UN to probe alleged torture, labour camps in North Korea
GENEVA— The United Nations launched an investigation Thursday into what it said were widespread and systematic human rights violations in North Korea, some of which “may amount to crimes against humanity.” The UN Human Rights Council unanimously passed a resolution brought by the European Union and Japan, and backed by the United States, condemning alleged North Korean torture, food deprivation and labour camps for political prisoners. The 47-member forum set up a three-member commission of inquiry for one year and called on Pyongyang to co-operate with the team of experts, including Marzuki Darusman, its special rapporteur on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
“The creation of the commission of inquiry sends an important message that the global community is paying close attention to the situation in the DPRK, not just on the nuclear front but also especially on the human rights front,” U.S. Ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe told reporters in Geneva.
The investigation will “help focus the spotlight of sustained international scrutiny on one of the world’s darkest and most secretive regimes,” she said.
In January, Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, called for an international investigation into what she said might be crimes against humanity, including torture and executions of political prisoners in North Korean camps.
She said Pyongyang’s network of political prison camps is believed to confine at least 200,000 people and has been the scene of rapes, torture, executions and slave labour.
Neither North Korea’s closest ally, China, nor Russia are members of the Geneva forum, and thus have no vote. More UN sanctions were imposed on Pyongyang this month in response to its third nuclear test on Feb. 12, including tougher financial penalties to try to curb its nuclear arms program.
During the Human Rights Council debate, North Korean Ambassador So Se Pyong rejected the resolution as “an instrument that serves the political purposes of the hostile forces in their attempt to discredit the image of the DPRK.”
“As we stated time and again, those human rights abuses mentioned in the resolution do not exist in our country,” So said, warning that the sponsors should be held accountable “for all serious consequences.”