North Korea sentences toddler to life for Bible possession by parents

KOREA: A two-year-old in North Korea was sentenced to life in prison after the toddler’s parents were found with a Bible. 

The child’s entire family was also jailed, said the new International Religious Freedom Report.

According to the US State Department report, Christians in North Korea who are caught with a Bible face the death penalty, and their families, including children, are sentenced to life imprisonment. The State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report for 2022 estimates that as many as 70,000 Christians are imprisoned in North Korea, along with people from other faiths.

The report claims that among the many sent to prison was a two-year-old who was reportedly sentenced to life after his parents were found in possession of a Bible. The family was arrested for their religious practices and possession of a Bible. The entire family, including a two-year-old, was sentenced to life in a political prison camp in 2009.

Christians who have been imprisoned in these camps have described dire conditions and various forms of physical mistreatment. The report stated that the Ministry of State Security was responsible for 90% of documented human rights abuses against both Shamanic adherents and Christians.

The State Department, citing a report by Korea Future, a non-profit organisation “working to accelerate justice and support accountability” in North Korea, says the North Korean government persecutes individuals who engage in religious practices, possess religious items, have contact with religious persons, or share religious beliefs. Individuals who are persecuted may be arrested, detained, forced to work, tortured, denied a fair trial, deported, denied the right to life, or subjected to sexual violence.

In December 2021, Korea Future released a report that documented the abuse of religious freedom against women in North Korea. The report was based on interviews with 151 Christian women who had experienced abuse. The report found that the most common forms of abuse were arbitrary detention, torture, deportation, forced labor, and sexual violence.

- MIRROR