Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea

Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Presented 7 February 2014 (general distribution)
Location Geneva, Switzerland, United Nations Human Rights Council;
Also available online
Author(s) Michael Donald Kirby (Chair, Australia),
Sonja Biserko (Serbia),
Marzuki Darusman (Special Rapporteur, Indonesia)
Purpose Investigate the grave, systematic and widespread violations of human rights in North Korea

The Report of the commission of inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the landmark document resulting from the investigations on human rights in North Korea commissioned by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2013[1] and concluded in 2014.[2][3][4]

The report unequivocally concluded that the DPRK regime systematically violated human rights including freedom of thought, expression and religion; freedom from discrimination; freedom of movement and residence; and the right to food.[5]

The commission further determined that the State had committed crimes against humanity and manifestly failed to uphold its Responsibility to Protect. These crimes entail "extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions and other sexual violence, persecution on political, religious, racial and gender grounds, the forcible transfer of populations, the enforced disappearance of persons and the inhumane act of knowingly causing prolonged starvation".[4][6]

Based on the findings in the report, the UN General Assembly passed resolution 69/188 in 2014 condemning human rights abuses and urging the UN Security Council to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court.[2][4][6][7][8][9] That same year, and for the first time, the Security Council convened to address human rights in North Korea, but no resolution was adopted.[10][11][12][13][14]

History

Background

Since 2003 the United Nations General Assembly[15] and the UN Human Rights Council (HRC)[16][17][18] has repeatedly passed resolutions expressing their concerns about the violations of human rights in North Korea.[4][19][20]

The UN Commission on Human Rights (the predecessor of the HRC) established the mandate for the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the DPRK in 2004, issuing reports annually.[1][21] North Korea did not cooperate with this mandate. In addition, in 2009, the DPRK government was the first state to not accept any of the 167 recommendations received from the adoption of its first Universal Periodic Review (a review on human rights conducted by the HRC on all UN members).[22][23][24][25] Both the Special Rapporteur and the UN human rights commissioner denounced grave violations, with the latter saying that the situation in the DPRK was “the worst in the whole world”.[1][26][27][28]

In a separate procedure days before the Human Rights Council established the commission of inquiry, the UN Security Council unanimously approved resolution 2094 reinforcing sanctions against the North Korean regime in retaliation for having conducted a third nuclear test a month earlier.[29]

Need for a full-fledged inquiry

The special rapporteurs, working with one single assistant,[30] had conveyed in their annual reports "the need for the establishment of an inquiry mechanism with adequate resources"[31] that "could produce a more complete picture, quantify and qualify the violations in terms of international law, attribute responsibility to particular actors or perpetrators of these violations and suggest effective courses of international action.”[23][30]

This need was echoed in 2012 by 179 North Korean escapees who wrote to foreign ministers of many countries urging them to establish a commission of inquiry. Over 40 human rights organizations[28] and legislators around the world backed the idea.[20][26] The intent was to broaden the international spotlight on North Korea's nuclear program to human rights.[25][27][28]

The Commission

Mandate

On 21 March 2013, the UN's 47-nation Human Rights Council established the Commission of Inquiry (COI) on Human Rights in the DPRK with resolution 22/13.[1][31] No HRC member required the decision be submitted to a vote, making it the first time that a resolution to create a commission was adopted without any opposition.[20] The resolution was sponsored by the European Union and Japan and backed by the United States.[30] With no Chinese or Russian vote on the Council at the time, North Korea lacked an ally willing to oppose the inquiry.[1][4]

The COI was made up of a panel of three unpaid experts: Michael Kirby (Chair; Australia), Marzuki Darusman (the existing Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the DPRK; Indonesia),[30] and Sonja Biserko (Serbia).[32][33] The panel was supported by a secretariat of nine human rights officials provided by the High Commissioner for Human Rights.[20]

The Commission's mandate was to investigate the "systematic, widespread and grave violations of human rights in the DPRK"[20] including, in particular, violations in nine specific substantive areas: 1) right to food; 2) prison camps; 3) torture and inhuman treatment; 4) arbitrary arrest and detention; 5) discrimination in basic human rights and fundamental freedoms; 6) freedom of expression; 7) right to life; 8) freedom of individual movement; and 9) enforced disappearances and abductions of nationals of other states.[20][31]

The mandate indicated that the inquiry should pursue three inter-linked objectives: investigate in depth human rights violations; document witness accounts; and ensure accountability especially for crimes against humanity.[20][23][34][35][36]

Commissioners Marzuki Darusman, Sonja Biserko, and Michael Donald Kirby (Chair) present their report to the UN Human Rights Council

