North Korea boycotted a UN review of its human
rights record on Monday, shunning calls for the Pyongyang leadership to be held
accountable for crimes against humanity documented by the world body.
UN investigators are
building on a 2014 UN report that detailed the use of political prison camps,
starvation and executions, saying security chiefs and possibly even Supreme
Leader Kim Jong-un himself should face international justice.
The UN Human Rights
Council held a session on abuses in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
(DPRK) amid rising tensions on the divided peninsula following its latest
missile tests last week and two nuclear tests in 2016.
North Korea refused to
attend to attend the review. Pyongyang’s deputy ambassador to the UN in Geneva
told Reuters that the session was “politically-motivated’’.
Tomas Ojea Quintana,
the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the DPRK, said that he regretted
the decision but was still seeking dialogue.
“There is a need to
continue pushing for accountability in respect to crimes against humanity in
the DPRK.
“Our position is a
matter of principle, when there are crimes against humanity there is a need to
punish those who are responsible for those crimes,’’ Ojea Quintana told a news
conference
“Rising political and
military tensions should not shield ongoing violations from international
scrutiny,” he said.
He called for an
independent investigation into the killing of Kim Jong Nam, estranged
half-brother of Kim Jong-un, in Malaysia last month, saying there may be a need
to “protect other persons from targeted killings’’.
“Between 80,000 and
120,000 people are held in four known political prison camps in North Korea,”
Ojea Quintana said.
The rapporteur also
said that thousands of North Koreans wanted to work abroad had to pay bribes to
officials and were then placed under a “heavy system of surveillance’’.
“They were also forced
to hand over a large portion of their salary from overseas to the government,’’
he said.
“We remain deeply
concerned by ongoing widespread and gross human rights violations and abuses in
the DPRK, including summary executions, enslavement, torture, arbitrary
detention, and enforced disappearances,’’ said William Mozdzierz, head of the
U.S. delegation.
Sara Hossain, a member
of the Council’s group of independent experts on accountability, said that
despite “political obstacles’’, they backed the call for the Security Council
to refer the situation in North Korea to the International Criminal Court
(ICC).
Major power including
North Korea’s ally China wield a veto in the forum.
The UN could also
consider creating an international tribunal to prosecute the abuses, she said.
“The groundwork for
future criminal trials should be laid now,’’ Hossain said.
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