A/HRC/22/57 recommended that the Democratic People‟s Republic of Korea refrain from public executions and work towards abolishing capital punishment. 113 88. In 2008, the Secretary-General informed the General Assembly that although their veracity could not be independently confirmed, “reports from a range of sources continue to cite a high number of public executions.” 114 The same year the Special Rapporteur noted that he found the continuing use of public executions to intimidate the public particularly disquieting. In his 2009 report to the Human Rights Council he noted reports of public and secret executions in political detention camps. In 2010 in relation to political prisoners, the Special Rapporteur noted that the lives of inmates are lost too easily to hunger and slave labour, brutality and atrocity. There is, however, little detail in United Nations documentation describing instances of death in custody or as a consequence of torture. 89. In relation to capital punishment, the Secretary-General noted in 2011 that the number of offences carrying the death penalty had been reduced from 33 to 5. However, he expressed concern at the fact that, of those five offences, four are essentially political offences (articles 44, 45, 47 and 52 of the Criminal Code) couched in terms so broad that the imposition of the death penalty may be subjective and arbitrary. 115 90. Moreover in 2012, the Special Rapporteur highlighted that on 19 December 2007, the Democratic People‟s Republic of Korea adopted a unique form of law, referred to as an “addendum to the Criminal Code for ordinary crimes,” which has gone largely unnoticed by the international community and which expands the “crimes” for which the death penalty is applied. The Special Rapporteur notes that the addendum has functioned as a complement to the Penal Code, and carried the same weight as other provisions of the Criminal Code. The addendum comprises a total of 23 articles, of which 16 stipulate the death penalty for a number of crimes, 14 including smuggling and dealing in narcotics, seizing State property, currency counterfeiting and illicitly selling State resources. With the adoption of the addendum, the total number of crimes that carry the death penalty in the country stands at 22. Furthermore, the addendum contains a number of vague expressions, such as “the gravest cases” or “extremely serious cases,” which leave room for arbitrary decisions by the authorities. The addendum permits the application of capital punishment for various crimes as long as the authorities are able to establish that the crime in question was “extremely serious” and falls under one of the 16 listed crimes. 116 Recommendations on the right to life 91. The General Assembly and Human Rights Council resolutions have consistently treated public executions and the application of the death penalty for political and religious reasons as a systematic, grave and widespread form of violation of human rights in the Democratic People‟s Republic of Korea. 92. The Secretary-General and the Special Rapporteur have reiterated recommendations by the Human Rights Committee that the Democratic People‟s Republic of Korea end public executions and adopt a moratorium on the death penalty. 117 93. In 2011 the Special Rapporteur recommended that the Democratic People‟s Republic of Korea repeal provisions of law that run counter to international standards, 113 114 115 116 117 CCPR/CO/72/PRK, 27 August 2001, Concluding Observations of the Human Rights Committee, Democratic People‟s Republic of Korea. A/63/332, para 5 A/66/343, para 17 A/HRC/19/65, para 36 A/HRC/10/18, para 80 (a) (iii); A/HRC/13/47, para 88 (a)(iii); A/66/343 para 74 29