UN vote blasts North Korea's human rights record

A divided United Nations General Assembly committee has approved a resolution expressing “serious concern” at continuing reports of widespread human rights abuses in North Korea.

Last night’s vote on the resolution, sponsored by the European Union, was 84 in favour, 22 against, and 62 abstentions, a reflection of the deep split in the world body over the broad issue of human rights and the narrower one of how to tackle abuses.

It is expected to be sent to the General Assembly for a final vote.

The resolution sparked heated debate in the assembly committee that deals with social and humanitarian issues, partly because it was the first time that a resolution on human rights in North Korea was introduced in the General Assembly.

Britain’s UN Ambassador Sir Emyr Jones Parry, who introduced the resolution on behalf of the EU, noted that in the past such resolutions were put before the Human Rights Commission in Geneva. But he said this year, because of the lack of improvement in North Korea’s human rights record, the EU asked the General Assembly to take up the issue.

The resolution, which has 40 co-sponsors, expresses “serious concern” at the “continuing reports of systemic, widespread and grave violations of human rights” in North Korea, including torture, public executions, imposing the death penalty for political reasons and the extensive use of forced labour.

It also expresses “serious concern” at North Korea’s refusal to allow a UN human rights investigator into the country, and at the treatment of North Koreans repatriated from other countries who face internment, torture and other punishments including the death penalty.

Following the EU’s introduction of the resolution, North Korea last week ordered non-governmental European aid groups, including Britain’s Save The Children, to leave the country. The order covers at least 11 of the 12 foreign non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the isolated North, which has struggled for a decade with severe food shortages. The groups affected are running health, sanitation, forestry and other programmes.

“If they do that,” Sir Emyr said, “that will be very regrettable.”

The order to aid groups wind up operations by December 31 comes as the World Food Programme is also scrambling to preserve its access to North Korea following a government request for the UN agency to wind up its food aid programme this year and switch to economic development assistance.

The resolution expresses “deep concern at the precarious humanitarian situation in the country, in particular the prevalence of infant malnutrition, which still affects the physical and mental development of a significant percentage of children”.

It urges North Korea to ensure unimpeded access to all parts of the country for humanitarian organisations, NGOs, and UN agencies, especially the World Food Programme.

Before last night’s vote, North Korea’s representative rejected the draft, accusing the EU and the US of misusing human rights issues for political purposes against small and weak developing countries. The resolution was based on false information and was evidence that the EU was trying to interfere in North Korea’s internal affairs and promote regime change, the diplomat said.

Pyongyang’s opposition was backed by 21 other countries including Russia, China, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Burma, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

Many objected to the General Assembly targeting individual countries with resolutions about human rights violations. That is a key issue in the continuing efforts to revamp the UN human rights machinery.

China noted that over the years, North Korea had made encouraging progress and said the committee should have pressed ahead with greater encouragement instead of criticism. South Korea abstained, noting that Seoul was making efforts to achieve advances in the human rights situation in the North.

But Japan’s deputy ambassador Toshiro Ozawa welcomed the resolution’s adoption, expressing hope it would lead North Korea to co-operate with the UN investigator and note “the expression of the international community which comes out through these numbers”.