A/HRC/26/43 since 2004, he stated clearly that this status quo could not be allowed to continue in the face of such violations, such international condemnation and such non-cooperation. The establishment of the commission of inquiry, and its subsequent findings and recommendations, must also be seen in this context. It was the much-needed breakthrough that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, civil society and the Special Rapporteur himself had called for when they advocated for an international inquiry mechanism to investigate and more fully document the grave, systematic and widespread violations of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea as a step towards accountability. A. Crimes against humanity 10. The commission of inquiry found that crimes against humanity had been and continued to be committed by the institutions and officials of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, pursuant to policies established at the highest level of the State. These were not mere excesses of the State, but essential components of its political system. The gravity, scale and nature of these violations revealed a State that has no parallel in the contemporary world. The State strategically uses surveillance, coercion, fear and punishment to preclude the expression of any dissent. It uses executions and enforced disappearance to political prison camps to terrorize the population into submission. The State’s violence has been externalized through State-sponsored abductions and enforced disappearances of people from other nations. These international enforced disappearances are unique in their intensity, scale and nature.4 11. Anyone in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea who is considered a threat to the political system and the leadership can become a target of these crimes against humanity. The primary victims included the estimated 80,000 to 120,000 inmates of the political prison camps; the inmates of the ordinary prison system, including the political prisoners among them; Christian and other religious believers, as well as others considered to introduce subversive influences; persons who try to flee the country, including persons forcibly repatriated by China; starving populations, and persons from Japan, the Republic of Korea and other countries who were abducted or denied repatriation, and became victims of international abductions and enforced disappearances.5 The ongoing plight of the prisoners held incommunicado in the political prison camps, whose existence the Government continues to deny, is cause for deep concern. The Special Rapporteur stresses that these camps must be shut down and that the prisoners must be released without delay. 12. Since the commission of inquiry released its report, the Special Rapporteur has been asked repeatedly about which of the commission’s findings could be considered “new”, given the previous documentation by civil society actors and the United Nations. It is a valid question. The Special Rapporteur believes that the answer explains why the revelation of the truth by the commission has been so powerful. 13. Firstly, the findings are the result of an intensive, systematic and transparent investigation that began with an open call for submissions by any party with information and documentation on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea itself, neighbouring States and other States concerned, State and non-State actors, civil society and individuals all had ample 4 5 A/HRC/25/63, paras. 80 and 83. Ibid., paras. 67, 72 and 79. See also the report of the detailed findings of the commission of inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (available from www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/CoIDPRK/Pages/ReportoftheCommissionofInquiryDPRK.aspx), paras. 1024, 1160-1163. 5