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UN / DPRK HUMAN RIGHTS
STORY: UN / DPRK HUMAN RIGHTS
TRT: 2:30
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 9 DECEMBER 2016, NEW YORK CITY / RECENT
RECENT – NEW YORK CITY
1 Wide shot, exterior UN Headquarters
9 DECEMBER 2016, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. Med shot, South Korean delegation
4. Wide shot, Security Council members
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrew Gilmour, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, United Nations:
“There has been no improvement in the appalling human rights violations in the country. The nature and scale of the violations occurring in the DPRK thoroughly underscore the link between human rights, peace and security.”
6. Wide shot, Security Council
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrew Gilmour, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, United Nations:
“Failure to hold perpetrators of gross human rights violations accountable, some of which amount to crimes against humanity, will be a disappointment for the victims and sows the seeds of further instability and tension. Accountability is vital and we hope the Security Council will remain seized of this matter.”
8. Wide shot, Security Council
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrew Gilmour, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, United Nations:
“The country continues to be affected by chronic food shortages that have resulted in protracted under-nutrition, affecting in particular children, pregnant and nursing women and older persons.”
10. Wide shot, Security Council
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Jan Eliasson, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations:
“History teaches us that serious human rights violations are warning signs of instability and conflict. Abduction of foreign nationals, enforced disappearances and people fleeing desperate situations all demonstrate the links between human rights, humanitarian crisis and international peace and security.”
12. Wide shot, Security Council members
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Jan Eliasson, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Any attempt to achieve lasting peace and stability demands justice and redress for victims inside and outside the DPRK. It is very difficult to obtain up-to-date and comprehensive information about human rights developments in DPRK. The information we have, however, reveals a continuing pattern of serious human rights violations. And we see very few, if any signs of improvement.”
14. Wide shot, South Korean ambassador speaking
15. SOUNDBITE (English) ambassador Cho Tae-yul, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Republic of (South) Korea:
“The DPRK's reckless pursuit of developing nuclear weapons is not only a serious threat to international peace and security, but also a grave human rights problem that threatens the very survival of its people already at risk. This is the reason why the human rights situation in the DPRK stands apart from those in other places of the world and why the Security Council has an important role to play in seeking its resolution.”
16.Wide shot, Security Council chamber
A top United Nations (UN) human rights official told the Security Council there has been no improvement in the “appalling human rights violations” in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), adding “the nature and scale of the violations occurring in the DPRK thoroughly underscore the link between human rights, peace and security.”
Briefing the council today (9 Dec), Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Andrew Gilmour, noted that the General Assembly has again in its resolution this year encouraged the Security Council to take appropriate action to ensure accountability, including through consideration of a referral of the situation in the DPRK to the International Criminal Court.
Gilmour stressed that failure to hold perpetrators of “gross human rights violations accountable some of which amount to crimes against humanity, will be a disappointment for the victims and sows the seeds of further instability and tension. Accountability is vital and we hope the Security Council will remain seized of this matter.”
Regarding economic and social rights, the UN Human Rights official noted North Korea also faced significant challenges in fulfilling this area of the rights of its citizens. He said DPRK continued to be affected by chronic food shortages that have resulted in protracted under-nutrition, affecting in particular children, pregnant and nursing women and older persons.
UN Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson, noted that in 2014, a Commission of Inquiry concluded that crimes against humanity have been committed there – and rightly called for accountability. He said “history teaches us that serious human rights violations are warning signs of instability and conflict. Abduction of foreign nationals, enforced disappearances and people fleeing desperate situations all demonstrate the links between human rights, humanitarian crisis and international peace and security.”
Eliasson said that the patterns of grave violations of human rights in the DPRK have repeatedly been established. The authorities have given no effective commitment to remedy the situation. People inside the DPRK are unable to make their voices heard because of the restrictions and the risks they face if they exercise their rights.
Eliasson also said “any attempt to achieve lasting peace and stability demands justice and redress for victims inside and outside the DPRK. It is very difficult to obtain up-to-date and comprehensive information about human rights developments in DPRK. The information we have, however, reveals a continuing pattern of serious human rights violations. And we see very few, if any signs of improvement.”
South Korean ambassador, Cho Tae-yul, told Council members “the DPRK's reckless pursuit of developing nuclear weapons is not only a serious threat to international peace and security, but also a grave human rights problem that threatens the very survival of its people already at risk. This is the reason why the human rights situation in the DPRK stands apart from those in other places of the world and why the Security Council has an important role to play in seeking its resolution.”
Member States were divided whether the issue of human rights should even be debated in the Security Council.
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