UN human rights inquiry chief wants North Korea hauled before international court
Michael Kirby tells informal meeting of UN Security Council North Korea's leaders should be prosecuted at the International Criminal Court over human rights abuses
The chief United Nations investigator into human rights abuses in North Korea appealed to the UN Security Council on Thursday to refer the situation in the reclusive Asian state to the International Criminal Court for prosecution.
“In a week of many grave human rights matters occupying the attention of the members of this council, we dare say that the case of human rights in the DPRK [Democratic People Republic of Korea] exceeds all others in duration, intensity and horror,” Michael Kirby told an informal meeting of the 15-member council.
A year-long UN inquiry, led by Kirby, concluded in a February 17 report that North Korean security chiefs and possibly even Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un himself should face international justice for ordering systematic torture, starvation and killings comparable to Nazi-era atrocities.
China and Russia, however, snubbed the meeting, which was organised by the United States, France and Australia. “Their absence was unfortunate,” Kirby told reporters.
“These first-hand accounts ... paint a chilling picture of the regime’s systematic and remorseless repression of its citizens.”
The inquiry recommended the United Nations Security Council refer the situation in North Korea to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which investigates war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression.