Go to contents

UN rights official calls for punishment of NK human right violation

UN rights official calls for punishment of NK human right violation

Posted October. 29, 2014 05:36,   

한국어

Marzuki Darusman, U.N. special rapporteur on North Korea, urged on Tuesday that the U.N. Security Council should refer the country to the International Criminal Court over its dismal human rights record at the North Korea human right session for U.N. General Assembly`s Third Committee.

In his activity report submitted to the committee, Darusman also called for punishment of the most responsible person for the human right issue in North Korea. The special investigator didn’t mention a specific position or a name, but the U.N. Commission of Inquiry (COI) for North Korean human rights sent a letter to North Korea this February, which said that the target may include Kim Jong Un, the First Secretary of the Workers` Party.

According to Voice of America (VOA) and other media, the U.N. special rapporteur suggested in his report that evidences are collected through COI investigation to prove that the North Korean military and the Ministry of People`s Security are committing crime against human rights on behalf of the Workers’ Party, National Defense Committee, and ultimately the supreme leader of the nation. The special investigator was quoted by VOA saying that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, as well as many of his aides, be held accountable for crimes against humanity.

Before this, AP reported that the North Korean delegation including Choe Myong Nam, Pyongyang’s foreign ministry official for human right issue, met with Darusman on Monday to propose a "visit to North Korea for a new and objective report on North Korea`s human rights situation." This is the first time for North Korean officials to meet with the U.N. special investigator on North Korean human rights.

On the same day, four protestors including Lee Soon-sil, former North Korean military nurse officer and current star of Channel A’s TV show “Now I am on the way to meet you,” and Kwon Eun-kyeong, secretary general of International Coalition to Stop Crimes Against Humanity in North Korea, staged a protest in front of the North Korean UN representative adjacent to the U.N. headquarters.