UN Human Rights Council to establish special North Korea commission

Posted on : 2013-03-23 14:22 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
North Korea condemns efforts to investigate food deprivation, prison camps and other alleged violations
 High Commissioner for Human Rights
High Commissioner for Human Rights

By Park Byong-su, staff reporter

Following the decision of the UN Human Rights Council to create a commission of inquiry into human rights abuses in North Korea, it is expected that the international community will put even more pressure on Pyongyang to improve human rights in the country. North Korea expressed strong opposition, alleging that the resolution had a political agenda.

In Geneva, Switzerland, on Mar. 21, the Council unanimously adopted a resolution that establishes a commission to investigate human rights in North Korea. According to the resolution, the commission will be composed of three members and will be in operation for one year.

The probe will look into accusations of human rights abuse related to food deprivation, concentration camps, torture and inhumane treatment, arbitrary detainment, discrimination, freedom of expression, the sanctity of life, the right to movement, kidnapping of foreign nationals, and forced disappearances.

“This is the first time that a body responsible for a comprehensive investigation of North Korean human rights issues has been set up by the UN,” said an official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. “After a year of work, it will be decided whether or not to extend its period of operation.”

The push to create a human rights commission gained momentum in Jan. 2013 when Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, called for the establishment of a body to investigate North Korean human rights violations. On Mar. 14, the draft of a resolution to set up such a body was submitted to the Council under the leadership of the EU and Japan.

Following the Council’s adoption of its first resolution concerning human rights in North Korea in 2003, it appointed a special rapporteur on North Korean human rights in 2004 to handle the human rights issue. It is highly unusual for the Council to adopt a resolution designed to investigate a specific country. The resolution appears to be related to North Korea’s increasing isolation from the international community, partially caused by its recent long-range missile launch and nuclear test.

Actual human rights probes into specific countries have typically been directed at countries like Syria, Libya, and Cote d’Ivoire in which civil wars and other large-scale human rights violations were taking place.

“The Council’s decision to adopt a resolution to establish a probe means that they consider the human rights situation in North Korea to be that serious,” the Ministry official said.

North Korea expressed its strong displeasure through So Se-pyong, DPRK ambassador to the UN, who attended the Council meeting as an observer. “This resolution has a political agenda, which is to damage the image of North Korea,” So said. “The human rights abuses mentioned in the resolution don’t exist in North Korea.”

The plan is for the commission of inquiry to be fully set up by Jun. 2013, when it will begin its work. The commission intends to pursue conducting fieldwork in North Korea, reports say. Considering the fact that North Korea has not allowed special rapporteur Marzuki Darusman to visit the country even once for such investigation, it appears unlikely that any investigators from the new commission will get permission to visit the North, either.

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