secretary of State, shall submit
to the appropriate congressional committees a report that describes--
(1) all activities to provide humanitarian assistance inside
North Korea, and to North Koreans outside of North Korea, that
receive United States funding;
(2) any improvements in humanitarian transparency, monitoring,
and access inside North Korea during the previous 1-year period,
including progress toward meeting the conditions identified in
paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 202(b); and
(3) specific efforts to secure improved humanitarian
transparency, monitoring, and access inside North Korea made by the
United States and United States grantees, including the World Food
Program, during the previous 1-year period.
(b) Form.--The information required by subsection (a)(1) may be
provided in classified form if necessary.

33c7260ca2bab2708d97321638beb4f1967c5730f8a2113b84fbe96efbfe82b5

TITLE II

-ASSISTING NORTH KOREANS IN NEED

(a) Humanitarian Assistance Through Nongovernmental and
International Organizations.--It is the sense of the Congress that--
(1) at the same time that Congress supports the provision of
humanitarian assistance to the people of North Korea on
humanitarian grounds, such assistance also should be provided and
monitored so as to minimize the possibility that such assistance
could be diverted to political or military use, and to maximize the
likelihood that it will reach the most vulnerable North Koreans;
(2) significant increases above current levels of United States
support for humanitarian assistance provided inside North Korea
should be conditioned upon substantial improvements in
transparency, monitoring, and access to vulnerable populations
throughout North Korea; and
(3) the United States should encourage other countries that
provide food and other humanitarian assistance to North Korea to do
so through monitored, transparent channels, rather than through
direct, bilateral transfers to the Government of North Korea.
(b) United States Assistance to the Government of North Korea.--It
is the sense of Congress that--
(1) United States humanitarian assistance to any department,
agency, or entity of the Government of North Korea shall--
(A) be delivered, distributed, and monitored according to
internationally recognized humanitarian standards;
(B) be provided on a needs basis, and not used as a
political reward or tool of coercion;
(C) reach the intended beneficiaries, who should be
informed of the source of the assistance; and
(D) be made available to all vulnerable groups in North
Korea, no matter where in the country they may be located; and
(2) United States nonhumanitarian assistance to North Korea
shall be contingent on North Korea's substantial progress toward--
(A) respect for the basic human rights of the people of
North Korea, including freedom of religion;
(B) providing for family reunification between North
Koreans and their descendants and relatives in the United
States;
(C) fully disclosing all information regarding citizens of
Japan and the Republic of Korea abducted by the Government of
North Korea;
(D) allowing such abductees, along with their families,
complete and genuine freedom to leave North Korea and return to
the abductees' original home countries;
(E) reforming the North Korean prison and labor camp
system, and subjecting such reforms to independent
international monitoring; and
(F) decriminalizing political expression and activity.
(c) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Agency for
International Development shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report describing compliance with this section.

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(a) Assistance.--The President is authorized to provide assistance
to support organizations or persons that provide humanitarian
assistance to North Koreans who are outside of North Korea without the
permission of the Government of North Korea.
(b) Types of Assistance.--Assistance provided under subsection (a)
should be used to provide--
(1) humanitarian assistance to North Korean refugees,
defectors, migrants, and orphans outside of North Korea, which may
include support for refugee camps or temporary settlements; and
(2) humanitarian assistance to North Korean women outside of
North Korea who are victims of trafficking, as defined in section
103(14) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22
U.S.C. 7102(14)), or are in danger of being trafficked.
(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--
(1) In general.--In addition to funds otherwise available for
such purposes, there are authorized to be appropriated to the
President $20,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2005 through
2008 to carry out this section.
(2) Availability.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to the
authorization of appropriations under paragraph (1) are authorized
to remain available until expended.

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(a) Report.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the
heads of other appropriate Federal departments and agencies, shall
submit to the appropriate congressional committees and the Committees
on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Senate a
report that describes the situation of North Korean refugees and
explains United States Government policy toward North Korean nationals
outside of North Korea.
(b) Contents.--The report shall include--
(1) an assessment of the circumstances facing North Korean
refugees and migrants in hiding, particularly in China, and of the
circumstances they face if forcibly returned to North Korea;
(2) an assessment of whether North Koreans in China have
effective access to personnel of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, and of whether the Government of China
is fulfilling its obligations under the 1951 Convention Relating to
the Status of Refugees, particularly Articles 31, 32, and 33 of
such Convention;
(3) an assessment of whether North Koreans presently have
unobstructed access to United States refugee and asylum processing,
and of United States policy toward North Koreans who may present
themselves at United States embassies or consulates and request
protection as refugees or asylum seekers and resettlement in the
United States;
(4) the total number of North Koreans who have been admitted
into the United States as refugees or asylees in each of the past 5
years;
(5) an estimate of the number of North Koreans with family
connections to United States citizens; and
(6) a description of the measures that the Secretary of State
is taking to carry out section 303.
(c) Form.--The information required by paragraphs (1) through (5)
of subsection (b) shall be provided in unclassified form. All or part
of the information required by subsection (b)(6) may be provided in
classified form, if necessary.

