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OHCHR / TURK DPRK
STORY: OHCHR / TURK DPRK
TRT: 03:29
SOURCE: OHCHR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 17 AUGUST 2023, NEW YORK CITY / RECENT
RECENT – NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters
17 AUGUST 2023, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Rarely has the DPRK been more painfully closed to the outside world than it is today. This is a result of Government policies that were initially linked to containing the COVID-19 pandemic, but which have grown even more extensive as the pandemic has waned. Information collected by my Office – including through interviews, and from public information issued by the Government itself – indicates increasing repression of the rights to freedoms of expression, privacy and movement; the persistence of widespread forced labour practices; and a worsening situation for economic and social rights, due to the closure of markets and other forms of income generation.”
4. Wide shot, Security Council
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Following the closure of the country’s borders in response to the pandemic, border guards were explicitly ordered to use lethal force against people approaching the border without prior notice. Since the border shutdown, only a handful of people have managed to leave the DPRK.”
6. Med shot, delegates
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“International humanitarian actors, including the United Nations Country Team, remain barred from the country, along with almost all other foreign nationals.”
8. Wide shot, Security Council
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“It is estimated that thousands of North Koreans are currently at risk of being repatriated involuntarily to their home country, where they may be subjected to torture, arbitrary detention or other serious human rights violations. The precarious human rights situation that I have just described means that they have an undeniable, compelling need for international protection. I therefore urge all States to refrain from forcibly repatriating North Koreans, and to provide them with the required protections and humanitarian support. The persistence of severe, widespread and long-standing human rights violations in the DPRK cannot be seen in isolation from peace and security issues on the peninsula and within the wider region.”
10. Med shot, delegates
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“The UN Charter makes it clear that human rights violations of this order are a matter of international concern. Sustainable peace can only be built by advancing human rights, and its corollaries: reconciliation, inclusion and justice.”
12. Med shot, delegates
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“The return of the United Nations Country Team to Pyongyang, and conclusion of a new partnership framework, would be crucial to advancing coordinated work to address the suffering of the people of the DPRK. In the spirit of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I urge the authorities to engage in meaningful dialogue, and to reset much-needed freedoms as a foundation for enduring peace.”
14. Wide shot, Security Council
Briefing the Security Council on the human rights situation in the DPRK, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said that information collected by his Office "indicates increasing repression of the rights to freedoms of expression, privacy and movement; the persistence of widespread forced labour practices; and a worsening situation for economic and social rights, due to the closure of markets and other forms of income generation.
Speaking at the Security Council briefing today (17 Aug) in New York, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said, “rarely has the DPRK been more painfully closed to the outside world than it is today. This is a result of Government policies that were initially linked to containing the COVID-19 pandemic, but which have grown even more extensive as the pandemic has waned.”
According to him, “following the closure of the country’s borders in response to the pandemic, border guards were explicitly ordered to use lethal force against people approaching the border without prior notice. Since the border shutdown, only a handful of people have managed to leave the DPRK.”
The High Commissioner noted, “international humanitarian actors, including the United Nations Country Team, remain barred from the country, along with almost all other foreign nationals.”
Türk said, “it is estimated that thousands of North Koreans are currently at risk of being repatriated involuntarily to their home country, where they may be subjected to torture, arbitrary detention or other serious human rights violations.”
He continued, “the precarious human rights situation that I have just described means that they have an undeniable, compelling need for international protection. I therefore urge all States to refrain from forcibly repatriating North Koreans, and to provide them with the required protections and humanitarian support.”
Türk explained, “the persistence of severe, widespread and long-standing human rights violations in the DPRK cannot be seen in isolation from peace and security issues on the peninsula and within the wider region.”
He reiterated, “the UN Charter makes it clear that human rights violations of this order are a matter of international concern. Sustainable peace can only be built by advancing human rights, and its corollaries: reconciliation, inclusion and justice.”
The High Commissioner noted, “the UN Charter makes it clear that human rights violations of this order are a matter of international concern. Sustainable peace can only be built by advancing human rights, and its corollaries: reconciliation, inclusion and justice.”
He stressed, “the return of the United Nations Country Team to Pyongyang, and conclusion of a new partnership framework, would be crucial to advancing coordinated work to address the suffering of the people of the DPRK.”
“In the spirit of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I urge the authorities to engage in meaningful dialogue, and to reset much-needed freedoms as a foundation for enduring peace,” concluded Türk.
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