Commissioners Marzuki Darusman, Sonja Biserko, and Michael Donald Kirby (Chair) present their report to the UN Human Rights Council

Outcome

The Commission's report was made public on 7 February 2014.[27][37] It was lauded as a "landmark" and "groundbreaking" report,[3][38] being "the most authoritative assessment of human rights in North Korea",[27] "extraordinary in its detail and breadth",[33] and credited for shifting the focus from Nuclear issues to human rights.[3]

The Commission concluded that the North Korean government was perpetrating "unspeakable atrocities" against its own people on a vast scale [39] and committing “widespread, systematic and gross”[10] violations that amounted to crimes against humanity. The Chair of the Commission called these atrocities “strikingly similar” to crimes committed by Nazi Germany in World War II.[11][33][40][41] Crimes included execution, enslavement, starvation, rape and forced abortion.[33]

Presentation of COI Report on North Korea at the Human Rights Council

Based on the COI findings, on 26 March 2014 the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution (30 in favor, 6 against, 11 abstentions) urging the General Assembly to refer the findings to the UN Security Council and for the Security Council to take action, including referral to the International Criminal Court.[27][37][38][42]

On 17 April 2014 members of the UN Security Council convened an informal meeting to hear the panel's views on what should be done next. This was an unusually expeditious gathering and the first one to address human rights in North Korea.[9][43][44] China and Russia did not attend.[9]

On 18 December 2014 the UN General Assembly passed several resolutions (including 69/188;[7][45][46] 116 in favor, 20 against, 53 abstentions)[8] condemning the state-sponsored human rights abuses in the country and urging the Security Council to refer the report to the International Criminal Court (ICC).[2][4][6][8][9][11][12][47]

On 22 December 2014, the Security Council held a meeting to evaluate the commission's report, its first official meeting to discuss human rights in DPRK. China objected to the meeting, which led to an unusual procedural vote, the first in eight years, on whether the meeting should be held. Only Russia agreed with China. Despite these objections, the meeting was held, because procedural votes do not allow for vetoes. However, China would be able to use its veto power to block a decision to refer the report to the ICC, making it very unlikely that such a resolution would pass.[2][4][10][11][12][13][14][33][41][48]

In December 2015, the U.S. added “human rights abuses in North Korea” to the permanent UNSC agenda, making the subject a recurring item of discussion from that point forward. China again protested (along with Angola, Russia, and Venezuela) the proposal, asserting that human rights is not a topic to be discussed at the UNSC, called for a procedure vote but lost it.[4][48][49][50][51]

Also in December 2015, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein called on the UNSC to refer DPRK to the International Criminal Court.[49][52]

Summary of report findings

Violations

Thought, expression, religion

Summary: The DPRK seeks the absolute brainwashing of its population. It carries a thorough life-long indoctrination; exerts total control over the flow of domestic and foreign information; prevents any social or ideological challenges by prohibiting any other ideologies, religions or independent civil society organizations; and enforces its monopoly of thought harsh punishments including torture and death.[53][20]

Discrimination

Summary: Residency, occupation, intensity of criminal punishment, and access to food, housing, health care, education have been contingent on a State-assigned inheritable social class (Songbun) system. This system is deflating with 1990s post-famine marketization; women earn more through entrepreneurship than males in the State employment system. Women suffer from pervasive bribery, sexual assault, and gender violence as the male-controlled State grows corrupt, poor, and resentful.[53][20]

Movement and residence

Summary: The State imposes on citizens where they must live and work according to their social class (songbun), limits their internal movement, and generally prohibits international travel. China frequently forcibly repatriates North Korean refugees, who will be subject to harsh punishments upon their return, especially if they have been in contact with other ideologies.[53][20]

Food

Summary: The State exerts a monopoly over food distribution. It has prioritized feeding those whom the authorities believe to be crucial in maintaining the regime over those deemed expendable. Beyond shortages outside the control of the State, decisions, actions and omissions by the State caused the death of at least hundreds of thousands of people during 1990s famine. Those who survived were inflicted permanent physical and psychological injuries, becoming a stunted generation.[53][20]

Map of DPR Korea Food Vulnerability and Insecurity 2008, included in the COI report

Arbitrary detention, torture, executions, and prison camps

Summary: The State has established a highly centralized policy for the extreme persecution of political crimes, instilling fear to maintain the status quo. Torture is used to force confessions. Detainees are imprisoned without fair trial. The families of the political prison inmates never know again of the fate of the detained relative. Atrocities take place in prison camps, including intentional starvation, forced labor, executions, torture, and rape. Hundreds of thousands have died in these camps through the deliberate and systematic policy of the State. There currently are between 80,000 and 120,000 political prisoners.[53][20]

Illustrations made by an escapee and published in the report. The author explains how the so-called ‘pigeon torture’ works. [Y]our hands are handcuffed behind your back. And then they hang you so you would not be able to stand or sit. (...)you can’t stand, you can’t sleep. If you are hung like that for three days, four days, you urinate, you defecate, you are totally dehydrated. … [the pigeon torture] was the most painful of all tortures… [it] was so painful that I felt it was better to die.

