A mother of three, Ri Hyon-ok, 33, was accused of spying for South Korea and the United States, organizing dissidents, the Associated Press reported. She was executed in the northwestern city of Ryongchon bordering China on 16 June, according to a report from the Investigative Commission on Crimes against Humanity published Friday.
The Investigative Commission on Crime Against Humanity report included a copy of Ri's government-issued photo ID and said her husband, children and parents were sent to a political prison the day after her June 16 execution.
The report said the claims cannot be verified Friday and there has been no mention by the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) of her case.
The Investigative commission, a coalition of 50 activist groups, is calling for North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il to be charged with crimes against humanity.
Officially North Korea guarantees freedom of religion. The government has authorized four state churches: one Catholic, two Protestant and one Russian Orthodox. However, they cater to foreigners only, and ordinary North Koreans cannot attend the services. And practically no Korean dare to practice their faith.
The execution would mark a harsh turn in the crackdown on religion in North Korea, a country where Christianity once flourished and where the capital, Pyongyang, was known as the "Jerusalem of the East" for the predominance of the Christian faith.
Earlier, warning was given to Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) who had confirmed that an anonymous fax apparently from the North Korean embassy for Finland on 5 June promises workers affiliated with VOM that "something very bad will happen to you" if VOM continues a special project to share the Gospel.
The warning was in response to VOM who has been sending faxes to many fax numbers it has obtained from inside the reclusive nation.
North Korea is ranked number one for seven years in a row in the annual Open Doors Watch List 2009 as the country that has the worst persecution of Christians. If the regime discovers a person is a Christian, the believer can be thrown into a labor camp, tortured, or even publicly executed to dissuade others from following the faith.
It is believed that tens of thousands of Christians are currently suffering in North Korean prison camps, according to Open Doors. The regime is suspected of detaining more political and religious prisoners than any other country in the world.
Instead of a globally recognized religion, citizens of the reclusive country are forced to worship a cult-like personality created by national founder and eternal President the late Kim Il Sung, and enjoyed by his son, current leader Kim Jong Il.