A/HRC/25/CRP.1 against people with disabilities. In regions where they get a lot of foreign visitors, they limit the residence of people with disabilities.”394 327. According to a recent NGO report, many DPRK nationals who fled the DPRK indicated that infants with disabilities were killed or abandoned.395 Another research institute based in the ROK reported that human rights violations against persons with disabilities include the segregation and forced sterilization of persons suffering from dwarfism.396 328. There have been disturbing allegations of an island in South Hamgyong Province where gruesome medical testing of biological and chemical weapons has been conducted on persons with disabilities. The Commission has received no first-hand accounts of these allegations. A former high-level official, recounted two occasions when he was working for the Ministry of Public Security when people were arrested and sent to a facility, Hospital 83, where the doctors told him they would be used for medical experiments.397 Based on the information received, the Commission is not in a position to confirm these allegations. It notes them as subjects for further investigation.398 329. In addition to progress on the legal front, the rights of persons with disabilities have received positive attention on a government policy level. Diplomatic sources note that the Korean Federation for the Protection of the Disabled People has made the International Day of People with Disability a national event. One North Korean athlete participated in the 2012 Paralympics.399 In its 2009 UPR report, the DPRK noted that the annual day of persons with disabilities “serve[s] as an important occasion in facilitating their integration into society and encouraging the general public to respect the dignity and worth of the persons with disabilities and render them support.”400 4. Impact of discrimination on economic, social and cultural rights 330. Discrimination results in unequal access to basic human rights including food, education, health care and the right to work. The Commission finds that the Songbun system leads to structural discrimination whereby generations become locked into disadvantage and social mobility is not possible. The Commission considers that discrimination on the basis of songbun, gender and ability has created many vulnerable groups. The effects of discrimination on the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights appear to vary across time and locations. According to diplomatic sources, discrimination is worst in the countryside.401 331. Pyongyang is a city for the core class, with better infrastructure and services than elsewhere in the country. Residency in Pyongyang is considered a privilege, and one that has been revoked.402 394 Seoul Public Hearing, 21 August 2013, afternoon (02:34:00). Citizens Alliance on North Korean Human Rights, “Status of Women's Rights in the Context of Socio-Economic Changes in the DPRK”. 396 KINU, White Paper on Human Rights in North Korea (2013), pp. 442-444. 397 TJH004. A former State Security Department official reported rumors of these islands (TJH041). Also, see Citizens Alliance on North Korean Human Rights, “Status of Women's Rights in the Context of Socio-Economic Changes in the DPRK”. 398 On alleged medical experiments, see also section IV.E.6. 399 Submission to the Commission: SUB060. Also,“North Korea's first Paralympian inspires the disabled”, Associated Press, 28 August 2012. 400 A/HRC/WG.6/6/PRK/1. 401 SUB060. 402 TJH041. 395 93