A/HRC/19/65 Supreme People’s Assembly (art. 103, sect. 5; art. 116, sect. 17; and Criminal Code art. 53). Past practices show that general amnesties are usually granted on special occasions, such as during the founding anniversary of the Korean Workers’ Party. “Grand amnesties” are granted on predetermined dates, such as the birthdays of Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-il, the anniversary of the Party or of the founding of the Republic. 40. In 2008, in commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of the founding of the Republic, the State announced a general amnesty and released or reduced the terms of imprisonment of inmates serving correctional punishments. Contrary to earlier expectations, however, the scope of amnesty was significantly reduced, and those serving sentences for attempting to leave the State by border-crossing were not included in the amnesty. In January 2011, as a part of the national festivities to celebrate the seventieth birthday of Kim Jong-il and the one-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-sung, the State announced that a general amnesty would be granted; however, the announcement neither clarified the number of prisoners nor provided information on the profile of those who would benefit from the amnesty. The Special Rapporteur calls on the authorities of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to make use of the important forthcoming anniversary to maximize amnesties, pardons and sentence reductions to include political prisoners among those released, and to be transparent about the number of such prisoners. F. Abduction of foreign nationals 41. The Special Rapporteur notes with concern that there no progress has been made in resolving the question of abduction of foreign nationals by agents of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. To date , some 500 unresolved cases of abduction of Koreans from the Republic of Korea have been reported. These abductions were carried out following the ceasefire at the end of the Korean War. 42. With regard to the abduction of Japanese nationals, the reinvestigation of 12 cases is still pending. During his mission to Japan, the Special Rapporteur visited Niigata and Kashiwazaki, where he was given a thorough briefing by the Niigata prefectural police on the abduction of Megumi Yokota, Kaoru Hasuike and Yukiko Hasuike. Detailed accounts of the abduction of the three Japanese nationals on 15 November 1977 and 31 July 1978 were provided to the Special Rapporteur. While Mr. Hasuike and Mr. Hasuike were returned to Japan in October 2002, there has been practically no progress made in relaunching a full-scale investigation into the abduction of Mr. Yokota and of 11 other Japanese nationals. The launch of a full-scale investigation was promised by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea during its working level talks with Japan on abductions held in August 2008. The Special Rapporteur wishes to reiterate his position that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea should stand by its commitment made to Japan to reinvestigate the 12 pending cases of abduction. The urgency of the matter is clear, the abductees are aging, as are their family members in Japan. In this regard, it is important that pressure be maintained on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea until such time as a satisfactory outcome has been achieved. 43. The cases of abduction of nationals of other countries, such as Thailand and Lebanon, remain unresolved. G. Case of Oh Kil-nam 44. During his mission to the Republic of Korea, the Special Rapporteur was briefed about the case of Dr. Oh Kil-nam. Dr. Kil-nam and his family were persuaded by agents of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to move to that country from West Germany, 11