Wrapping up a year-long investigation, the three-member U.N. Commission of Inquiry is set to release the results of their investigation into North Korea's human rights situation in Geneva on Monday, with leaked versions of the report indicating that the North's regime has committed crimes against humanity.
The report would mark the clearest indictment against North Korea's ruling dynasty and the U.N. panel reportedly plans to refer the case to the ICC in the Hague, setting the stage for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to be charged with crimes against humanity.
Asked whether China would block a reported plan by the U.N. panel to submit the case to the ICC, China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters, "Submitting this report to the ICC will not help resolve the human rights situation in the relevant country."
"On the issue of human rights, we always maintain that issues concerning human rights should be solved through a constructive dialogue on an equal footing," Hua said.
China is North Korea's key ally and economic lifeline.
Pyongyang has long been labeled one of the worst human rights violators in the world. The regime does not tolerate dissent, holds hundreds of thousands of people in political prison camps and keeps tight control over outside information.
While North Korea has officially denied the existence of political prison camps, Pyongyang is believed to have up to 200,000 people in hidden, Soviet-style gulags where torture and executions are routine and starvation is widespread.
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20140217001542
17/2/14
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China says it cannot accept U.N. criticism on North Korea abuses...
ReplyDelete(Reuters) - China said on Tuesday that it cannot accept criticism from U.N. investigators following a report by the international agency that said Beijing might be "aiding and abetting crimes against humanity" by sending migrants and defectors back to North Korea.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying made the comments at a daily news briefing.
U.N. investigators said on Monday that North Korean security chiefs and possibly even leader Kim Jong Un himself should face international justice for human rights abuses.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/18/us-korea-north-un-china-idUSBREA1H0A420140218?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
18/2/14
Pillay calls for urgent action on “historic” DPRK report...
ReplyDeleteGENEVA (18 February 2014) – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Tuesday welcomed the report of the independent UN Commission of Inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which was published in Geneva on Monday, and said “its findings need to be treated with the greatest urgency, as they suggest that crimes against humanity of an unimaginable scale continue to be committed in the DPRK.”
“In January 2013, I urged the international community to put much more effort into tackling the human rights situation of people in DPRK,” Pillay said. “Two months later, the Commission of Inquiry was duly established by the Human Rights Council. It has now published a historic report, which sheds light on violations of a terrifying scale, the gravity and nature of which – in the report’s own words -- do not have any parallel in the contemporary world. There can no longer be any excuses for inaction.”
“Insufficient attention was being paid to the kind of horrific and sustained human rights violations that are reported to be taking place on an ongoing basis in the DPRK,” Pillay said. “That has now been partly rectified. We now need strong international leadership to follow up on the grave findings of the Commission of Inquiry. I therefore call on the international community, in line with the report’s recommendations, to use all the mechanisms at its disposal to ensure accountability, including referral to the International Criminal Court.”
“It is vitally important to maintain the momentum on addressing the serious violations that this remarkable report documents in such a comprehensive manner,” Pillay said. “The spotlight on human rights in the DPRK should not be dimmed as the news headlines fade away.”
The independent Commission of Inquiry is scheduled to formally present its report to the 47 Member States of the Human Rights Council, in Geneva, on 17 March 2014.
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=14258&LangID=E
18/2/14