A U.N. committee on Tuesday rejected a Cuban proposal to remove a call for referring North Korea to the International Criminal Court for human rights violations from a proposed General Assembly resolution.

The Third Committee turned down the proposed revision in a 40-77 vote. Fifty nations abstained.

Cuba put forward the revision proposal last week that centered on eliminating the call for the North's referral to the ICC from the original resolution and replacing it with a clause calling for human rights dialogue between North Korea and other nations. 

The rejection raised the possibility of the original resolution's passage.

The committee plans to hold a vote on the European Union-proposed resolution later Tuesday.

Referral to the ICC was one of the key recommendations that the U.N. Commission of Inquiry (COI) made in a February report released after a yearlong probe into Pyongyang's human rights record. The report also said the ICC should handle the North's violations as "crimes against humanity."

North Korea has long been labeled as one of the worst human rights violators in the world. The communist regime does not tolerate dissent, holds hundreds of thousands of people in political prison camps and keeps tight control over outside information.

But Pyongyang has bristled at any talk of its human rights conditions, calling it a U.S.-led attempt to topple its regime. The North has also released its own human rights report, claiming the country has the world's most advantageous human rights system and policies. (Yonhap)