North Korea Sentences Toddler and Parents to Life in Prison After Bible Found at Home, Report Says
A family has been sentenced to life in a North Korean political prison camp after authorities discovered a Bible in their home, according to a US State Department report exposing the regime’s harsh repression of religious freedom.
The case, dating back to 2009, is detailed in the US State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report on North Korea. According to the report, North Korean authorities sentenced an entire family, including their toddler, to a political prison camp after discovering a Christian Bible in their home.
The report highlights the severe persecution faced by religious believers in North Korea, where independent faith is considered a direct threat to loyalty toward the ruling Kim regime. Possession of religious materials, including Bibles, is classified as a serious political crime under state law.
US officials estimate that between 50,000 and 70,000 Christians are currently detained in North Korea for practicing their faith or owning religious texts. Many are held in large-scale political prison camps that are notorious for extreme human rights violations.
Testimonies from former detainees and findings from international human rights organizations describe brutal conditions inside these camps. Prisoners are subjected to forced labor, chronic starvation, physical abuse, torture, and the denial of any fair legal process. Under North Korea’s policy of collective punishment, entire families are often detained together, with children classified as being in conflict with the law and forced to endure the same harsh conditions as adults.
Although the North Korean government claims to allow limited, state-controlled religious activity, unsanctioned religious belief is effectively outlawed. Authorities view religious devotion as incompatible with absolute allegiance to the state and its leadership, making Christianity one of the most heavily targeted faiths.
Human rights advocates say the case involving the toddler remains one of the most disturbing examples of religious persecution in North Korea and is frequently cited in international human rights reports.
The State Department report renews global attention on ongoing human rights abuses in North Korea, where independent monitoring is nearly impossible and tens of thousands of people remain detained for their religious beliefs.
Source of Image: Fossybytes
