Human Rights Watch welcomes Tomas Ojea Quintana to his new role as Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. We thank him for his comprehensive report, and welcome his endorsement of the recommendations of the group of independent experts on accountability, which stressed that the pursuit of accountability for human rights violations in North Korea must be multi-pronged and comprehensive, and in line with international norms and standards.
While the group of experts supported action by the UN Security Council to refer the situation in the DPRK to the International Criminal Court, it also made concrete recommendations to the Human Rights Council. Specifically, it called for OHCHR to strengthen the field office in Seoul with additional resources and focus additional efforts towards ensuring accountability for North Korean human rights violations. The group also recommended the strengthened Seoul office support “an assessment by international criminal justice experts” of available information and evidence; map DPRK government command structures, and linkages; identify research gaps; and develop possible investigation and prosecution strategies, as well as blueprints of suitable international or internationally-assisted court models.
In line with these recommendations, we urge the Human Rights Council to include at least two prosecution experts based in Seoul to analyze evidence about crimes and those responsible, and to appoint an independent “international criminal justice expert” to oversee the process, and develop strategies for investigations that lead to effective identification and eventual prosecution of those responsible. We would welcome the Special Rapporteur’s views on whether these measures would be useful to advance accountability.
The 2014 United Nations Commission of Inquiry report concluded that North Korea’s widespread, gross and systematic rights violations are unparalleled in the contemporary world. Since national level mechanisms offer no possibility of justice, there is a heightened urgency for tangible steps that enable prosecutions and an international mechanism that promises both justice for victims, and accountability for North Korean officials from the top on down who have so systematically abused their rights.
