人权观察：朝鲜难民可能会受到折磨 HRW:North Korean Refugees at Risk of Torture

一个人权组织敦促朝鲜“立即公开”9名朝鲜难民目前的下落，据信他们已经被迫从北京回到平壤。

人权观察星期四表示，希望平壤政府确保不会因这9个人逃离朝鲜而惩罚他们。
人权观察亚洲部副主任罗伯逊说，这些年轻难民处于“可怕的危险之中”。他表示，朝鲜将未经许可的离境视为刑事犯罪，据知还折磨那些试图逃跑而被抓住的人以及被遣返的人。

报道说，这些朝鲜人的年龄在15至23岁之间，他们本月在老挝被逮捕，并被老挝当局移送中国。目前不清楚他们的所在地点，但韩国联合通讯社引述有关官员的话说，虽然韩国方面发出呼吁，但他们于本星期被送回朝鲜。

人权观察说，根据国际法，每个人都有权不被强行遣返到可能面临迫害的地方。
 
A human rights group is urging North Korea to "immediately reveal" the whereabouts of nine North Korean refugees who are believed to have been forced back to Pyongyang from Beijing.  

Human Rights Watch said Thursday it wants the North Korean government to ensure that the nine people will not be punished for having fled the country.

Phil Robertson, HRW's deputy Asia director, says the young refugees are at "dire risk."  He says North Korea criminalizes unauthorized departures and is known to torture those caught trying to escape and those sent back."

Reports say the North Koreans, aged 15 to 23, were arrested in Laos this month and that authorities there turned them over to China. Their current whereabouts are unknown but South Korea's Yonhap news agency quotes officials in that country saying they were sent back to North Korea this week despite appeals from the South.

HRW said that, under international law, individuals have the right not to be forcibly returned to a place where they face persecution.