Abductions and enforced disappearances from other countries

Summary: Since 1950 the DPRK has engaged in the systematic abduction, denial of repatriation, and subsequent enforced disappearance of potentially over 200,000 persons from other countries. Most have been subject to the harshest living conditions in the country. Forceful abductions include ROK civilians who were used as laborers during and after the Korean War, followed for decades by selective continued abductions of Japanese, Koreans, and other foreign nationals to provide training to spy agents. The State has also retained by force ROK prisoners of war and ethnic Koreans from Japan who voluntarily migrated to the DPRK.[53][20]

The detailed report[20] exhibits a stamp which includes a secret message from a returnee from Japan to North Korea, warning other family members still in Japan to refrain from moving to North Korea. The author had written “We cannot leave the village. Older brother do not come. Mother says she wishes to see you. Tell our sister in Toyama also not to come. What Bunto's father said is correct.”[20]
Shigeo Iizuka, Chairman of the Association of Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea gives his testimony at the UN.

Crimes against humanity

The report stated that crimes against humanity in North Korea do “not have any parallel in the contemporary world” and arise directly out of “policies established at the highest level of State.”[54]

These crimes against humanity entail extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions and other sexual violence, persecution on political, religious, racial and gender grounds, the forcible transfer of populations, the enforced disappearance of persons and the inhumane act of knowingly causing prolonged starvation. The Commission further found that crimes against humanity are ongoing in the DPRK because the policies, institutions and patterns of impunity that lie at their heart remain in place.

“
”

Report of the commission of inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, paragraph 76.[54][53]

The report was the first one by the United Nations to determine that crimes against humanity were perpetrated in the DPRK. Talking about these crimes, the Chair of the COI stated: "Unlike earlier totalitarian states and oppressive conduct, the world cannot now lament, 'if only we had known...' Now, the world does know. And the question is whether the world will respond effectively and take the necessary action."[25]

The question of genocide

According to the Commission's findings, hundreds of thousands of inmates have been exterminated in political prison camps and other places over a span of more than five decades. In the course of three generations, entire groups of people, including families with their children, have perished in the prison camps because of who they were and not for what they had personally done.[20]

The Commission noted that the notion of the DPRK eliminating an entire class of people by deliberately creating the conditions that lead to massive deaths can be seen as akin to genocide.[20]

However, extermination on the sole basis of political affiliations is not included in the contemporary definition of genocide under international law. The Commission decided instead to emphasize that crimes against humanity, in their own right, are crimes of such gravity that they not only trigger the responsibility of the state concerned, but also that of the international community to uphold its responsibility to protect the population of the DPRK.[20]

Accountability

The prohibition of crimes against humanity forms part of the body of peremptory norms (jus cogens) that bind the entire international community as a matter of customary international law. Individuals who commit crimes against humanity in the DPRK may therefore be held responsible, even though the DPRK has not yet included crimes against humanity in its domestic criminal law and is not a State party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The fact that perpetrators of these crimes have acted on superior orders does not relieve them of criminal responsibility.[20]

The Commission's report identified individuals and institutions that must be held accountable, including the Supreme Leader, State Security Department, Ministry of People's Security, Office of the Prosecutor and the court system, Korean People's Army, Workers' Party of Korea, and the National Defence Commission.[20]

The COI recommended the international community act, outlining three main options:[20]

Methodology and challenges

The three UN COI commissioners receive a Human Rights Award from the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, presented by the organization's Co-Chair Roberta Cohen and Executive Director Greg Scarlatoiu

The panel conducted its investigations throughout several months,[34] relying on first-hand witnesses and victims as the primary source of information.[20] Eighty escapees, refugees, and abductees publicly testified,[34][55] and 240 more were interviewed confidentially to protect them or their families from retaliation by North Korea.[33] Interviews were conducted during visits to Seoul, Tokyo, Bangkok, London, and Washington, D.C., and through videoconferences and telephone calls.[20][35] A wealth of other reports and written materials prepared by the UN, NGOs, governments, research institutes, and academics were used for context and corroboration. Historical official documents released from former Soviet countries (including archival records from the USSR) and leaked records from China and DPRK also fed into the commission's research.[20] The Commission also relied on commercially available satellite images of prison camps, as well as clandestinely recorded videos and photographs with confirmed authenticity.[6][20]

