A/HRC/10/18 page 8 lege (the principle that conduct does not constitute an offence unless declared to be so by a previously existing law) and related safeguards.7 Legislative progress includes shortened periods of detention pending trial and prohibition of night-time interrogation.8 19. The reform made in 2007 related to those who are sent to public education, particularly adolescents. A person subjected to this measure is considered to be innocent.9 Various discrepancies have however arisen in its implementation (see section E below). 20. In reality, there is a large gap between the more salutary nature of criminal law and the aberrations in its implementation process, which result in grave human rights violations. There is a plethora of crimes listed in the criminal law which help to bolster the regime and prolong the constraints imposed on ordinary people.10 21. The situation is aggravated by the discrimination practised by the regime in controlling its population. Although less explicit than in the past, the authorities divide the population into three groups: those close to the top; the middle level (usually the mass base of the urban and rural population); and those classified as hostile to the regime, such as political dissidents, those out of favour with the regime, and those with various links to the Republic of Korea and Japan. Collective punishments are also used against people; recent information confirms the practice of whole families being persecuted and sent into detention when a member falls foul of the authorities.11 22. Public executions continue to take place, particularly in recent years, for people involved in human trafficking. A recent case that came to the Special Rapporteur’s attention is that of seven people caught for human trafficking, four of whom were sent to re-education centres, and three (university students) executed in public.12 Another case was that of five women reportedly publicly executed for human trafficking in late 2008.13 7 See Young-Hwan Lee, “Assessments of the situation of torture and recommendations to North Korea”, in Life and Human Rights in North Korea, vol. 48, Summer 2008. See also Human Rights in North Korea: Religious Freedom and Torture, Proceedings of the Thirtieth Academic Seminar on North Korean Lives and Human Rights, 17 June 2008, Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights and Korea University, Seoul, 2008. 8 See Young-Hwan Lee, ibid. 9 See Young-Hwan Lee, ibid. 10 See White Paper on Human Rights in North Korea, Korean Institute for National Unification, Seoul, 2008. 11 For example, see North Korea Today, No. 237, October 2008. 12 See North Korea Today, No. 206, September 2008. 13 Ibid., No. 237, October 2008.