SEOUL, Dec 15 (Reuters) – North Korea has changed the way it carries out capital punishment in response to greater international scrutiny of its human rights, holding executions away from prying eyes to stop information filtering out, a rights group said on Wednesday. North Korea has denied the existence of prison camps and accused the United States and its allies of using criticism of human rights as part of a hostile policy towards it. In the past, North Korea held executions in villages and prison camps where crowds could gather, as a public warning, the group said. But North Korea had not given up public executions – 23 of the 26 documented in the report were public – but it was more determined to ensure it could control who attended, the group said. “Assembled audiences at public killing events are strictly monitored and controlled by state officials to prevent information on public executions from leaking,” it said.
