Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Increasingly Repressing Its Citizen’s Human Rights, Freedoms, High Commissioner Warns Security Council
Several Members Say Such Issues Poses No Threat to International Peace, Stability
Rarely has the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea been “more painfully closed” to the outside world than it is today, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today, as several members opposed the organ’s consideration of the human rights situation in that country, as it does not pose a threat to international peace and security.
Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the 15‑member Council that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s policies, initially linked to containing the COVID-19 pandemic, have grown even more extensive as the pandemic has waned. Information collected indicates increasing repression of the rights to freedoms of expression, movement, the persistence of widespread forced labour practices and a worsening situation for economic rights.
Within the country, markets and other private means of generating income, have been largely shut down, and such activity is increasingly criminalized, he said. “Given the limits of State-run economic institutions, many people appear to be facing extreme hunger,” he emphasized. People’s fear of State surveillance, arrest, interrogation and detention has increased. Homes are subjected to random searches and people are encouraged to report on each other. Punishments for minor infractions can be severe, possibly amounting to gross human rights violations.
Thousands of enforced disappearances have been perpetrated by the State over the past 70 years, including of Koreans from both north and south of the demilitarized zone, he said. In the absence of meaningful action, he encouraged action from Member States or international fora, including the International Criminal Court. Many of the violations stem directly from, or support, the increasing militarization of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, he added.
Elizabeth Salmón, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, said that, while 2023 marks the seventieth anniversary of the Korean Armistice Agreement signed in 1953, there is no visible sign of peacemaking. The country’s leadership has caused the systematic abduction of its people and other nationals, notably from the Republic of Korea and Japan, creating cycles of separated families, and triggering economic sanctions, with a detrimental impact on its own people.
Voicing particular concern over the situation of women and girls in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, she noted the former are detained in inhumane conditions and subjected to torture, forced labour and gender-based violence by State officials. “Preparation for any possible peacemaking process needs to include women as decision makers,” she stressed.
Ilhyeok Kim, a representative of civil society, shared his personal story of having been born and raised in a small village in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. He recalled being forced to do unpaid labour from a young age, adding: “The Government turns our blood and sweat into a luxurious life for the leadership and missiles that blast our hard work into the sky.” The money spent on just one missile could feed the people of his country for three months, but the Government “is only concerned with maintaining their power”.
People in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have no human rights, he told the Council, recalling that when his family left for the Republic of Korea to the south, his father’s sister who remained was arrested, tortured and put in a political prison camp. “North Koreans have a right to choose lives of dignity for ourselves, so stop committing such crimes against our people and choose a path of humanity,” he appealed to that country’s Government.
In the ensuing discussion, many Council members expressed deep concern over the humanitarian situation facing the people of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. They urged the Government to comply with human-rights-related Council resolutions and UN instruments.
The representative of the United States, Council President for August, speaking in her national capacity, said that the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has committed systematic and gross human rights violations, which, in many instances, entail crimes against humanity. “We must give voice to the voiceless,” she urged, noting the 80,000 individuals being detained in political prison camps in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Japan’s delegate said that the dreadful human rights situation shows no signs of improvement as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s regime imposes its illegal missile and nuclear programmes upon its people. Citing the launch of 70 or more missiles in 2022, and 4 intercontinental ballistic missiles in 2023, he said that the intertwining of human rights violations with international peace and security could not be more apparent, and central to the Council’s mission.
While some Council members echoed Japan’s sentiment in expressing full support for the holding of a meeting on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, other members stressed that, in this instance, country-specific human rights questions should be dealt with by the relevant UN human rights bodies.
Ghana’s delegate expressed “reservations on the Council’s further consideration of this matter” and urged the appropriate UN human rights bodies and mechanisms with existing mandates to continue to gather all available information and data and report on the human rights situation of the citizens of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
China’s representative also opposed the Council’s consideration of the human rights situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The Council should play a constructive role in resuming talks; however, having it consider the human rights situation in the country is irresponsible, unconstructive and an abuse of its power, he said.
The representative of the Russian Federation said that today’s meeting “is nothing other than a cynical and hypocritical attempt” by the United States and its allies to advance their own political agenda. The United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea continue their military activity off the Korean Peninsula. He also warned against the UN indulging the policy of the United States and its allies to use human rights as a pretext for interfering in internal affairs.......
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