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The U.S. State Department, in its annual report on human rights practices for 2007, lists North Korea one of the world's 10 worst human rights violators. The report said North Korea is one of the most systematic human rights violators in the world and North Korean authorities commit serious violations. "Pregnant female prisoners underwent forced abortions in some cases, and in other cases babies were killed upon birth in prisons,¡± the report notes.
"There were no known laws specifically addressing the problem of trafficking in persons, and trafficking of women and young girls into and within China continued to be widely reported,¡± it added. ¡°Some women and girls were sold by their families or by kidnappers as wives or concubines to men in China."
The report is said to reflect the stances of hardliners at the department's human rights bureau. The Washington Post said on March 4 that the report sparked "internal tussling" at the department. According to the newspaper, diplomats at the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs disagreed with officials at the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) over the tone and nuance of the report. DRL officials tend to be hardliners, the newspaper said, while those at the regional bureau prefer a more diplomatic approach to smooth the way for the resumption of six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear problem.
The U.S. removed China from the list of human rights violators in the 2007 report after denouncing Beijing as one of them in 2005 and 2006.
The top 10 in the latest report are North Korea, Iran, Burma, Syria, Zimbabwe, Cuba, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Eritrea and Sudan.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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