In Geneva, North Korea Answers Atrocity Accusations with Bluster, Denials, and a Concession
For the most part, it’s what you’d have expected: Lies, all lies! A U.S. plot (with the EU) to overthrow us! The POW issue is resolved. There are no more Japanese abductees in North Korea, and there is no need for a U.N. Special Envoy to visit.
Some of the denials almost must be seen to be believed. On the starvation of the North Korean people, particularly those in the lower political castes:
According to The Independent, North Korean ambassador Ri Tcheul denied the existence of any other human rights problems, calling accusations in the hearing “unpleasant,” and claiming that “the issue of serious malnutrition is a thing of the past.” Ambassador Ri elaborated, stating that although economic difficulties in the 1990s had led to food security problems, the situation had improved in the past decade or so and was no longer an issue. [Daily NK]
On the camps, there was more denial:
North Korea, ruled by leader Kim Jong Il, has one of the world’s worst human rights records but often dismisses criticism as part of a U.S.-led attempt to overthrow the regime. It has been particularly adamant on the issue of prison camps, which hold as many as 200,000 inmates, according to the U.S. State Department. One Pyongyang delegate, whose name wasn’t immediately given, said political prisoners do not exist in North Korea. [AP]
On public executions, there was a rare, but limited concession:
British daily The Independent reported on the 8th that the North Korean delegation claimed public executions take place for “very brutal and violent crimes,” claiming they are used only “in very exceptional cases,” at the demand of a victim’s relatives. [Daily NK]
This, of course, is completely at odds with what defectors are telling NGO’s. Here is just the latest example:
Open Radio for North Korea, a broadcaster and website that collects information from informants there, said two money-changers were executed on Friday in Pyongsong near Pyongyang for illegally exchanging currency. [AFP]
There is some remote chance, of course, that the official North Korean delegation has very little actual knowledge of what life is like in Pyongsong, Onsong, or Chongjin. It’s quite possible that they believe all of these reports to be exaggerations, or at least did.
U.S. Special Envoy Robert King attended and spoke:
“The lack of remedies or transparent accountability in dealing with allegations of abuse makes it difficult for foreign governments to accurately assess the human rights situation,” U.S. ambassador Robert King told the Geneva-based body. The 47-member Human Rights Council is reviewing North Korea this week for the first time as part of its universal periodic review process, which was launched in 2006 to assess human rights conditions in every U.N. member state. [Reuters]
He also made this rather odd suggestion:
In his prepared remarks, King said Washington was “deeply concerned” about reports of extrajudicial executions, torture and other violations in North Korea’s prisons and labor camps, including abuses against women and children.
He urged Pyongyang to create an independent human rights institution with the assistance of U.N. experts, and said outside investigators should also be allowed to assess North Korea’s detention facilities and other sites of reported abuse. [Reuters]
He actually expects anyone to take seriously the idea of North Korea creating an independent institution? Is he joking? It’s such a manifestly bad idea that the North Koreans might actually take him up on it.
Aside from the press coverage this circus generates, look for all of this to come to absolutely nothing as long as the worthless Ban Ki Moon runs the United Nations.