E/CN.4/2005/61/Add.1 Page 20 religion by people belonging to national minorities in the State party, particularly in the Muslim part of Xinjiang and in Tibet”. The Committee recalled “that a distinctive religion is integral to the identity of several minorities and urge[d] the State party to review legislation and practices that may restrict the right of persons belonging to minorities to freedom of religion.” Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Communications and replies received 74. On 3 November 2004, the Special Rapporteur sent a communication to the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea regarding information received according to which parents were reportedly afraid to pass on their faith to their children, as sporadic refugee accounts suggested believers were still punished for practising their faith in secret. Churches in the Democratic People’s Republic lead an entirely underground existence, meeting in unpopulated areas of the countryside to evade bugging in homes or informants. It is often as refugees in China that citizens of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea first encounter religious life. Refugees repatriated from China have reported that they were interrogated about their contacts with mainly Protestant missionaries from the Republic of Korea, while the Koreans in the north have reportedly set up a fake Protestant Church in China to lure back defectors. In particular, a general in the army of the Democratic People’s Republic who became a Christian was, after he had begun to evangelize in his unit, shot dead by another senior army officer in 2003. Other known Christians are in some cases shot or imprisoned. It was also reported that religious persons, particularly Christians, who are imprisoned are subjected to worse treatment than other prisoners. Prison guards sometimes allegedly offer material incentives to Christian prisoners if they recant their faith. 75. By letter dated 17 November 2004, the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea responded that the information communicated by the Special Rapporteur was false and fabricated by those forces hostile to the country. This information was propagated either directly by these hostile forces or in the name of those who fled to other countries after committing crimes in the Democratic People’s Republic. In the Democratic People’s Republic, where a human beingcentered policy is in practice, the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the popular masses are not only guaranteed legally but also exercised and enjoyed in reality. Religious freedoms and related activities are not an exception. 76. This act of fabrication is carried out by those hostile forces as part of their constant attempts to destroy the country’s socialist system by using human rights as a tool in parallel with nuclear issues and is intended to defame its dignity and prestige. The Government therefore categorically rejected the allegations contained in the letter of 3 November 2004.