Argentinian lawyer tapped as new U.N. rights envoy in N.K.

Tomas Ojea Quintana, a former U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, has been nominated as the multinational body’s new envoy to examine the rights conditions in North Korea, diplomatic sources said Friday. 

The Argentinian human rights lawyer and former University of Buenos Aires professor will succeed Marzuki Darusman, who served six years in the position until Thursday.

Choi Kyong-lim, Seoul's ambassador at the mission to the U.N. in Geneva and this year’s president of the U.N. Human Rights Council, had selected Quintana from a finalist of three candidates presented by a consultative group which interviewed eight people including Sonja Biserko, a Serbian rights activist, and Pierre Sob, a former Cameroonian diplomat who now works as a human rights consultant.

The appointment is expected to be confirmed at the council’s session in Geneva on Friday.

With more than 14 years of experience in the field, Quintana also worked at the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights and as executive director of the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights’ program for protection and promotion of human rights in Bolivia. More recently, he represented an Argentinean nongovernment organization’s cases involving child abduction during military rule.

In its report to the president, the five-strong group noted Quintana’s “extensive direct experience with the functioning of special procedures, and his engagement with a variety of stakeholders” including those from the government, the opposition and civil society while working on Myanmar.

Launched in 2004, the post of the special rapporteur on North Korea brings a one-year stint but it can be extended up to six years.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)