The Commission stated in its report its awareness that most victims and witnesses cooperating with the Commission had an overall unfavorable opinion of the DPRK's authorities. To ensure balance, the Commission repeatedly invited the DPRK to provide information, but it always refused.[20][34][41] In the absence of direct input by the DPRK, the commission reviewed documentation previously published by the DPRK.[20] The report also noted that Chinese leaders refused to let the commission visit China's border provinces with North Korea and opposed the Commission's inquiry from the start. The Commission sent a letter to the Chinese government suggesting that they were “aiding and abetting crimes against humanity.”[33]

The determination of facts was based on the “reasonable grounds” standard of proof, with all facts independently corroborated by at least one other credible source of information.[20]

The Commission relied chiefly on the binding legal obligations that the country voluntarily assumed as a State party to the: International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Convention on the Rights of the Child; and Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The Commission also relied on other international and customary law, including international humanitarian law.[20]

North Korea's reactions

A news piece published by the Korean Central News Agency protesting the Commission of Inquiry[56]

After the adoption of HRC resolution 22/13, the DPRK publicly stated that it would “totally reject and disregard” the resolution, which it considered to be a “product of political confrontation and conspiracy”.[20][25][57][56] Immediately after the Commission was created, the North Korean Ambassador to the UN, So Se Pyong, denounced the Commission as “an instrument that serves the political purposes of the hostile forces in their attempt to discredit the image” of North Korea, while denying that any human rights abuses existed in his country.[1]

The panel submitted several requests seeking the cooperation of North Korea. The Commission invited the government to scrutinize its work, share information, and provide proof to support its claim that human rights are protected.[58] One request included sending a letter to the country's leader Kim Jong-un.[41] All requests were denied or went unanswered.[20][41] North Korea's blanket rejection also included denying access to the country (since 2004 the Special Rapporteur had also been denied entry).[20][33]

Throughout the process, North Korean officials dismissed the Commission, describing it and its results as “a political conspiracy by the United States and hostile forces,” with its participating witnesses being criminals[1][3][10][25] and "human scum."[55] The DPRK asserted that the evidence cited by the panel had been “fabricated and invented,” and dismissed the Commission as “a hotbed of confrontation and distrust.”[9][20][41][59]

North Korean officials stated that there were "no prison camps" operating in North Korea but that there were "detention centres where people are improved through their mentality and look on their wrongdoings." Officials also stated that North Korea was a "transition society"[33][47] and as such "there might be some problems, for example in the economic and other areas, we may need to establish more houses and social facilities in order to provide people with better living conditions."[39][47][54]

A fragment of another news piece published by the Korean Central News Agency protesting the Commission of Inquiry

Several months after the release of the panel's report, North Korea released its own human rights report.[3][10][47][60][61][62][63][64] The five-chapter report was prepared by the DPRK's Association for Human Rights Studies “to lay bare the false and reactionary nature of the reckless anti-North Korean human rights racket and to wipe out the prejudice and misunderstanding.”[10] The report claims that North Koreans enjoy robust human rights, including freedom of speech and religion and protection from slavery and torture.[3][10][38] The report did not mention the prison gulags, which witnesses to the Commission had described in detail.[38]

North Korea also countered accusation of wrongdoing by issuing its own analysis on the human rights situation in the United States and South Korea.[65][66][67][68]

Shortly after the publication of the COI report, the pressure on the DPRK mounted. The UN General Assembly considered passing a resolution that threatened to bring the leadership of the DPRK to an international tribunal. Also, several governments were reassessing their relationships to the country given the findings of the report and reduced their shipments of aid.[22][69][70]

This pressure during mid and late 2014 led North Korea to change its stance, with its Foreign Minister going to the General Assembly for the first time in 15 years. There he announced the DPRK's readiness to hold a “human rights dialogue with countries not hostile to it.” Also following the publication of the COI report, in May 2014, on the eve of the second Universal Periodic Review report on human rights in North Korea,[70][71] the DPRK published (three years behind the UN scheduled deadline) a detailed response to the 167 first cycle recommendations. The government changed its previous stance of complete rejection of external critique on its human rights, accepting a large part of the recommendations and claiming they were being implemented.[70][72] Shortly after, during the second cycle of the UPR, 268 recommendations were issued to advance the DPRK's human rights. The DPRK again accepted some of them. However, in both instances it excluded from consideration or redress the most serious violations, including those deemed by the COI to have crossed “the high threshold of crimes against humanity.”[70][73]

Despite the DPRK's claims of progress, in June 2014, Special Rapporteur Darusman noted that no recommendations were being implemented.[58][74]

After the UN General Assembly in December 2014 referred the Commission's findings to the Security Council, Pyongyang renounced any further cooperation with UN human rights mechanisms.[75]

