A/HRC/10/18 page 7 In 2005, for fear of losing their grip on the population, the authorities started to impose the system again on the population and to prohibit market activities, despite the fact that the system was unable to respond effectively to the needs of the population. 14. Secondly, economic initiatives, particularly by women, were severely curtailed in the period 2007-2008, when the authorities prohibited women under 40 years of age from trading; the age was subsequently raised to 49. Thirdly, it was reported in 2008 that army personnel were forcing farmers to provide them with food, to the detriment of the latter’s livelihood. The authorities were also reportedly subjecting markets to greater scrutiny and punishing traders in the pursuit of State control over the population. 15. Fourthly, at the end of 2008, the authorities planned to reduce the frequency of trade at open markets to once a month.3 This was all the more unjust in the light of two unprecedented mass protests by female traders in March 2008 against the crackdown on the market place and the negative impact on their livelihood, in Chungjin and North Hamgyong Province. Fifthly, it was reported that small-lot and small-patch farming would be prohibited in 2009.4 This “kitchen farming” has been very important for the survival of the general population, which lacks adequate food and undertakes this farming to supplement its food supply and intake. The authorities are also beginning to register such plots with a view to their curtailment. 16. Sixthly, at the end of 2008, the authorities were closing general markets and transforming them into farmers’ markets, with a ban on rice sales. According to the directives issued, food would only be sold at local grain enterprises and manufactured goods would be exclusively sold in State-run stores.5 The sad irony is that the ruling elite still seeks to make the population dependent on the State, even in the face of increasing deprivations. Even the cost of making kimchi, the pickled cabbage which helps to sustain people throughout the year given the lack of meat and other staples, is now rising, threatening an essential nutrient of the local diet.6 17. On another front, the authorities were cooperating with the United Nations on a long-overdue national census. B. Personal security 18. Some law reforms have been made to bring national security standards more into line with international ones. In 2004, reforms of the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code, for example, introduced more detailed categorization of crimes on the basis of nullum crimen sine 3 North Korea Today, No. 248, November 2008. 4 Ibid., No. 252, November 2008. 5 Ibid., No. 254, November 2008; and No. 255, December 2008. 6 Ibid., No. 255, December 2008.