H.R. 4011 — North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004

[108th Congress Public Law 333]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


[DOCID: f:publ333.108]

[[Page 118 STAT. 1287]]

Public Law 108-333
108th Congress

                                 An Act


 
To promote human rights and freedom in the Democratic People's Republic 
    of Korea, and for other purposes. <<NOTE: Oct. 18, 2004 -  [H.R. 
                                4011]>> 

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: North Korean 
Human Rights Act of 2004. 22 USC 7801 note.>> 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``North Korean Human Rights Act of 
2004''.

SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
Sec. 3. Findings.
Sec. 4. Purposes.
Sec. 5. Definitions.

          TITLE I--PROMOTING THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF NORTH KOREANS

Sec. 101. Sense of Congress regarding negotiations with North Korea.
Sec. 102. Support for human rights and democracy programs.
Sec. 103. Radio broadcasting to North Korea.
Sec. 104. Actions to promote freedom of information.
Sec. 105. United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
Sec. 106. Establishment of regional framework.
Sec. 107. Special Envoy on Human Rights in North Korea.

                TITLE II--ASSISTING NORTH KOREANS IN NEED

Sec. 201. Report on United States humanitarian assistance.
Sec. 202. Assistance provided inside North Korea.
Sec. 203. Assistance provided outside of North Korea.

               TITLE III--PROTECTING NORTH KOREAN REFUGEES

Sec. 301. United States policy toward refugees and defectors.
Sec. 302. Eligibility for refugee or asylum consideration.
Sec. 303. Facilitating submission of applications for admission as a 
           refugee.
Sec. 304. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Sec. 305. Annual reports.

SEC. 3. <<NOTE: 22 USC 7801.>> FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) <<NOTE: Kim Jong Il.>> According to the Department of 
        State, the Government of North Korea is ``a dictatorship under 
        the absolute rule of Kim Jong Il'' that continues to commit 
        numerous, serious human rights abuses.
            (2) The Government of North Korea attempts to control all 
        information, artistic expression, academic works, and media 
        activity inside North Korea and strictly curtails freedom of 
        speech and access to foreign broadcasts.
            (3) <<NOTE: Kim Il Sung.>> The Government of North Korea 
        subjects all its citizens to systematic, intensive political and 
        ideological indoctrination

[[Page 118 STAT. 1288]]

        in support of the cult of personality glorifying Kim Jong Il and 
        the late Kim Il Sung that approaches the level of a state 
        religion.
            (4) The Government of North Korea divides its population 
        into categories, based on perceived loyalty to the leadership, 
        which determines access to food, employment, higher education, 
        place of residence, medical facilities, and other resources.
            (5) According to the Department of State, ``[t]he [North 
        Korean] Penal Code is [d]raconian, stipulating capital 
        punishment and confiscation of assets for a wide variety of 
        `crimes against the revolution,' including defection, attempted 
        defection, slander of the policies of the Party or State, 
        listening to foreign broadcasts, writing `reactionary' letters, 
        and possessing reactionary printed matter''.
            (6) The Government of North Korea executes political 
        prisoners, opponents of the regime, some repatriated defectors, 
        some members of underground churches, and others, sometimes at 
        public meetings attended by workers, students, and 
        schoolchildren.
            (7) The Government of North Korea holds an estimated 200,000 
        political prisoners in camps that its State Security Agency 
        manages through the use of forced labor, beatings, torture, and 
        executions, and in which many prisoners also die from disease, 
        starvation, and exposure.
            (8) According to eyewitness testimony provided to the United 
        States Congress by North Korean camp survivors, camp inmates 
        have been used as sources of slave labor for the production of 
        export goods, as targets for martial arts practice, and as 
        experimental victims in the testing of chemical and biological 
        poisons.
            (9) According to credible reports, including eyewitness 
        testimony provided to the United States Congress, North Korean 
        Government officials prohibit live births in prison camps, and 
        forced abortion and the killing of newborn babies are standard 
        prison practices.
            (10) According to the Department of State, ``[g]enuine 
        religious freedom does not exist in North Korea'' and, according 
        to the United States Commission on International Religious 
        Freedom, ``[t]he North Korean state severely represses public 
        and private religious activities'' with penalties that 
        reportedly include arrest, imprisonment, torture, and sometimes 
        execution.
            (11) More than 2,000,000 North Koreans are estimated to have 
        died of starvation since the early 1990s because of the failure 
        of the centralized agricultural and public distribution systems 
        operated by the Government of North Korea.
            (12) According to a 2002 United Nations-European Union 
        survey, nearly one out of every ten children in North Korea 
        suffers from acute malnutrition and four out of every ten 
        children in North Korea are chronically malnourished.
            (13) Since 1995, the United States has provided more than 
        2,000,000 tons of humanitarian food assistance to the people of 
        North Korea, primarily through the World Food Program.
            (14) Although United States food assistance has undoubtedly 
        saved many North Korean lives and there have been minor 
        improvements in transparency relating to the distribution of 
        such assistance in North Korea, the Government of North Korea 
        continues to deny the World Food Program forms