Other subsequent events

The UN Human Rights Council renewed the mandate of the Special Rapporteur in 2014. The vote allowed Darusman to pick up where the Commission left off a month prior.[76] It also called on the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to establish a “field presence” in the country by assigning permanent staff to monitor human rights developments.[27][37] The office was opened on 23 June 2015.[4][48][72][72][77][78] The DPRK reacted by threatening to harm the UN staff affiliated with the new Seoul office.[72]

In January 2015, Shin Dong-hyuk, a vocal and prominent defector, recanted key parts of a life story that had made him the best-known symbol of torture and other rights violations by North Korea. His retractions came amid mounting pressure from fellow North Korean escapees and the South Korean news media to clarify suspicions about his background.[9][75][79][80] The UN and human rights advocates maintained that the report remained solid, even without Shin's account as the report drew from interviews with hundreds of other defectors and experts on human rights in North Korea.[75][79] Before Shin's recantation, in 2013, The New York Times had noted that Shin's accounts were "dramatic, but not particularly new; over the years, defectors from North Korea, including a handful of survivors of its prison camps like Mr. Shin, have told similar stories."[34]

In 2016, British scholar, Hazel Smith, described the report's description of ongoing starvation in North Korea as "erroneous". She stated that the situation had greatly improved since the 1990s and was far from being unique around the world.[81]

UN documents

Commission's report

The COI issued two versions of the report: a summary one of 36 pages and a detailed one of 372 pages.

Related resolutions

Security Council Meetings

The United Nations has issued, and continues to issue other (less in-depth) periodical reports on the human rights situation in the DPRK. Below are listed the reports that preceded or were contemporaneous to the Commission's report. These include the Universal Periodic Review (every 3 or 4 years) and annual reports by the Special Rapporteur, issued in detail to the Human Rights Council, and in a more condensed form to the General Assembly:

