North Korea is under unprecedented pressure to improve its human rights. A draft resolution calling on the U.N. Security Council to refer the North Korean human rights situation to the International Criminal Court was circulated behind closed doors at the U.N. General Assembly’s human rights committee Wednesday.
Written by the European Union and Japan, the draft resolution, which also calls for targeted sanctions against “those who appear to be most responsible for crimes against humanity,” is significant in that it is the first time a U.N. draft resolution on North Korean human rights has called for referring the North Korean human rights case to an international court.
China will most likely veto an actual referral to the ICC if the resolution comes up for vote at the U.N. Security Council. Nevertheless, the draft resolution is a reminder to Pyongyang that the international community is more ready than ever to take action against its blatant human rights abuses.
North Korea responded to the draft resolution by circulating a letter to diplomats that it would present its own draft resolution on human rights.
The COI report on human rights conditions in North Korea released in February exposed North Korea for what it is: A state that is derelict in its duty to protect its citizens. The report recommended that Kim Jong-un be brought to the ICC for crimes against humanity.
Thus pressed, Pyongyang, issued its own human rights report in September, a massive tome that claimed that the country has the world’s “most advantageous” human rights systems and policies.
North Korea’s Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong asked to be invited to an event on North Korean human rights organized by the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sept. 23, a request that was denied.
Then, in an unexpected move, a North Korean Foreign Ministry official in charge of U.N. affairs and human rights issues, Choe Myong-nam, admitted at a press briefing Tuesday the existence of “reform through labor” camps. He denied that the repressive regime operated political prison camps, however.
At the same briefing, North Korea’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador Ri Tong-il said that Workers’ Party secretary had visited the E.U. and that the two sides were expecting to open a political dialogue at the end of the year, to be followed by a human rights dialogue.
Previously, North Korea had ignored calls to improve its human rights record. The recent developments, then, could be seen as progress ― the North Korean leadership is acknowledging the international community’s concerns and making attempts to address them.
This is an opportune time for the Seoul to pass a law on North Korean human rights and further press North Korea. Human rights is a universal value and politics should not stand in the way of upholding these fundamental rights.