[[Page 118 STAT. 1289]]

        of access necessary to properly monitor the delivery of food 
        aid, including the ability to conduct random site visits, the 
        use of native Korean-speaking employees, and travel access 
        throughout North Korea.
            (15) The risk of starvation, the threat of persecution, and 
        the lack of freedom and opportunity in North Korea have caused 
        large numbers, perhaps even hundreds of thousands, of North 
        Koreans to flee their homeland, primarily into China.
            (16) North Korean women and girls, particularly those who 
        have fled into China, are at risk of being kidnapped, 
        trafficked, and sexually exploited inside China, where many are 
        sold as brides or concubines, or forced to work as prostitutes.
            (17) The Governments of China and North Korea have been 
        conducting aggressive campaigns to locate North Koreans who are 
        in China without permission and to forcibly return them to North 
        Korea, where they routinely face torture and imprisonment, and 
        sometimes execution.
            (18) Despite China's obligations as a party to the 1951 
        United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and 
        the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, China 
        routinely classifies North Koreans seeking asylum in China as 
        mere ``economic migrants'' and returns them to North Korea 
        without regard to the serious threat of persecution they face 
        upon their return.
            (19) The Government of China does not provide North Koreans 
        whose asylum requests are rejected a right to have the rejection 
        reviewed prior to deportation despite its obligations under the 
        1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of 
        Refugees and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of 
        Refugees.
            (20) North Koreans who seek asylum while in China are 
        routinely imprisoned and tortured, and in some cases killed, 
        after they are returned to North Korea.
            (21) The Government of China has detained, convicted, and 
        imprisoned foreign aid workers attempting to assist North Korean 
        refugees in proceedings that did not comply with Chinese law or 
        international standards.
            (22) <<NOTE: Kim Dong-shik.>> In January 2000, North Korean 
        agents inside China allegedly abducted the Reverend Kim Dong-
        shik, a United States permanent resident and advocate for North 
        Korean refugees, whose condition and whereabouts remain unknown.
            (23) Between 1994 and 2003, South Korea has admitted 
        approximately 3,800 North Korean refugees for domestic 
        resettlement, a number that is small in comparison with the 
        total number of North Korean escapees but far greater than the 
        number legally admitted in any other country.
            (24) Although the principal responsibility for North Korean 
        refugee resettlement naturally falls to the Government of South 
        Korea, the United States should play a leadership role in 
        focusing international attention on the plight of these 
        refugees, and formulating international solutions to that 
        profound humanitarian dilemma.
            (25) In addition to infringing the rights of its own 
        citizens, the Government of North Korea has been responsible in 
        years past for the abduction of numerous citizens of South Korea 
        and Japan, whose condition and whereabouts remain unknown.

[[Page 118 STAT. 1290]]

SEC. 4. <<NOTE: 22 USC 7802.>> PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to promote respect for and protection of fundamental 
        human rights in North Korea;
            (2) to promote a more durable humanitarian solution to the 
        plight of North Korean refugees;
            (3) to promote increased monitoring, access, and 
        transparency in the provision of humanitarian assistance inside 
        North Korea;
            (4) to promote the free flow of information into and out of 
        North Korea; and
            (5) to promote progress toward the peaceful reunification of 
        the Korean peninsula under a democratic system of government.

SEC. 5. <<NOTE: 22 USC 7803.>> DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on International Relations of the 
                House of Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
                Senate.
            (2) China.--The term ``China'' means the People's Republic 
        of China.
            (3) Humanitarian assistance.--The term ``humanitarian 
        assistance'' means assistance to meet humanitarian needs, 
        including needs for food, medicine, medical supplies, clothing, 
        and shelter.
            (4) North korea.--The term ``North Korea'' means the 
        Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
            (5) North koreans.--The term ``North Koreans'' means persons 
        who are citizens or nationals of North Korea.
            (6) South korea.--The term ``South Korea'' means the 
        Republic of Korea.

