By Kang Seung-woo
Will the latest United Nations' report on North Korea's human rights force the Stalinist state to take steps to tackle the issues raised?
On Monday, the U.N. Committee of Inquiry (COI) concluded that the North's leadership is committing crimes against humanity on an unprecedented scale. It also included a recommendation that the U.N. should refer the details gathered to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and have those responsible prosecuted, including North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Most analysts said the North can ill-afford to completely ignore the report and increasing international condemnation of its human rights violations, although chances are slim that it will change in the near future.
"We view North Korean human rights from a long-term perspective. Taking cases to the ICC or another international legal body does not happen quickly. It generally takes many years, and we will certainly work towards that," said Lilian Lee, program officer at Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights.
"What's important is that the COI report has opened a window to this possibility."
Kim Heung-kwang, a former professor at Pyongyang Computer Technology University and member of the North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity group, also said that the U.N. report has symbolic meaning in that the international community actually took action regarding the North's human rights abuses.
"I am not sure if Kim Jong-un could face trial at the ICC, but if the U.N. Human Rights Council adopts the COI recommendation, it will have significance," he said.
The report will be officially submitted to the UNHRC on March 17.
They said that continuous efforts from the international community will help change the North's attitude towards human rights.
"When the international community raised its voice against political prison camps, the North Korean regime reduced the number of those interned. In addition, public executions were suspended because the international community was closely watching the situation," said Kim Seong-min, director of Free North Korea Radio operated by North Korean defectors in Seoul.
"If there is constant pressure on the North, they can be intimidated."
Lee said: "We believe that the situation is changing within North Korea. For example, we know from research that the status of women has changed within recent years, and women currently enjoy more freedom than they did before (in terms of movement, market activity, domestic relations, etc). This development came after the DPRK government came under scrutiny at the U.N. regarding women's and children's rights."
She added that the North Korean government will work toward changes domestically, despite outwardly rejecting the COI report.
"More people around the world need to mobilize and tell their governments to make recommendations to North Korea to improve its human rights. North Korea will not listen to one or two or three countries, but if countries that have historically been their allies begin to criticize them, they will have to respond in some way," Lee said.
The COI was established last March as the international community's first attempt to launch an official investigative mission into widely condemned human rights abuses in North Korea. As part of the investigation, the three-member COI team was in Seoul last August and interviewed former North Korean political prisoners who defected to South Korea in week-long hearings in which the defectors testified about brutal torture, sexual abuse and food shortages in the prison camps.
Will the latest United Nations' report on North Korea's human rights force the Stalinist state to take steps to tackle the issues raised?
On Monday, the U.N. Committee of Inquiry (COI) concluded that the North's leadership is committing crimes against humanity on an unprecedented scale. It also included a recommendation that the U.N. should refer the details gathered to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and have those responsible prosecuted, including North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Most analysts said the North can ill-afford to completely ignore the report and increasing international condemnation of its human rights violations, although chances are slim that it will change in the near future.
"We view North Korean human rights from a long-term perspective. Taking cases to the ICC or another international legal body does not happen quickly. It generally takes many years, and we will certainly work towards that," said Lilian Lee, program officer at Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights.
"What's important is that the COI report has opened a window to this possibility."
Kim Heung-kwang, a former professor at Pyongyang Computer Technology University and member of the North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity group, also said that the U.N. report has symbolic meaning in that the international community actually took action regarding the North's human rights abuses.
"I am not sure if Kim Jong-un could face trial at the ICC, but if the U.N. Human Rights Council adopts the COI recommendation, it will have significance," he said.
The report will be officially submitted to the UNHRC on March 17.
They said that continuous efforts from the international community will help change the North's attitude towards human rights.
"When the international community raised its voice against political prison camps, the North Korean regime reduced the number of those interned. In addition, public executions were suspended because the international community was closely watching the situation," said Kim Seong-min, director of Free North Korea Radio operated by North Korean defectors in Seoul.
"If there is constant pressure on the North, they can be intimidated."
Lee said: "We believe that the situation is changing within North Korea. For example, we know from research that the status of women has changed within recent years, and women currently enjoy more freedom than they did before (in terms of movement, market activity, domestic relations, etc). This development came after the DPRK government came under scrutiny at the U.N. regarding women's and children's rights."
She added that the North Korean government will work toward changes domestically, despite outwardly rejecting the COI report.
"More people around the world need to mobilize and tell their governments to make recommendations to North Korea to improve its human rights. North Korea will not listen to one or two or three countries, but if countries that have historically been their allies begin to criticize them, they will have to respond in some way," Lee said.
The COI was established last March as the international community's first attempt to launch an official investigative mission into widely condemned human rights abuses in North Korea. As part of the investigation, the three-member COI team was in Seoul last August and interviewed former North Korean political prisoners who defected to South Korea in week-long hearings in which the defectors testified about brutal torture, sexual abuse and food shortages in the prison camps.
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