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Erlanger, Steven (March 21, 2013). "U.N. Panel to Investigate Human Rights Abuses in North Korea". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 11, 2014. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Sengupta, Somini (December 22, 2014). "United Nations Security Council Examines North Korea's Human Rights". The New York Times. p. A12 (print edition Dec 23). Archived from the original on April 18, 2015. Retrieved Aug 20, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sengupta, Somini (October 25, 2014). "Coalition Seeks to Send North Korea to International Court Over Rights Abuses". The New York Times. p. A6 (print edition Oct 26). Archived from the original on Mar 29, 2015. Retrieved Aug 20, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Kratz, Agatha (January 6, 2016). "North Korea: a role for the EU on human rights". European Council on Foreign Relations. London. Archived from the original on February 28, 2016. Retrieved Feb 27, 2015.
  5. ↑ Cumming-Bruce, Nick (February 15, 2014). "U.N. Panel Finds Crimes Against Humanity in North Korea". The New York Times. p. A7 (print edition Feb 16). Archived from the original on June 7, 2015. Retrieved Aug 20, 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Sanger, David E. (October 20, 2014). "North Korea Challenges U.N. Report on Violations". The New York Times. p. A10 (print edition Oct 21). Archived from the original on Oct 22, 2014. Retrieved Aug 20, 2015.
  7. 1 2 United Nations General Assembly Session 69 Resolution 188. GA/11604. Situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea A/RES/69/188 18 December 2014.
  8. 1 2 3 "General Assembly decides to refer UN report on human rights in DPR Korea to Security Council". UN News Centre. December 14, 2014. Archived from the original on July 5, 2015. Retrieved Aug 20, 2015.
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  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Choe, Sang-Hun (September 13, 2015). "North Korea Says Reports of Abuse Are Produced by Political 'Racket'". The New York Times. p. A12 (print edition Sep 14). Archived from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved Aug 20, 2015.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Mirjam (Reuters), Donath (October 22, 2014). "At U.N., China Asked to Back Human Rights Case Against North Korea". The New York Times. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
  12. 1 2 3 "UN Security Council discusses referring North Korea to ICC". DW. Germany. December 23, 2014. Archived from the original on Aug 20, 2015. Retrieved Aug 20, 2015.
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  14. 1 2 United Nations Security Council Session 7353 Meeting The situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea S/PV.7353 22 December 2014.
  15. ↑ United Nations General Assembly Session 63rd Document Situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea A/C.3/63/L.26 30 October 2008.
  16. ↑ Human Rights Council Resolution E/CN.4/RES/2004/13. Situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea E/CN.4/2004/127 15 April 2004.
  17. ↑ Human Rights Council Session 7th Resolution Situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea A/HRC/7/L.28 25 March 2008.
  18. ↑ Human Rights Council Session 13 Document Situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea A/HRC/13/L.13 18 March 2010.
  19. ↑ United Nations General Assembly Session 66th Resolution 66/174. Situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea A/RES/66/174 19 December 2011.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 United Nations Human Rights Council Session 25 Report of the detailed findings of the commission of inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea A/HRC/25/CRP.1 7 February 2014.
  21. ↑ "Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea". Geneva: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Archived from the original on Jul 19, 2015. Retrieved Aug 20, 2015.
  22. 1 2 Cohen, Roberta (16 October 2014). "A Human Rights Dialogue with North Korea: Real or Illusory?". 38 North. Washington, D.C.: School of Advanced International Studies. Archived from the original on Mar 13, 2015. Retrieved Aug 29, 2015.
  23. 1 2 3 Human Rights Council Session 22nd Document Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Marzuki Darusman A/HRC/22/57 1 February 2013.
  24. ↑ Human Rights Council Session 13th Document Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review – Democratic People's Republic of Korea A/HRC/13/13 4 January 2010.
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  29. ↑ Gladstone, Rick; Sanger, David E. (March 7, 2013). "New Sanctions on North Korea Pass in Unified U.N. Vote". The New York Times. p. A1 (print edition March 8). Archived from the original on March 26, 2013. Retrieved Aug 20, 2015.
  30. 1 2 3 4 Cumming-Bruce, Nick; Choe, Sang-Hun (March 10, 2013). "North Korea Faces Pressure From U.N. on Human Rights". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 13, 2015. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
  31. 1 2 3 Human Rights Council Resolution 22/13.. 48th. Situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea A/HRC/RES/22/13 21 March 2013.
  32. ↑ "UN names North Korea human rights investigators". BBC. UK. May 8, 2013. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
  33. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "North Korea – Humanity at its very worst". The Economist. Feb 22, 2014. Archived from the original on March 2, 2014. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
  34. 1 2 3 4 5 Choe, Sang-Hun (August 20, 2013). "North Korean Defectors Tell U.N. Panel of Prison Camp Abuses". The New York Times. p. A8 (print edition August 21st). Archived from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  35. 1 2 United Nations General Assembly Session 68th Document Situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea A/68/319 14 August 2013.