          TITLE I--PROMOTING THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF NORTH KOREANS

SEC. 101. <<NOTE: 22 USC 7811.>> SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING 
            NEGOTIATIONS WITH NORTH KOREA.

    It is the sense of Congress that the human rights of North Koreans 
should remain a key element in future negotiations between the United 
States, North Korea, and other concerned parties in Northeast Asia.

SEC. 102. <<NOTE: 22 USC 7812.>> SUPPORT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY 
            PROGRAMS.

    (a) <<NOTE: President. Grants.>> Support.--The President is 
authorized to provide grants to private, nonprofit organizations to 
support programs that promote human rights, democracy, rule of law, and 
the development of a market economy in North Korea. Such programs may 
include appropriate educational and cultural exchange programs with 
North Korean participants, to the extent not otherwise prohibited by 
law.

    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            (1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated to 
        the President $2,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2005 
        through 2008 to carry out this section.

[[Page 118 STAT. 1291]]

            (2) Availability.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to the 
        authorization of appropriations under paragraph (1) are 
        authorized to remain available until expended.

SEC. 103. RADIO BROADCASTING TO NORTH <<NOTE: 22 USC 7813.>> KOREA.

    (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the United 
States should facilitate the unhindered dissemination of information in 
North Korea by increasing its support for radio broadcasting to North 
Korea, and that the Broadcasting Board of Governors should increase 
broadcasts to North Korea from current levels, with a goal of providing 
12-hour-per-day broadcasting to North Korea, including broadcasts by 
Radio Free Asia and Voice of America.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Broadcasting Board of Governors shall submit to the 
appropriate congressional committees a report that--
            (1) describes the status of current United States 
        broadcasting to North Korea; and
            (2) outlines a plan for increasing such broadcasts to 12 
        hours per day, including a detailed description of the technical 
        and fiscal requirements necessary to implement the plan.

SEC. 104. <<NOTE: 22 USC 7814.>> ACTIONS TO PROMOTE FREEDOM OF 
            INFORMATION.

    (a) <<NOTE: President.>> Actions.--The President is authorized to 
take such actions as may be necessary to increase the availability of 
information inside North Korea by increasing the availability of sources 
of information not controlled by the Government of North Korea, 
including sources such as radios capable of receiving broadcasting from 
outside North Korea.

    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            (1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated to 
        the President $2,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2005 
        through 2008 to carry out subsection (a).
            (2) Availability.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to the 
        authorization of appropriations under paragraph (1) are 
        authorized to remain available until expended.

    (c) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, and in each of the 3 years thereafter, the Secretary of 
State, after consultation with the heads of other appropriate Federal 
departments and agencies, shall submit to the appropriate congressional 
committees a report, in classified form, on actions taken pursuant to 
this section.

SEC. 105. UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON HUMAN <<NOTE: 22 USC 
            7815.>> RIGHTS.

    It is the sense of Congress that the United Nations has a 
significant role to play in promoting and improving human rights in 
North Korea, and that--
            (1) the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) 
        has taken positive steps by adopting Resolution 2003/10 and 
        Resolution 2004/13 on the situation of human rights in North 
        Korea, and particularly by requesting the appointment of a 
        Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in North 
        Korea; and
            (2) the severe human rights violations within North Korea 
        warrant country-specific attention and reporting by the United 
        Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Working Group 
        on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances, the Special

[[Page 118 STAT. 1292]]

        Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions, 
        the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, the Special 
        Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to 
        Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the Special Rapporteur on 
        Freedom of Religion or Belief, and the Special Rapporteur on 
        Violence Against Women.

SEC. 106. ESTABLISHMENT OF REGIONAL <<NOTE: 22 USC 7816.>> FRAMEWORK.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that human rights initiatives can 
be undertaken on a multilateral basis, such as the Organization for 
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which established a regional 
framework for discussing human rights, scientific and educational 
cooperation, and economic and trade issues.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the United 
Sates should explore the possibility of a regional human rights dialogue 
with North Korea that is modeled on the Helsinki process, engaging all 
countries in the region in a common commitment to respect human rights 
and fundamental freedoms.

SEC. 107. <<NOTE: 22 USC 7817.>> SPECIAL ENVOY ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN NORTH 
            KOREA.

