The UN's Human Rights Committee welcomed the fact that...

The UN's Human Rights Committee welcomed the fact that North Korea had cut the number of offences carrying a death penalty to five from 33 but noted that four of these offences were largely political.
It said that it was "seriously concerned" that the death sentence was not just reserved for the "most serious crimes" as stipulated in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Pyongyang should also give greater and regular access to international human rights organisations in order to verify the "many allegations of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and conditions of inadequate medical care in reform institutions, prisons and prison camps," it said.