Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, and the Absence of Due Process and Fair Trial Rights Public criticism sessions gather citizens from local workplaces and People’s Units, along with students from middle schools, high schools, and colleges, to witness the public criticism of Shamanic adherents. Mun Ki Yeong provided a vivid account of one such session that involved a group denouncement of several individuals accused of anti-socialist behaviors, including the practice of superstition. She also observed how such events were hosted on an annual basis. No Kyeong Min, who provided detailed information on the list of individuals summoned by law enforcement to stand witness in public trials, recalled: “People commonly stood on public criticism stages for the practice of superstition […] I participated in the Pokchŏngdong Union activities from 2010 to 2016. The public criticism session took place during winter; I remember it being freezing. I think it was during the 100-day prayer session in memory of Kim Jong Il […] the fortune teller was put on the public criticism stage because she had been unfortunate enough to be reported during a time like that.” So Hyeon Min observed that public criticism sessions were conducted with a zealous fervor during Juche ideology-related national holidays. “In the fall of 2018, I went to the market to buy some rice. A crowd had gathered at the stadium in the middle of Hoeryong, and it turned out that a woman had been made to stand on public trial over the practice of superstition […] A Ministry of People’s Security official got his hands on a notebook in which the woman had recorded who had patronized her and how much she charged them for fortune telling. They [the officials] had gathered up everyone on the list at the stadium and had a criticism session. In the end, she was sentenced to eleven years of re-education […] Every organization in Hoeryong had participated as it was a public trial. Even the students who had graduated elementary school came to the event. I think about 100,000 people gathered at the stadium. People who lived in Kwangandong and Semaŭldong neighborhood talked about nothing else for a while as it was such a major incident.” One interviewee, Kim Gap Ji, corroborated information provided by other interviewees that a 2018 directive from Kim Jong Un on the eradication of superstition was explicitly referenced in one public trial to justify harsher punishments of Shamanic adherents during the proceedings. Consulting with Shamanic practitioners for fortune telling, exorcisms, or warding rituals is a widespread practice in North Korea that crosses socio-economic divides. Despite its illegality, many of our respondents, including some former officials, had encountered or engaged in the practice while in North Korea. In line with Shamanic practice being perceived as a relatively minor crime, at least in contrast to the practice of organized religion such as Christianity, we came across cases of practitioners being interrogated and released with a warning. For example, one interviewee, a formerly practicing Shaman, was arrested in 2017 and was interrogated, severely beaten, and released after two weeks. However, in recent cases there was little leniency in the punishments meted out to Shamanic adherents. Yang Keum Jung was imprisoned in 2019 alongside Shamanic adherents who were sentenced based on Kim Jong Un’s 2018 directive. Yang told investigators, “Some were sentenced to seven to eight years of re-education because of [the directive]. Minor offenders were sent to labor camps, but I saw major or repeat [Shamanic adherents] get sentenced to seven to eight years of re-education. I witnessed it myself; I sat [in the same cell] with them, together.” We documented instances where bribes were used successfully to reduce a sentence from six months in a forced labor camp to three months, or where cooperation with the authorities occurred in lieu of punishment. However, our investigators documented executions for Shamanic practices, including one incident in Pyongyang in 2014 and another in Chongjin in 2018. Kim Jin Hwang observed how his friend, a fortune teller arrested following the announcement of the 2018 directive, received harsher punishments than did those arrested during other periods. “In my friend’s case, he had to pay a lot of bribes to get three months of forced labor training as people who were arrested for the practice of superstition originally received three years of re-education.” Similarly, Shin Nam Ki told investigators how a personal acquaintance arrested for Shamanic practice would have been sentenced to three years of re-education if not for a bribe. Jung Chun Deok, who served as a public official, offered testimony based on his personal experience and involvement with the North Korean law enforcement system. He testified that “everybody knows who the fortune tellers are, and [one] was an old woman with only about ten years left [to live], so they initially let her off with warnings. [But when] Kim Jong Un sent down directives calling for the punishment of all Shamanic practitioners, the elderly fortune teller was punished and sent to a re-education camp.” Organized Persecution: Documenting Religious Freedom Violations in North Korea 19