    (a) <<NOTE: President. Appointment.>> Special Envoy.--The President 
shall appoint a special envoy for human rights in North Korea within the 
Department of State (hereafter in this section referred to as the 
``Special Envoy''). The Special Envoy should be a person of recognized 
distinction in the field of human rights.

    (b) Central Objective.--The central objective of the Special Envoy 
is to coordinate and promote efforts to improve respect for the 
fundamental human rights of the people of North Korea.
    (c) Duties and Responsibilities.--The Special Envoy shall--
            (1) engage in discussions with North Korean officials 
        regarding human rights;
            (2) support international efforts to promote human rights 
        and political freedoms in North Korea, including coordination 
        and dialogue between the United States and the United Nations, 
        the European Union, North Korea, and the other countries in 
        Northeast Asia;
            (3) consult with non-governmental organizations who have 
        attempted to address human rights in North Korea;
            (4) make recommendations regarding the funding of activities 
        authorized in section 102;
            (5) review strategies for improving protection of human 
        rights in North Korea, including technical training and exchange 
        programs; and
            (6) develop an action plan for supporting implementation of 
        the United Nations Commission on Human Rights Resolution 2004/
        13.

    (d) Report on Activities.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, and annually for the subsequent 5 year-
period, the Special Envoy shall submit to the appropriate congressional 
committees a report on the activities undertaken in the preceding 12 
months under subsection (c).

[[Page 118 STAT. 1293]]

                TITLE II--ASSISTING NORTH KOREANS IN NEED

SEC. 201. <<NOTE: 22 USC 7831.>> REPORT ON UNITED STATES HUMANITARIAN 
            ASSISTANCE.

    (a) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, and in each of the 2 years thereafter, the Administrator of 
the United States Agency for International Development, in conjunction 
with the Secretary of State, shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a report that describes--
            (1) all activities to provide humanitarian assistance inside 
        North Korea, and to North Koreans outside of North Korea, that 
        receive United States funding;
            (2) any improvements in humanitarian transparency, 
        monitoring, and access inside North Korea during the previous 1-
        year period, including progress toward meeting the conditions 
        identified in paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 202(b); and
            (3) specific efforts to secure improved humanitarian 
        transparency, monitoring, and access inside North Korea made by 
        the United States and United States grantees, including the 
        World Food Program, during the previous 1-year period.

    (b) Form.--The information required by subsection (a)(1) may be 
provided in classified form if necessary.

SEC. 202. ASSISTANCE PROVIDED INSIDE NORTH <<NOTE: 22 USC 7832.>> KOREA.

    (a) Humanitarian Assistance Through Nongovernmental and 
International Organizations.--It is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) at the same time that Congress supports the provision of 
        humanitarian assistance to the people of North Korea on 
        humanitarian grounds, such assistance also should be provided 
        and monitored so as to minimize the possibility that such 
        assistance could be diverted to political or military use, and 
        to maximize the likelihood that it will reach the most 
        vulnerable North Koreans;
            (2) significant increases above current levels of United 
        States support for humanitarian assistance provided inside North 
        Korea should be conditioned upon substantial improvements in 
        transparency, monitoring, and access to vulnerable populations 
        throughout North Korea; and
            (3) the United States should encourage other countries that 
        provide food and other humanitarian assistance to North Korea to 
        do so through monitored, transparent channels, rather than 
        through direct, bilateral transfers to the Government of North 
        Korea.

    (b) United States Assistance to the Government of North Korea.--It 
is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) United States humanitarian assistance to any department, 
        agency, or entity of the Government of North Korea shall--
                    (A) be delivered, distributed, and monitored 
                according to internationally recognized humanitarian 
                standards;
                    (B) be provided on a needs basis, and not used as a 
                political reward or tool of coercion;
                    (C) reach the intended beneficiaries, who should be 
                informed of the source of the assistance; and

[[Page 118 STAT. 1294]]

                    (D) be made available to all vulnerable groups in 
                North Korea, no matter where in the country they may be 
                located; and
            (2) United States nonhumanitarian assistance to North Korea 
        shall be contingent on North Korea's substantial progress 
        toward--
                    (A) respect for the basic human rights of the people 
                of North Korea, including freedom of religion;
                    (B) providing for family reunification between North 
                Koreans and their descendants and relatives in the 
                United States;
                    (C) fully disclosing all information regarding 
                citizens of Japan and the Republic of Korea abducted by 
                the Government of North Korea;
                    (D) allowing such abductees, along with their 
                families, complete and genuine freedom to leave North 
                Korea and return to the abductees' original home 
                countries;
                    (E) reforming the North Korean prison and labor camp 
                system, and subjecting such reforms to independent 
                international monitoring; and
                    (F) decriminalizing political expression and 
                activity.

