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8130th Security Council Meeting: Situation in Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Amid the security challenges arising from the ballistic missile and nuclear testing activities of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, it was critical to address the dire human rights and humanitarian situation in that country as well, senior United Nations officials told the Security Council today.
“The international community has a collective responsibility to protect the population of the DPRK if the State does not protect its own citizens,” Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary‑General for Political Affairs, said in his briefing. It must also consider the wider implications of the reported grave human rights violations for the wider region’s stability.
Speaking after a procedural vote on whether or not the Council would hear the briefings, he called for a sustained focus on the humanitarian situation — including better monitoring, effective use of sanctions exemptions for humanitarian assistance and stepped up humanitarian aid — while security issues were addressed. “Let us use all the tools at our disposal — the Human Rights Council, the General Assembly, the Security Council and other international entities — to take action to build a better future for the people of the DPRK,” he said.
Also briefing the Council was Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, who said escapees had reported widespread violations of human rights — including torture and deprivation of freedom of information and expression — in almost every aspect of people’s lives. They were combined with increased surveillance and abject conditions endured by detainees in labour camps. Military tensions in recent months had led to more severe controls over freedom of movement as well as civil and political rights, he said.
Repatriated escapees — often repatriated from China as economic migrants, although many were actually trafficking victims — were routinely subjected to multiple forms of torture, he said. The people also endured severe violations of their economic, social and cultural rights, in addition to chronic food insecurity, due in part to the diversion of resources to military objectives. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) would act on the recommendations of the Human Rights Council’s Group of Independent Experts, he said, noting that the latter proposed monitoring the country more comprehensively in anticipation of the creation of an accountability mechanism.
Speaking earlier, the representatives of China, Russian Federation and Bolivia objected to the meeting, emphasizing that human rights did not fall within the Security Council’s remit — maintenance of international peace and security. China’s delegate emphasized that human rights issues should not be politicized, describing the situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea as complex, sensitive and grave. The concerned parties should consider the proposed “suspension‑for‑suspension” initiative and work towards restarting negotiations.
The Russian Federation’s representative warned against diluting the Council’s work with issues unrelated to its core mandate, and against politicization and double standards, all of which could erode its credibility. The priority must be the peaceful settlement of the dispute, he said, stressing that today’s meeting must not be used as a pretext for greater foreign intervention on the Korean Peninsula.
However, the representative of the United States stressed that there was no separation between peace and human rights. “Any country that does not take care of its people ends up in conflict,” she said, adding that such a country could easily abuse others. While the concerns of some Council members were understandable, staying true to the concept of prevention meant being able to call countries out for their human rights abuses.
Japan’s representative said nationals of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea were frequently exploited while working abroad to generate foreign currency that Pyongyang then used to support its prohibited nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. That was another stark example of the close links between human rights abuses and the pursuit of proliferation, he noted. Japan called for urgent attention to the abduction of foreign nationals, including Japanese, he said, noting that their families had been torn apart.
The Republic of Korea’s representative said the soldier shot by his own compatriots during his dramatic escape from the North highlighted the dire situation that had compelled more than 30,000 defectors to risk their lives and settle in his country over several decades. He called on Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes and to abide by international norms, while investing more of its resources in the welfare of its people.
Following the procedural vote — adopted by 10 votes in favour to 3 against (Bolivia, China, Russian Federation), with 2 abstentions (Egypt, Ethiopia) — several representatives condemned Pyongyang’s unparalleled repression of its own citizens, on the back of which it had built its pursuit of nuclear weapons and testing of ballistic missiles. Security and human rights issues were therefore inextricably related, they maintained, while detailing reported atrocities and emphasizing the need to focus on persons abducted, disappeared, forced into labour or repatriated against their will. They insisted that the Council remain seized of the situation in all its dimensions, including access by human rights and humanitarian organizations, and the need to end impunity.
Also speaking today were representatives of Egypt, Uruguay, Ethiopia, France, Sweden, Senegal, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Italy and Kazakhstan.
The meeting began at 9:30 a.m. and ended at 11:37 a.m.