  36. ↑ Human Rights Council (21 March 2013). "Resolution A/HRC/RES/22/13: Situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea". United Nations. Retrieved Aug 20, 2015. The commission of inquiry will investigate the systematic, widespread and grave violations of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea as outlined in paragraph 31 of the report of the Special Rapporteur, including the violation of the right to food, the violations associated with prison camps, torture and inhuman treatment, arbitrary detention, discrimination, violations of freedom of expression, violations of the right to life, violations of freedom of movement, and enforced disappearances, including in the form of abductions of nationals of other States, with a view to ensuring full accountability, in particular where these violations may amount to crimes against humanity
  37. 1 2 3 Human Rights Council Session 25th Resolution Situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea A/HRC/25/L.17 26 March 2014.
  38. 1 2 3 4 Cumming-Bruce, Nick (September 19, 2014). "North Korea Agrees to Weigh Steps on Human Rights". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 25, 2015. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
  39. 1 2 "North Korea defends human rights record in report to UN". BBC. UK. October 8, 2014. Archived from the original on November 12, 2014. Retrieved Aug 21, 2015.
  40. ↑ Burnett, Stephanie (August 11, 2014). "The North Koreans Are Unhappy With the U.N.'s Report on Human Rights". Time. U.S. Archived from the original on Sep 8, 2014. Retrieved Aug 21, 2015.
  41. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cumming-Bruce, Nick (Sep 17, 2013). "U.N. Panel Urges International Action on North Korean Human Rights Abuses". The New York Times. p. A6 (print edition Sep 18). Archived from the original on Oct 10, 2014. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
  42. ↑ Cheng, Jonathan (February 17, 2014). "U.N. Panel Says North Korean Leader Could Face Charges". The Wall Street Journal. New York. Archived from the original on Aug 24, 2015. Retrieved Aug 24, 2015.
  43. ↑ "U.N. Security Council set to address N. Korean human rights issue". The Korea Times. Seoul, Korea. Archived from the original on April 17, 2014. Retrieved Aug 29, 2015.
  44. ↑ "U.S. Participation in the Arria Formula Meeting of the UN Security Council on Human Rights in North Korea". Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State. April 16, 2014. Archived from the original on Jan 14, 2015. Retrieved Aug 29, 2015.
  45. ↑ United Nations General Assembly Session 69 Document Situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea A/C.3/69/L.28/Rev.1 14 November 2014.
  46. ↑ United Nations General Assembly Session 68 Resolution 68/183. Situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea A/RES/68/183 18 December 2013.
  47. 1 2 3 4 Charbonneau (Reuters), Louis (October 7, 2014). "North Korea Presents Own Report on Its Human Rights Record at U.N.". The New York Times. Retrieved Aug 20, 2015.
  48. 1 2 3 "Institutional Human Rights Violations in Democratic People's Republic of Korea Pose Threat to International Peace, Security, Security Council Told – Council Lacks Mandate over Violations, Some Members Stress, as High Commissioner for Human Rights Says Millions Still Denied Basic Freedoms (SC/12151)". United Nations. New York. December 10, 2015. p. SC/12151. Archived from the original on February 28, 2016. Retrieved Feb 27, 2015.
  49. 1 2 Hands, Jack (December 18, 2015). "The Global Politics of Human Rights in North Korea – The UN is forcing the DPRK's abysmal record higher up the international political agenda.". The Diplomat. Tokyo, Japan. Archived from the original on Jan 29, 2016. Retrieved Feb 27, 2015.
  50. ↑ Reuters (Nov 10, 2015). "China: 'Bad Idea' For UN Council To Discuss North Korea Human Rights". The Huffington Post. New York. Archived from the original on Feb 13, 2016. Retrieved Feb 27, 2015.
  51. ↑ United Nations Security Council Session 7575 Meeting The situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea S/PV.7575 10 December 2015.
  52. ↑ UN News Center (December 10, 2015). "UN human rights chief calls for DPR Korea to be referred to International Criminal Court". United Nations. New York. Archived from the original on January 25, 2016. Retrieved Feb 27, 2015.
  53. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 United Nations Human Rights Council Session 25 Summary record Report of the commission of inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea A/HRC/25/63 7 February 2014.
  54. 1 2 3 Keck, Zachary (August 15, 2014). "North Korea to Publish Human Rights Report". The Diplomat. U.S. Archived from the original on Oct 11, 2014. Retrieved Aug 20, 2015.
  55. 1 2 Choe, Sang-Hun (August 27, 2013). "U.N. Investigators Press North Koreans to Allow a Visit". The New York Times. p. A3 (print edition Aug 28). Archived from the original on September 2, 2013. Retrieved Aug 20, 2015.
  56. 1 2 KCNA (March 22, 2013). "UN Human Rights Council's "Resolution on Human Rights" against DPRK Rejected by DPRK FM Spokesman". Korean Central News Agency. Pyongyang, DPRK. Archived from the original on Oct 12, 2014. Retrieved Aug 24, 2015.
  57. ↑ KCNA (March 26, 2013). "S. Korean Regime Denounced for Trying to Fabricate "Human Rights Resolution" against DPRK". Korean Central News Agency. Pyongyang, DPRK. Archived from the original on October 12, 2014. Retrieved Aug 24, 2015.
