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OHCHR / DPRK HUMAN RIGHTS
STORY: OHCHR / DPRK HUMAN RIGHTS
TRT: 03:59
SOURCE: OHCHR
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT OHCHR ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / KOREAN / NATS
DATELINE: 28 MARCH 2023 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, exterior, Palais Wilson
2. SOUNDBITE (English)Volker Türk, High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“The anguish, sorrow, and reprisals that families – across multiple generations – have had to endure are heartbreaking.”
3. Wide shot, exterior, Palais Wilson
4. SOUNDBITE (English)Volker Türk, High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“The testimonies from this report demonstrate that entire generations of families have lived with the grief of not knowing the fate of spouses, parents, children, and siblings.”
5. Wide shot, exterior, Palais Wilson
6. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Kim Nam Joo, son of Korean War abductee Kim Jung Ki:
“Only when I learn what kind of life my father led after his abduction will I feel any better.”
7. Wide shot, exterior, Palais Wilson
8. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Kim Nam Joo, son of Korean War abductee Kim Jung Ki:
“So that’s my utmost priority.”
9. Wide shot, exterior, Palais Wilson
10. SOUNDBITE (English)Volker Türk, High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“These deeply tragic stories of lives ripped apart by State-sponsored abductions and enforced disappearances demand urgent action.”
11. Wide shot, exterior, Palais Wilson
12. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Kim Jae Jo, son of Korean War abductee Kim Ki Jung:
“To this day, when I think of my father, I cannot go to sleep.”
13. Wide shot, exterior, Palais Wilson
14. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Kim Jae Jo, son of Korean War abductee Kim Ki Jung:
“The priority would be the confirmation of his fate. The confirmation of his fate is the most important, don’t you think? I want his fate to be confirmed. If he has passed away, I’d like his remains to be returned.”
15. Wide shot, exterior, Palais Wilson
16. SOUNDBITE (English)Volker Türk, High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
"Enforced disappearance is a profound violation of many rights at once, and responsibility lies with the State. I call on the DPRK to acknowledge these violations and take steps to resolve the cases, and on all States to support victims of enforced disappearance in their quest for justice. Now is the time for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to move away from isolation and work with the UN to find solutions to human rights issues - including the long-standing issue of enforced disappearance and abduction - and fulfill its obligations under international human rights law.”
17. Wide shot, exterior, Palais Wilson
18. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Lee Hanbyeol, younger sister of forcibly disappeared Lee Se-Il, who was reportedly sent to a political prison camp:
“Being a closed country where human rights are not guaranteed, North Korea, instead of confirming the fates of disappeared family members, chooses to conceal them.”
19. Wide shot, exterior, Palais Wilson
20. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Kwak Jeong Ae, mother of forcibly disappeared Lee Se-Il, who was reportedly sent to a political prison camp:
“I want the North Korean authorities to cooperate on confirming the fate of my son, to return my son to his beloved family members, and to make an official apology. Se-Il, my beloved son, whom I miss even in my dreams. My precious son. It’s already been 15 years since we parted.”
21. Wide shot, exterior, Palais Wilson
22. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Song Bong Sim, wife of post-war abductee:
“I would like to see you once more before I die. I want to at least see your face before I die, whenever that may be. But I guess that won’t be possible.”
23. Wide shot, exterior, Palais Wilson
24. SOUNDBITE (English)Volker Türk, High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Victims have the right to truth and to justice, reparations, and guarantees of non-recurrence. Even in decades-old cases, we should leave no stone unturned in seeking accountability, transparency, and redress.”
25. Wide shot, exterior, Palais Wilson
A report published today (28 Mar) by the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) vividly details the ongoing suffering of victims of enforced disappearance and abduction by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
The report, entitled “These wounds do not heal,” calls for renewed efforts for truth, justice, reparations, and guarantees of non-recurrence.
“The anguish, sorrow, and reprisals that families – across multiple generations – have had to endure are heart-breaking,” said UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk.
