Overview

• Released Sep. 12, the UN Human Rights Office report describes a decade of suffering and increased fear, drawing on 300-plus escapee interviews and satellite analysis.
• The report documents more frequent use of capital punishment, including public firing-squad executions for watching or sharing foreign films and TV.
• At least six laws since 2015 broadened capital crimes, while expanded surveillance technologies tightened control over expression and access to information.
• Forced labour intensified, with poor families and even orphans mobilized into hazardous “shock brigades” for construction and mining projects.
• Satellite-corroborated accounts indicate at least four political prison camps remain in operation, alongside tightened borders and shoot-to-kill orders that have made escape nearly impossible.