A State of Rightlessness: The Egregious Case of North Korea

A State of Rightlessness: The Egregious Case of North Korea


Morse H. Tan, A State of Rightlessness: The Egregious Case of North Korea, 80 Miss. L.J. 681 (2010)

29 PagesPosted: 7 Jun 2013

Morse Tan

Northern Illinois University

Abstract

This essay steps into the relative dearth of popular and legal academic treatment to analyze this egregious state of rightlessness (an intentional neologism) and concludes with reflections upon possible judicial redress options. Experts in the human rights field have averred that the human rights situation in North Korea is the worst in the world. The North Korean government denies any human rights abuses, insisting “that 'there is no human rigths [sic] problem in North Korea.'" This academic work challenges this outright denial by providing an analysis of various human rights abuses persisting north of the most heavily armed border in the world.

Contrary to the constant denial of the North Korean government, this essay seeks to help establish the case for this state of rightlessness, the egregious case of North Korea. It lays the foundation for a subsequent article regarding judicial redress of these gross and systematic violations of human rights. Before any need for judicial redress raises itself for consideration, the case that cries out for such a forum must receive delineation: this essay proposes to expound on the major violations of human rights in North Korea together with the context that makes such violations possible.





Keywords: North Korea, human rights, international law, international courts, human right violations