A/HRC/25/CRP.1 267. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) defines in article 1: For the purposes of the present Convention, the term “discrimination against women” shall mean any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field. 268. Article 3 of the ICCPR also stipulates that State parties to the Covenant must undertake to ensure the equal rights of men and women to the enjoyment of all civil and political rights. 269. Article 2 of the CEDAW prohibits discrimination against women and stipulates equality between the sexes must be pursued in all areas including through the provision of protection and abolishment of discriminatory laws, regulations and customs. 270. According to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, “Discrimination on the basis of disability means any distinction, exclusion or restriction on the basis of disability which has the purpose or effect of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal basis with others, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field. It includes all forms of discrimination, including denial of reasonable accommodation.” 1. Discrimination based on social class and birth: the songbun system, past and present 271. Through the Songbun system, the state places citizens of the DPRK into three broad classes with approximately 51 more specific categories, although the actual categories seem to have been adjusted over the years.288 Decisions about residency, occupation, access to food, health care, education and other services have been contingent on songbun. Songbun is also reflected through geographic segregation.289 272. Elites are concentrated among the population officially permitted to live in Pyongyang, which has a population of 3.3 million according to the 2008 population census. The ruling elites among them are assigned to live in the most modern part of the capital. Goods and public services in Pyongyang are superior to those in other regions. Ordinary citizens of low or medium songbun are precluded from residing in Pyongyang, and even obtaining the right to visit Pyongyang is difficult. • Mr Kim Soo-am of the Korea Institute for National Unification [of the Republic of Korea] described the continuing impact of songbun at the Seoul Public Hearing: “Family background is also a core factor in discriminating between people, allowing different levels of access to the right of food. The core elites who live in Pyongyang or other major cities still receive benefits in terms of medicine, and those who live in the ri [villages], the level of residents, they have very limited access to medical facilities, so the rights to enjoy healthy life [are] also discriminated and not guaranteed…”290 288 289 290 The classes reflect the assumed political loyalty of an individual’s family to the DPRK’s political system and its leadership. One former official noted that there are actually 103 songbun classes today and that he had provided this documentation to the government of the ROK, TBG031. Section IV.C. Seoul Public Hearing, 21 August 2013, afternoon (02:31:00). 75