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| A TV screen shows an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, Monday. A human rights activist has called on the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for Kim over the regime's systemic human rights violations and crimes against humanity. AP-Yonhap |
Advocates call for action marking 10th anniversary of landmark UN report on North Korea's human rights abuses
By Jung Min-ho
Jung Gwang-il, a longtime human rights activist from North Korea, was surprised to hear the news on March 17 that the International Criminal Court (ICC) approved an arrest warrant for Russia's President Vladimir Putin for allegedly deporting Ukrainian children against their will following Moscow's invasion last year.
As a North Korean escapee who has been trying to raise awareness of the horrendous rights violations under the North's regime over the last 20 years, Jung was astonished by the court's swift action against Putin ― the action it has not taken against North Korean rulers in spite of overwhelming evidence collected for decades.
"I thought it was extremely difficult (to have the court issue the arrest warrant) … I still have no idea why the court hasn't issued an arrest warrant for Kim Jong-un until now," Jung said during a forum on North Korea's human rights situation at Yonsei University in Seoul, Monday.
After being subject to horrific torture in a North Korean political prison camp, Jung has tried to bring the North Korean leader and his predecessor, Kim Jong-il, to justice at the court at the Hague, the Netherlands. Yet jurisdiction and other issues have frustrated all such attempts.
Nawi Ukabiala, a New York-based lawyer who was taking part in the forum via the internet, said the difference over where the alleged crimes were committed ― in the territory of Ukraine, in the case of Putin ― was probably the reason for the differing stances by the ICC.
But that does not mean the governments and activists around the world should rule out the possibility of the ICC's action on North Korea.
"We have to keep up the pressure because we don't know when the geopolitical situation will change to make the prosecution viable," he said.
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| Nawi Ukabiala, a New York-based lawyer, speaks during his online presentation for a North Korean human rights forum held at Yonsei University in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap |
Given that Russia ― just like North Korea ― does not recognize the ICC, its warrant is unlikely to result in the arrest of Putin. But it carries a symbolic significance and would limit his travel to the countries that recognize the court's authority, which could be a frightening message to Putin ― and to Kim.
The ICC's decision has been welcomed by rights activists. Human Rights Watch, a New York-based organization, called it a wake-up call to other dictators who are "committing abuses or covering them up that their day in court may be coming."
At the forum, which was held to mark the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on human rights in North Korea, participants expressed regret over little progress made since. North Korea continues to run political prison camps among other unlawful detention facilities while committing terrible crimes, including forced abortions and infanticide. On a positive note, evidence of such crimes is abundant for possible prosecution if it ever happens. Former ICC President Song Sang-hyun, a keynote speaker at the event, said the day will come.
"We must not be discouraged because there are limitations to our efforts in raising the issue of accountability in the DPRK (North Korea). These limitations include the inability to have a UNSC referral to the ICC because of the veto power of permanent members, as the DPRK is not a member state to the ICC and Rome Statute," Song said.
"There is one truth and that is that every regime has a lifespan, even the Kim regime in the DPRK, and all lifespans must eventually come to end. However, we cannot sit idly and watch human rights abuses being perpetrated while we wait for the end of the Kim regime's lifespan. We need to mobilize and rekindle the urgent fight for human rights in the DPRK."
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