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North Korea rights situation continuing to deteriorate: UN investigator

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] UN Special Rapporteur for North Korea Vitit Muntarbhorn said Monday that the North Korean human rights situation is continuing to deteriorate. Presenting his report to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Muntarbhorn noted that any attempt to halt human rights violations in North Korea would require Security Council (SC) action. The rapporteur also said he has not been admitted to North Korea and has thus relied on reports from UN agencies, concerned rights groups, and refugees in making his assessment. Muntarbhorn also stated that sanctions imposed on North Korea in an effort to promote denuclearization have fallen short of improving the country's human rights situation. North Korean diplomat Choe Myong Nam rejected the special rapporteur's allegations. In October, Muntarbhorn criticized North Korea for human rights violations. Muntarbhorn said that North Korea was responsible for a broad range of human rights violations, including torture, public executions, and widespread hunger. In March 2009, Muntarbhorn told the UNHRC that he found egregious human rights violations in North Korea. In October 2008, Muntarbhorn urged North Korea to improve its treatment of prisoners and unsuccessful defectors, as well as to cooperate in locating kidnapped foreign citizens. In January 2008, Muntarbhorn made similar comments during his visit with a special UN envoy to Japan to assess the impact of the North Korean rights situation on that country. North Korea has frequently been accused of human trafficking, press repression, and "actively committing crimes against humanity".

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on March 15, 2010 (boomark / email).