Overview

• Investigators found expanded use of the death penalty, including for watching or sharing foreign films and TV, with public trials and executions reported since 2020.
• Surveillance has intensified through new technologies, with house searches and device inspections tightening controls and laws criminalizing access to outside information.
• The review, based on interviews with 314 escapees and corroborating sources, describes near-total state control over daily life and widespread fear.
• Forced labour has increased through ‘shock brigades’ and the use of orphans and street children in hazardous work, while at least four political prison camps remain in operation and torture persists.
• The UN calls for an ICC referral and other accountability steps, though Security Council action remains unlikely given repeated blocks by China and Russia; the report notes only limited, uneven improvements in detention and fair-trial laws.