Pyongyang tightens grip: death even for those who steal rice

ICC Note:

Kim Jong-Il has changed the criminal code: death for food thieves

By Joseph Yun Li-sun

11/28/09 North Korea (AsiaNews) – The North Korean regime has radically changed its Penal Code, which now provides for the death penalty for those who steal half sack of rice. The news was revealed by exiles from the north who have sought refuge in the southern part of the peninsula and who speak of a climate of terror that is increasing with every passing day.

In fact, the Supreme Court of the government led by Kim Jong-il has not changed its penal law: instead it has published – giving it the force of law – an “addendum” that provides “new additional penalties for crimes already punishable under the normal code”. For example, the smuggling or counterfeiting of currency, which until last year was punished with a prison sentence of ten years, now leads directly to the scaffold. The Addendum dates back to 2007, but its existence was made public only in recent days.

This is because, say the dissidents, the government was not convinced of the need to enact it. After the famine last year, and especially after the halt to international humanitarian aid after Pyongyang’s nuclear test, there has been a dramatic increase in crimes committed in the territory. Statistics, says an interlocutor, anonymous for security reasons, “speak of an increase of 40%, but do not take into account the fact that now stealing even a bowl of rice is considered a serious crime.”

In a further effort to discourage “crime”, the North Korean government has decided to increase the number of public executions, to which the population is forced to assist by public security. Furthermore, the added penalties provide that – in case of flagrant offences – the death sentence “may be practiced without due process.”

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