The head of a new U.N. commission investigating alleged widespread human rights violations in North Korea said that he would ensure “due progress” when his team begins probing allegations of torture and labor camps in the totalitarian state.
Michael Kirby, a former justice of Australia’s top court, was appointed last week to head the three-member U.N. “Commission of Inquiry” into rights abuses in North Korea, a landmark move that upgraded the level of U.N. investigation on par with probes into Syria.
In a written interview from Sydney, Kirby suggested that his team would seek the cooperation of North Korea as part of the inquiry, which will officially commence from July.
Asked whether he would seek to be granted access to North Korea, Kirby declined to give a direct answer, citing that the commission has yet to be launched.
Instead, Kirby replied, “Certainly, the commission will pay respect to the principle of due process which ordinarily requires that individuals or governments subject to accusations are first afforded an opportunity to respond in an appropriate way.”
The commission was set up after the U.N. Human Rights Council adopted a resolution in March to begin a tougher investigation into human rights violations in North Korea.
Along with Kirby, who has previously investigated human rights abuses in Cambodia, the other two investigators are Marzuki Darusman, U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in North Korea, and Serbian human rights activist Sonja Biserko.
The resolution requires them to “investigate systematic, grave human rights violations in North Korea, including labor camps, torture and enforced disappearances, including in the form of abductions of nationals of other countries.”
Seoul’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Tai-young welcomed the U.N. council’s move, expressing hope that the new commission would “conduct its mission in a full-fledged manner, contributing to improving human rights in North Korea.”
Kirby said that he has received about 400 emails from human rights groups outlining alleged rights abuses by North Korea since his appointment.
“Most of these were from people who knew me in the field of human rights and United Nations activities. Emails from that quarter are still coming in large numbers,” Kirby said.
Human rights advocacy groups have long called for international efforts to stop genocide and crimes against humanity in the communist country, which they claim are being systematically carried out by North Korean authorities.
Activists said North Korea is holding hundreds of thousands of political prisoners in at least six facilities where they face extrajudicial executions, torture and forced labor. Pyongyang has flatly denied the accusations, calling them a U.S.-led attempt to topple the regime.
Asked about the issue of the hundreds of South Koreans believed to be held in North Korea, Kirby replied, “The commission has not decided whether the matters referred to within its mandate and whether they will be investigated. When that decision is made, an appropriate announcement may be made.” (Yonhap News)
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
