The U.S. government says human rights conditions in North Korea remain extremely poor.

The U.S. State Department said in its 2011 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices that the human rights situation in North Korea, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Syria and Belarus remains poor.

In its evaluation of North Korea, the report described Pyongyang as an authoritarian state led by the Kim family for more than 60 years. It noted the three generation long power succession from Kim Il-sung to Kim Jong-il and now Kim Jong-un. It also said North Koreans “did not have the right to change their government” and that the government “subjected citizens to rigid controls over many aspects of their lives.”

The report detailed that North Korean residents were denied “the freedoms of speech, press, assembly, association, religion, and movement and worker rights. It explained further that there were continuous reports about a vast network of political prison camps in North Korea where "conditions were often harsh and life threatening.”