“The testimonies from this report demonstrate that entire generations of families have lived with the grief of not knowing the fate of spouses, parents, children, and siblings.”
The report is based on interviews with 38 male and 42 female victims of abduction and enforced disappearance, including relatives of forcibly disappeared people.
The testimonies lay bare the severe and sustained psychological harm and emotional suffering, as well as the economic impact, such violations have had on their lives.
The effect was particularly severe where a family’s main income earner was targeted, leaving remaining family members at acute risk of poverty and discrimination.
Kim Nam Joo, the son of Korean War abductee Kim Jung Ki, spoke of his continuing heartache at not knowing what happened to his father: “Only when I learn what kind of life my father led after his abduction will I feel any better. So that’s my utmost priority.”
“These deeply tragic stories of lives ripped apart by State-sponsored abductions and enforced disappearances demand urgent action,” said Türk.
The report details enforced disappearances and abductions dating back to 1950, including arbitrary detentions in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, in some cases following forcible repatriations from neighbouring countries; abductions of nationals of the Republic of Korea during and after the Korean War; non-repatriation of prisoners of war from the Korean War; and abductions or enforced disappearances of nationals from Japan and other States.
Kim Jae Jo, son of Korean War abductee Kim Ki Jung, recounted how thinking of his father keeps him awake.
“To this day, when I think of my father, I cannot go to sleep,” he said.
Knowing what happened to his father is essential.
“The priority would be the confirmation of his fate. The confirmation of his fate is the most important, don’t you think? I want his fate to be confirmed. If he has passed away, I’d like his remains to be returned,” he said.
Many victims of enforced disappearance within the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea were sent, often for life, to political prison camps known as kwanliso or other detention sites where they were subjected to incommunicado detention and torture.
Some were reportedly summarily executed with no information provided to their relatives, the report said.
"Enforced disappearance is a profound violation of many rights at once, and responsibility lies with the State. I call on the DPRK to acknowledge these violations and take steps to resolve the cases, and on all States to support victims of enforced disappearance in their quest for justice,” Türk said.
The High Commissioner expressed his determination to engage with the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to resolve well-documented human rights issues.
“Now is the time for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to move away from isolation and work with the UN to find solutions to human rights issues - including the long-standing issue of enforced disappearance and abduction - and fulfill its obligations under international human rights law,” he said.
The UN Human Rights Office consulted victims on what justice and accountability for enforced disappearance would mean for them.
Among their key demands was their desire to know the truth about what had happened to their loved ones.
Lee Hanbyeol, younger sister of forcibly disappeared Lee Se-Il, who was reportedly sent to a political prison camp, said this demand was far from being met.
“Being a closed country where human rights are not guaranteed, North Korea, instead of confirming the fates of disappeared family members, chooses to conceal them,” she said.
In 2014, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea concluded that the systematic and widespread nature of the abductions and enforced disappearances constituted crimes against humanity.
Kwak Jeong Ae, mother of forcibly disappeared Lee Se-Il, who was reportedly sent to a political prison camp said: “I want the North Korean authorities to cooperate on confirming the fate of my son, to return my son to his beloved family members, and to make an official apology. Se-Il, my beloved son, whom I miss even in my dreams. My precious son. It’s already been 15 years since we parted.”
Song Bong Sim, wife of post-war abductee “I would like to see you once more before I die. I want to at least see your face before I die, whenever that may be. But I guess that won’t be possible.
The report calls on the international community to continue to support efforts to investigate international crimes committed in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
It says those responsible should be brought to justice in domestic or international courts that meet international standards for a fair trial, including based on accepted principles of universal or extraterritorial jurisdiction.
It also calls on the relevant States to support efforts to ensure effective access to justice for the victims and to introduce comprehensive reparation programmes designed in consultation with victims to meet their needs, including compensation, memorialization, restoration of dignity, and provision of adequate medical, and psychosocial support.
“Victims have the right to truth and to justice, reparations, and guarantees of non-recurrence. Even in decades-old cases, we should leave no stone unturned in seeking accountability, transparency, and redress,” Türk stressed.
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