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(a) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to clarify that North
Koreans are not barred from eligibility for refugee status or asylum in
the United States on account of any legal right to citizenship they may
enjoy under the Constitution of the Republic of Korea. It is not
intended in any way to prejudice whatever rights to citizenship North
Koreans may enjoy under the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, or
to apply to former North Korean nationals who have availed themselves
of those rights.
(b) Treatment of Nationals of North Korea.--For purposes of
eligibility for refugee status under section 207 of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157), or for asylum under section 208 of
such Act (8 U.S.C. 1158), a national of the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea shall not be considered a national of the Republic of
Korea.

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REFUGEE.
The Secretary of State shall undertake to facilitate the submission
of applications under section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (8 U.S.C. 1157) by citizens of North Korea seeking protection as
refugees (as defined in section 101(a)(42) of such Act (8 U.S.C.
1101(a)(42)).

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(a) Actions in China.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the Government of China has obligated itself to provide the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) with
unimpeded access to North Koreans inside its borders to enable the
UNHCR to determine whether they are refugees and whether they
require assistance, pursuant to the 1951 United Nations Convention
Relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol Relating to
the Status of Refugees, and Article III, paragraph 5 of the 1995
Agreement on the Upgrading of the UNHCR Mission in the People's
Republic of China to UNHCR Branch Office in the People's Republic
of China (referred to in this section as the ``UNHCR Mission
Agreement'');
(2) the United States, other UNHCR donor governments, and UNHCR
should persistently and at the highest levels continue to urge the
Government of China to abide by its previous commitments to allow
UNHCR unimpeded access to North Korean refugees inside China;
(3) the UNHCR, in order to effectively carry out its mandate to
protect refugees, should liberally employ as professionals or
Experts on Mission persons with significant experience in
humanitarian assistance work among displaced North Koreans in
China;
(4) the UNHCR, in order to effectively carry out its mandate to
protect refugees, should liberally contract with appropriate
nongovernmental organizations that have a proven record of
providing humanitarian assistance to displaced North Koreans in
China;
(5) the UNHCR should pursue a multilateral agreement to adopt
an effective ``first asylum'' policy that guarantees safe haven and
assistance to North Korean refugees; and
(6) should the Government of China begin actively fulfilling
its obligations toward North Korean refugees, all countries,
including the United States, and relevant international
organizations should increase levels of humanitarian assistance
provided inside China to help defray costs associated with the
North Korean refugee presence.
(b) Arbitration Proceedings.--It is further the sense of Congress
that--
(1) if the Government of China continues to refuse to provide
the UNHCR with access to North Koreans within its borders, the
UNHCR should initiate arbitration proceedings pursuant to Article
XVI of the UNHCR Mission Agreement and appoint an arbitrator for
the UNHCR; and
(2) because access to refugees is essential to the UNHCR
mandate and to the purpose of a UNHCR branch office, a failure to
assert those arbitration rights in present circumstances would
constitute a significant abdication by the UNHCR of one of its core
responsibilities.

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(a) Immigration Information.--Not later than 1 year after the date
of the enactment of this Act, and every 12 months thereafter for each
of the following 5 years, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of
Homeland Security shall submit a joint report to the appropriate
congressional committees and the Committees on the Judiciary of the
House of Representatives and the Senate on the operation of this title
during the previous year, which shall include--
(1) the number of aliens who are nationals or citizens of North
Korea who applied for political asylum and the number who were
granted political asylum; and
(2) the number of aliens who are nationals or citizens of North
Korea who applied for refugee status and the number who were
granted refugee status.
(b) Countries of Particular Concern.--The President shall include
in each annual report on proposed refugee admission pursuant to section
207(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157(d)),
information about specific measures taken to facilitate access to the
United States refugee program for individuals who have fled countries
of particular concern for violations of religious freedom, identified
pursuant to section 402(b) of the International Religious Freedom Act
of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6442(b)). The report shall include, for each country
of particular concern, a description of access of the nationals or
former habitual residents of that country to a refugee determination on
the basis of--
(1) referrals by external agencies to a refugee adjudication;
(2) groups deemed to be of special humanitarian concern to the
United States for purposes of refugee resettlement; and
(3) family links to the United States.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.

5fab318763697e806407f763a17356e0e7234ab6b85c97829382ca1fbc4ddea3

North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 — HR. 4011

Other Sections

TITLE III

TITLE I

TITLE II

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