The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB) welcome the findings of the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on the situation of disability rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea), and call for the government’s swift implementation of the CRPD’s recommendations.
Paris, Seoul, 17 September 2025. On 21 August 2025, the CRPD published its Concluding Observations following the review of the DPRK’s initial report under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which was held on 12 August 2025 in Geneva, Switzerland. The CRPD monitors the implementation of the Convention’s provisions by state parties, including the DPRK, which ratified the Convention in 2016.
The CRPD expressed deep concern over reports of infanticide of children with disabilities, forced sterilizations and abortions of women with disabilities, and arbitrary detention of persons with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities in segregated institutions without due process. The CRPD recommended that the DPRK urgently investigate all such allegations, prosecute perpetrators, and establish independent monitoring mechanisms with unrestricted access to places of detention and medical facilities.
Among other key findings, the CRPD underscored the lack of explicit constitutional protections against disability-based discrimination and the absence of a comprehensive anti-discrimination law. It further noted the two-tiered approach in which veterans with disabilities are prioritized over other persons with disabilities, particularly those in rural areas, resulting in exclusion and unequal access to services. The CRPD recommended that the DPRK amend its Constitution to explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability, recognize denial of reasonable accommodation as a form of discrimination, and adopt comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation.
The CRPD also expressed concern that the DPRK continued to segregate children with disabilities in special schools and rehabilitation centers and had made little progress toward inclusive education. It recommended that the DPRK adopt a time-bound strategy with adequate resources to phase out segregated education and ensure access to quality, inclusive education at all levels.
In addition, the CRPD noted widespread barriers to healthcare, social protection, employment, and participation in political and public life. It highlighted the concentration of services in Pyongyang and the exclusion of rural communities, calling on the DPRK to ensure equal access nationwide and to transition from segregated workshops to inclusive employment in the open labor market.
The CRPD further urged the DPRK to establish an independent monitoring mechanism in line with the Paris Principles, and to ensure the meaningful participation of persons with disabilities and their representative organizations in the design, implementation, and monitoring of disability-related laws and policies.
The CRPD’s above-referenced findings and recommendations reflected those contained in the joint report NKDB and FIDH submitted to the CRPD ahead of its review of the DPRK.
FIDH and NKDB stress that disability rights are inseparable from the broader human rights crisis in the DPRK. The two organizations urge the DPRK to end practices that devalue the lives of persons with disabilities, dismantle systems of segregation, and guarantee equal rights for all.
