hankyoreh

Humanitarian and Cultural Committee of the UN General Assembly’s website.

By Park Hyun, Washington correspondent

The UN General Assembly is considering a motion to recommend that the UN Security Council refer those guilty of human rights abuses in North Korea to an international judicial body.

On Oct. 8, a draft of a resolution about North Korean human rights drafted by the European Union (EU) was circulated in a closed session of the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly, the Hankyoreh confirmed. While the specific content of the draft was not made public, sources say that it was based on the resolution about North Korean human rights abuses that was passed by the UN Human Rights Council in March.

At the time, the council did not directly mention the International Criminal Court, but it did recommend that the UN Security Council refer those guilty of crimes against humanity to an international judicial body for prosecution.

This is the first time that the Third Committee - which is responsible for human rights, cultural and humanitarian issues - has considered a motion to refer those guilty of human rights abuses in North Korea to the International Criminal Court. Unlike the Human Rights Council, which has around 50 member states, the Third Committee includes all of the member states of the UN, and resolutions that are passed here are automatically passed in the General Assembly.

“Our goal is to have the resolution passed at the end of November, after member states have discussed it. The content of the draft could change during this process,” a source at the UN said on condition of anonymity.

But even if the UN General Assembly passes the resolution, it does not necessarily mean that those guilty of crimes against humanity will stand before the International Criminal Court. Only the UN Security Council has the authority to initiate such a trial. Consequently, it is expected that the UN General Assembly’s resolution will recommend that the UN Security Council take up the issue.

If the UN General Assembly makes this recommendation, the decision of whether to adopt the issue as an official agenda item must still be made by the UN Security Council. “If just one of the permanent members on the Security Council such as China is opposed to the issue, it is unlikely to even be added to the agenda,” said the UN source.

When the UN Human Rights Council adopted a similar resolution in March, six countries including China and Russia voted against it, and it is likely that China and Russia will oppose it once again.

Practically speaking, it would not be easy to bring the case before the International Court of Justice. But despite this, the very attempt to do so is likely to put considerable pressure on North Korea.

Last year, the Third Committee passed a resolution about North Korean human rights by consensus among member states. This year, considering the controversial content of the resolution, the vote is not likely to go smoothly.

This also appears to be the motivation for North Korea’s decision to hold an informative meeting about human rights at the UN for the first time on Oct. 7. During the meeting, the North Korean mission at the UN said that it is open to discussing its human rights issues with the international community and that it hopes to have deliberations with the EU before the end of the year.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]