Amnesty's 2005 NK Report

We've all heard much in the past week about Amnesty calling Guantanemo the "Gulag of our time." Not much has been made, though, of their other country reports, including their 2005 North Korea report. Follow this link to read the brief, executive summary of the findings.

One interesting note in addition to the expected findings regarding malnutrition, torture, and complete repression, is this:

"In June, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) expressed concern at the limitations on civil and political rights of North Koreans, including children. It also expressed concern that the minimum age for voluntary enlistment in the armed forces was 16 and that school children were taught to assemble and dismantle weapons. The CRC raised concerns about the independence and impartiality of the authorities taking sentencing decisions in the juvenile justice system."

Learning how to assemble guns seems to be more evidence of the excellent education system in NK, such as how Quinones (or was it Larsen?) said he observed NK kids watching an NBA game to learn English.