    (c) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Administrator of the Agency for International 
Development shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
report describing compliance with this section.

SEC. 203. ASSISTANCE PROVIDED OUTSIDE OF NORTH <<NOTE: 22 USC 
            7833.>> KOREA.

    (a) <<NOTE: President.>> Assistance.--The President is authorized to 
provide assistance to support organizations or persons that provide 
humanitarian assistance to North Koreans who are outside of North Korea 
without the permission of the Government of North Korea.

    (b) Types of Assistance.--Assistance provided under subsection (a) 
should be used to provide--
            (1) humanitarian assistance to North Korean refugees, 
        defectors, migrants, and orphans outside of North Korea, which 
        may include support for refugee camps or temporary settlements; 
        and
            (2) humanitarian assistance to North Korean women outside of 
        North Korea who are victims of trafficking, as defined in 
        section 103(14) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 
        2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102(14)), or are in danger of being trafficked.

    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            (1) In general.--In addition to funds otherwise available 
        for such purposes, there are authorized to be appropriated to 
        the President $20,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2005 
        through 2008 to carry out this section.
            (2) Availability.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to the 
        authorization of appropriations under paragraph (1) are 
        authorized to remain available until expended.

[[Page 118 STAT. 1295]]

               TITLE III--PROTECTING NORTH KOREAN REFUGEES

SEC. 301. <<NOTE: 22 USC 7841.>> UNITED STATES POLICY TOWARD REFUGEES 
            AND DEFECTORS.

    (a) Report.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the heads of 
other appropriate Federal departments and agencies, shall submit to the 
appropriate congressional committees and the Committees on the Judiciary 
of the House of Representatives and the Senate a report that describes 
the situation of North Korean refugees and explains United States 
Government policy toward North Korean nationals outside of North Korea.
    (b) Contents.--The report shall include--
            (1) an assessment of the circumstances facing North Korean 
        refugees and migrants in hiding, particularly in China, and of 
        the circumstances they face if forcibly returned to North Korea;
            (2) an assessment of whether North Koreans in China have 
        effective access to personnel of the United Nations High 
        Commissioner for Refugees, and of whether the Government of 
        China is fulfilling its obligations under the 1951 Convention 
        Relating to the Status of Refugees, particularly Articles 31, 
        32, and 33 of such Convention;
            (3) an assessment of whether North Koreans presently have 
        unobstructed access to United States refugee and asylum 
        processing, and of United States policy toward North Koreans who 
        may present themselves at United States embassies or consulates 
        and request protection as refugees or asylum seekers and 
        resettlement in the United States;
            (4) the total number of North Koreans who have been admitted 
        into the United States as refugees or asylees in each of the 
        past 5 years;
            (5) an estimate of the number of North Koreans with family 
        connections to United States citizens; and
            (6) a description of the measures that the Secretary of 
        State is taking to carry out section 303.

    (c) Form.--The information required by paragraphs (1) through (5) of 
subsection (b) shall be provided in unclassified form. All or part of 
the information required by subsection (b)(6) may be provided in 
classified form, if necessary.

SEC. 302. <<NOTE: 22 USC 7842.>> ELIGIBILITY FOR REFUGEE OR ASYLUM 
            CONSIDERATION.

    (a) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to clarify that North 
Koreans are not barred from eligibility for refugee status or asylum in 
the United States on account of any legal right to citizenship they may 
enjoy under the Constitution of the Republic of Korea. It is not 
intended in any way to prejudice whatever rights to citizenship North 
Koreans may enjoy under the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, or to 
apply to former North Korean nationals who have availed themselves of 
those rights.
    (b) Treatment of Nationals of North Korea.--For purposes of 
eligibility for refugee status under section 207 of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157), or for asylum under section 208 of such 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1158), a national of the Democratic

[[Page 118 STAT. 1296]]

People's Republic of Korea shall not be considered a national of the 
Republic of Korea.

SEC. 303. <<NOTE: 22 USC 7843.>> FACILITATING SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS 
            FOR ADMISSION AS A REFUGEE.