  58. 1 2 Hawk, David (16 October 2014). "North Korea Responds to the UN Commission of Inquiry". 38 North. Washington, D.C.: School of Advanced International Studies. Archived from the original on Mar 15, 2015. Retrieved Aug 29, 2015. For it to work, the UN human rights system assumes that indigenous civil society groups, domestic and foreign journalists, governmental, inter-governmental and non-governmental monitors will be able to corroborate on-the-ground claims that a government is observing and respecting the rights of its citizenry. However, none of these conditions apply to North Korea. In this type of situation, if the regime in question does not allow on-site, on-the-ground monitoring, then the refugee/victim testimonies, not the unverifiable statements of the government, stand. With more than 25,000 North Korean defectors in South Korea and hundreds more around the world, there is ample information about the types of abuses have taken place inside North Korea—and the overwhelming narrative is quite the opposite of what the DPRK government purports.
    For instance, in the UN Special Rapporteur's June 13, 2014 report, he notes that North Korea's claims about implementing human rights standards and recommendations “contrast sharply” with the findings documented by the COI and information received by himself. Darusman further stipulates that the crimes against humanity detailed in the COI report were “not excesses of the State, but essential components of its political system. [And that] the gravity, scale and nature of those violations revealed a State that has no parallel in the contemporary world.”
  59. ↑ KCNA (August 27, 2013). "KCNA Commentary Slams S. Korean Authorities for Chilling Atmosphere of Dialogue". Korean Central News Agency (as republished by Anglo-Peoples Korea/Songun). Pyongyang, DPRK. Archived from the original on Aug 24, 2015. Retrieved Aug 24, 2015.
  60. ↑ KCNA (November 28, 2014). "Detailed Report on Secret behind Anti-DPRK "Human Rights Resolution" Released". Korean Central News Agency, republished by kcnawatch.nknews.org. Pyongyang. Archived from the original on March 13, 2015. Retrieved Aug 20, 2015.
  61. ↑ Taylor, Adam (September 17, 2014). "North Korea wrote a 53,558-word report on its human rights record. The conclusion? It's pretty good.". The Washington Post. U.S. Retrieved Aug 20, 2015.
  62. ↑ DPRK Association for Human Rights Studies (September 13, 2014). Report of the DPRK Association for Human Rights Studies (PDF) (Report). Korean Central News Agency (republished by The National Committee on North Korea). Archived (PDF) from the original on August 21, 2015. Retrieved Aug 20, 2015.
  63. ↑ DPRK Association for Human Rights Studies (2014). Report of the DPRK Association for Human Rights Studies (PDF) (Report). Korean Central News Agency (as republished by Weekly Blitz). Archived (PDF) from the original on June 29, 2015. Retrieved Sep 1, 2015.
  64. ↑ KCNA (September 13, 2014). "Report on Human Rights Situation in DPRK Released". Korean Central News Agency. Pyongyang, North Korea. Archived from the original on February 14, 2015. Retrieved Aug 21, 2015.
  65. ↑ KCNA (April 30, 2014). "News Analysis on Poor Human Rights Records in US". Korean Central News Agency. Pyongyang, DPRK. Archived from the original on May 3, 2014. Retrieved Aug 27, 2015.
  66. ↑ Taylor, Adam (May 2, 2014). "North Korea releases list of U.S. 'human rights abuses': 'The U.S. is a living hell'". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 13, 2016. Retrieved Aug 27, 2015.
  67. ↑ Oh Se Hyek (April 30, 2014). "North Announces "White Paper" on SK Human Rights". DailyNK. Archived from the original on Jan 12, 2015. Retrieved Aug 27, 2015.
  68. ↑ Strochlic, Nina (May 3, 2014). "Now It's North Korea's Turn to List U.S. Human Rights Abuses". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on May 3, 2014. Retrieved Aug 27, 2015.
  69. ↑ Yonhap (Sep 28, 2014). "U.N. secretary general receives letter from N.K. leader". The Korea Herald. Seoul. Archived from the original on Sep 30, 2014. Retrieved Sep 1, 2015.
  70. 1 2 3 4 Hawk, David (16 October 2014). "North Korea Responds to the UN Commission of Inquiry". 38 North. Washington, D.C.: School of Advanced International Studies. Archived from the original on Mar 15, 2015. Retrieved Aug 29, 2015.
  71. ↑ Human Rights Council Session 27th Document Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review – Democratic People's Republic of Korea A/HRC/27/10 2 July 2014.
  72. 1 2 3 4 Chung, Christine (July 27, 2015). "Moving Forward on North Korean Human Rights". 38 North – Korea Institute at SAIS. Archived from the original on August 7, 2015. Retrieved Aug 20, 2015.
  73. ↑ "The DPRK's Responses to the Universal Periodic Review (A/HRC/27/10/Add.1)" (PDF). 38 North. Washington, D.C.: School of Advanced International Studies. Archived (PDF) from the original on Mar 20, 2015. Retrieved Sep 1, 2015.
  74. ↑ Human Rights Council Session 26th Document Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Marzuki Darusman A/HRC/26/43 13 June 2014.
  75. 1 2 3 Agence France-Presse in Seoul (Jan 21, 2015). "UN dismisses North Korea's claim that damning human rights report is invalid". The Guardian. UK. Archived from the original on Jul 14, 2015. Retrieved Sep 1, 2015.
  76. ↑ Associated Press (March 28, 2014). "UN Prolongs North Korea Human Rights Investigation". The New York Times. Retrieved Aug 20, 2015.
  77. ↑ "New UN office opens in Seoul to monitor human rights issues in DPR Korea". UN News Centre. June 23, 2015. Archived from the original on August 18, 2015. Retrieved Aug 20, 2015.
  78. ↑ Human Rights Council Session 28 Resolution 28/22. Situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea A/HRC/RES/28/22 27 March 2015.
  79. 1 2 Choe, Sang-Hun (January 20, 2015). "North Korea Uses Defector's Partial Retraction to Lash Out at Washington". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 13, 2015. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
  80. ↑ Choe, Sang-Hun (January 19, 2015). "Prominent North Korean Defector Recants Parts of His Story of Captivity". The New York Times. p. A9. Archived from the original on March 24, 2015. Retrieved Aug 20, 2015.
  81. ↑ Smith, Hazel (Spring 2016). "Nutrition and Health in North Korea: What's New, What's Changed and Why It Matters". North Korean Review: 27.
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