Human Rights Watch welcomes Marzuki Darusman’s last report after five years as Special Rapporteur and we agree with his main conclusions and recommendations. Although the Commission of Inquiry on human rights in North Korea led to the international community’s collective efforts to bring relief and justice to its long-suffering people, the situation in North Korea has not changed. We continue to monitor the situation in North Korea and see no change in fundamental, discriminatory policies, collective punishment including in horrific forced labor camps, torture, or denial of the most basic rights since the commission of inquiry’s report. Indeed, these extreme abuses have been ongoing in various ways for over fifty years, affecting generations of North Koreans. The Special Rapporteur makes special mention of the large scale and systematic international abductions, denial of repatriation and enforced disappearance, as well as express concern over reported forced labor of North Korean workers overseas.
He also stressed the need for a two-track strategy with respect to North Korea. The first track is engagement to protect the North Korean people. To this end, we support the Special Rapporteur’s proposal that UN member states establish and activate a contact group to follow-up on the recommendations of the commission of inquiry. In our view, one of the key goals of the contact group should be to press the North Korean government to allow the Special Rapporteur to visit the country in a credible manner.
The second track involves bringing to justice the perpetrators of these unspeakable crimes. The international community must redouble its efforts in this regard. At this stage, the UN Security Council remains the only avenue to realize accountability before the International Criminal Court. We therefore support the Special Rapporteur’s recommendation that UN member states press the UN Security Council hold regular briefings on the North Korean situation to move closer to this goal.
The work of the field-based structure of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Seoul will be critical to keep the international community informed of key developments on human rights in North Korea, including information on those who may be most responsible for abuses. Human Rights Watch therefore urges the Human Rights Council once again to express its strong support for the mandate of the field-based structure and to call on all Governments to fully cooperate with its activities.
Finally, the Human Rights Council should preserve the inspirational vision of the former Commission of Inquiry, and should provide a venue for victims of and witnesses to atrocities to convey their experiences to the international community.
