Christian Human Rights Watchdog Welcomes UN Vote on North Korea

The UN General Assembly has voted to increase censure as it debated human rights issues in North Korea this week.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) has welcomed the decision, stating that "North Korea has systematically refused to respond to past resolutions of the General Assembly and Commission on Human Rights and has failed to co-operate with the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the DPRK (North Korea), not only by denying access, but also by refusing to recognise the mandate. In addition, North Korea has refused to engage in technical co-operation activities with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights."

The Third Committee of the UN body adopted its second resolution condemning the country's record on human rights with a vote of 91 in favour of the resolution, 21 against and 60 abstentions.

The resolution, which expressed more robust criticism than last year's text, not only attracted more votes than the 2005 resolution, but also more sponsors, with the number rising from 45 to 52.

Last year's resolution passed in the Third Committee with 84 votes in favour, 22 against and 62 abstentions. The vote on the resolution in the plenary was 88 in favour, 21 against and 60 abstentions.

Particularly significant in this week's vote was the vote of South Korea in favour of the resolution, marking a dramatic departure from past practice.

South Korea was absent for the first resolution on human rights in North Korea at the Commission on Human Rights in 2003 and subsequently abstained at the next two resolutions before the Commission in 2004 and 2005 and the first resolution before the General Assembly in 2005.

In explaining today's vote, South Korea said it voted for the resolution because there was an even greater need to focus on the human rights situation in the DPRK following its nuclear test.

The appointment of former South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki Moon as Secretary General-designate has been met with calls for him to robustly address the particularly grave human rights concerns in North Korea. The tabled resolution takes a new step in requesting the Secretary General to submit a comprehensive report on the situation in North Korea.

Human rights agencies are anxious to see the United Nations respond at appropriate levels to the gravity of the human rights situation in the country. With prison camp survivors testifying to extreme levels of brutality and dehumanisation in the country's gulag system, estimated to contain around 200,000 prisoners, calls for effective action are pressing.

Among the many additional human rights abuses addressed in the resolution are the use of torture, execution, arbitrary detention, violence against women, including forced abortions, infanticide, severe repression of freedoms of religion, expression, assembly and association and harsh punishments for leaving the country. The issue of North Korea's abduction of foreign nationals continues to attract particular international concern.

Elizabeth Batha, CSW's International Advocate has reported, "CSW very much welcomes the broad international censure of North Korea's human rights abuses. While the eyes of the world have been focussed of late on the threat North Korea's leaders pose to the international community, it is critical that we address the very real and present suffering of those living under their daily control. North Korea must be left in no doubt about the resolve of the international community to see an end to its atrocities against its own people."