Religious freedom advocacy Christian Solidarity Worldwide is among a coalition of groups calling for the North Korean Government to be held to account for alleged crimes against humanity.
The International Coalition to Stop Crimes Against Humanity in North Korea (ICNK), whose members include the UK based organisation, this week voiced its support for two UN reports calling for the international community to take action.
The UN reports include one from an independent expert group appointed by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to explore approaches to seeking accountability for crimes against humanity committed by the North Korean regime which found “investigation and prosecution of serious crimes is critical” to addressing rights violations.
In the report, which will be presented to the Human Rights Council on 13th March, they have called for a “comprehensive and multi-pronged approach” to addressing violations within the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and said it was imperative accountability measures take into account the “experiences and views” of people in North Korea as well as those who have left the country and other victims of human rights violations with specific attention to groups which have been particularly affected, such as women.
Meanwhile, in a separate report, Tomas Ojea Quintana, the new UN special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea, stressed the need for perpetrators of human rights violations, in particular crimes against humanity, to be held acccountable and called for a two track strategy of engagement with the regime on the issue of human rights and the pursuit of accountabiliy. He endorsed the recommendations of the group of independent experts and called on the UN’s Human Rights Council to implement the group’s recommendations.
Benedict Rogers, East Asia team leader at Christian Solidarity Worldwide, said ICNK was created six years ago “with the specific purpose of seeking accountability and justice for crimes against humanity in North Korea”. “The time to end the culture of impunity surrounding North Korea’s crimes against humanity is long overdue.”
Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch – another member of the ICNK, said the North Korea Government and its leaders “should face justice for their crimes against humanity, which continue to this day”.
“We urge the United Nations Human Rights Council to respond positively to the Special Rapporteur’s call that the recommendations of the group of independent experts be implemented without delay.”