    The Secretary of State shall undertake to facilitate the submission 
of applications under section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
(8 U.S.C. 1157) by citizens of North Korea seeking protection as 
refugees (as defined in section 101(a)(42) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 
1101(a)(42)).

SEC. 304. <<NOTE: 22 USC 7844.>> UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR 
            REFUGEES.

    (a) Actions in China.--It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the Government of China has obligated itself to provide 
        the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) with 
        unimpeded access to North Koreans inside its borders to enable 
        the UNHCR to determine whether they are refugees and whether 
        they require assistance, pursuant to the 1951 United Nations 
        Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol 
        Relating to the Status of Refugees, and Article III, paragraph 5 
        of the 1995 Agreement on the Upgrading of the UNHCR Mission in 
        the People's Republic of China to UNHCR Branch Office in the 
        People's Republic of China (referred to in this section as the 
        ``UNHCR Mission Agreement'');
            (2) the United States, other UNHCR donor governments, and 
        UNHCR should persistently and at the highest levels continue to 
        urge the Government of China to abide by its previous 
        commitments to allow UNHCR unimpeded access to North Korean 
        refugees inside China;
            (3) the UNHCR, in order to effectively carry out its mandate 
        to protect refugees, should liberally employ as professionals or 
        Experts on Mission persons with significant experience in 
        humanitarian assistance work among displaced North Koreans in 
        China;
            (4) the UNHCR, in order to effectively carry out its mandate 
        to protect refugees, should liberally contract with appropriate 
        nongovernmental organizations that have a proven record of 
        providing humanitarian assistance to displaced North Koreans in 
        China;
            (5) the UNHCR should pursue a multilateral agreement to 
        adopt an effective ``first asylum'' policy that guarantees safe 
        haven and assistance to North Korean refugees; and
            (6) should the Government of China begin actively fulfilling 
        its obligations toward North Korean refugees, all countries, 
        including the United States, and relevant international 
        organizations should increase levels of humanitarian assistance 
        provided inside China to help defray costs associated with the 
        North Korean refugee presence.

    (b) Arbitration Proceedings.--It is further the sense of Congress 
that--
            (1) if the Government of China continues to refuse to 
        provide the UNHCR with access to North Koreans within its 
        borders, the UNHCR should initiate arbitration proceedings 
        pursuant to Article XVI of the UNHCR Mission Agreement and 
        appoint an arbitrator for the UNHCR; and
            (2) because access to refugees is essential to the UNHCR 
        mandate and to the purpose of a UNHCR branch office, a

[[Page 118 STAT. 1297]]

        failure to assert those arbitration rights in present 
        circumstances would constitute a significant abdication by the 
        UNHCR of one of its core responsibilities.

SEC. 305. ANNUAL <<NOTE: 22 USC 7845.>> REPORTS.

    (a) Immigration Information.--Not later than 1 year after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, and every 12 months thereafter for each of 
the following 5 years, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of 
Homeland Security shall submit a joint report to the appropriate 
congressional committees and the Committees on the Judiciary of the 
House of Representatives and the Senate on the operation of this title 
during the previous year, which shall include--
            (1) the number of aliens who are nationals or citizens of 
        North Korea who applied for political asylum and the number who 
        were granted political asylum; and
            (2) the number of aliens who are nationals or citizens of 
        North Korea who applied for refugee status and the number who 
        were granted refugee status.

    (b) <<NOTE: President.>> Countries of Particular Concern.--The 
President shall include in each annual report on proposed refugee 
admission pursuant to section 207(d) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1157(d)), information about specific measures taken to 
facilitate access to the United States refugee program for individuals 
who have fled countries of particular concern for violations of 
religious freedom, identified pursuant to section 402(b) of the 
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6442(b)). The 
report shall include, for each country of particular concern, a 
description of access of the nationals or former habitual residents of 
that country to a refugee determination on the basis of--
            (1) referrals by external agencies to a refugee 
        adjudication;
            (2) groups deemed to be of special humanitarian concern to 
        the United States for purposes of refugee resettlement; and
            (3) family links to the United States.

    Approved October 18, 2004.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 4011:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

HOUSE REPORTS: No. 108-478, Pt. 1 (Comm. on International Relations).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 150 (2004):
            July 21, considered and passed House.
            Sept. 28, considered and passed Senate, amended.
            Oct. 4, House concurred in Senate amendment.
WEEKLY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS, Vol. 40 (2004):
            Oct. 18, Presidential statement.

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North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004

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