A working group under the UN Human Rights Council has called for the release of four North Korean escapees who were sent back to the North after being arrested in China. 

In a report released on Wednesday, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said it concluded during a meeting in August that the four North Koreans, including Kang Kyong-hee, are victims of arbitrary detention. 

The working group regards as arbitrary detention cases in which people were detained without legal foundation justifying the deprivation of their freedom or were detained after exercising rights or freedom guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

The group believes the four North Koreans are being detained in three different political prison camps. 

The working group called on Pyongyang to immediately release the four North Koreans and urged China to take steps to provide compensation.