On Tuesday (23), the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) adopted a resolution condemning North Korea’s human rights violations for the 19th consecutive year, while stressing the need for North Korea to provide “timely assistance” to vulnerable groups in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The resolution was adopted by consensus by the 47-member Human Rights Council at its 46th session in Geneva.
The latest resolution, led by the European Union and co-sponsored by the United States, Japan and Australia, is consistent with previous years’ resolutions in condemning serious human rights violations in the DPRK and urging accountability for those responsible for such violations.
This year’s resolution stresses the importance of international organizations’ access to the DPRK to deliver necessary humanitarian supplies to help vulnerable populations in the pandemic. At the same Time, the resolution urges the DPRK to open its borders to allow humanitarian aid organizations to deliver much-needed supplies, such as Food, Medicine and agricultural supplies.
The latest resolution also expressed increased concern about the human rights situation in the DPRK, noting that the situation in the DPRK could further deteriorate due to the Communist virus pandemic. The resolution also stresses the urgency of reuniting Family members separated during the 1950-1953 Korean War, and adds expressions of concern about violations of the rights of prisoners of war and their descendants who have not yet been repatriated.
In response to the new resolution, North Korea issued a “stern condemnation,” mimicking the tactics of the Chinese Communist Party. Han Tae Song, North Korea’s permanent representative to the U.N. in Geneva, said he rejects the rights resolution, which “has nothing to do with the real promotion and protection of human rights,” South Korea’s The Herald Business reported Wednesday.
Han Tae Song claimed that the UN human rights resolution “violates the sovereignty of our country” and that the DPRK “strongly condemns” the “dirty political provocation” of the bill.
He also condemned the “hostile” policy of human rights sanctions imposed by the European Union on Monday. The North Korean diplomat said, “It must be borne in mind that the EU ignores our repeated warnings and continues to persist in its futile anti-national human rights agitation, which will lead to unimaginable and disastrous consequences.”
Han Taesong also said that Europe is learning from the United States and that “the EU’s human rights clown show is reminiscent of a copy of a particular country.”
The resolution condemning Pyongyang for human rights violations has been adopted for 19 consecutive years. On Monday, the EU Council just imposed sanctions on individuals and entities from North Korea and the Chinese Communist Party, among others. The blacklist includes the North Korean Minister of State Security and Protection, as well as North Korean People’s Security Province Counsellor Ri Sung Chol.
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