Vitit Muntarbhorn (UN Special Rapporteur) on North Korea
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL CONSIDERS SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Concludes General Debate on the Promotion and Protection of All Human Rights
16 March 2009
The Human Rights Council this afternoon heard the presentation of the report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, after which it held an interactive dialogue on the report.
The Council also concluded its general debate on the promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, hearing from a series of non-governmental organizations which raised various issues, including violations of these rights in specific countries; the need for inter-religious dialogue; trafficking in human beings; the impact of the fight against terrorism on human rights; the rights of minorities and religious minorities; the effect of climate change on human rights; and the need to protect human rights defenders, among others.
Vitit Muntarbhorn, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, said the country was under a one-party rule. At the pinnacle was an oppressive regime bent on personal survival, under which the ordinary people underwent intolerable and interminable sufferings. With regard to food and basic necessities, food grants based on rations provided by the State were practised from the early days of the regime as a means of State control over its inhabitants. The system had failed drastically in the 1990s with a critical food shortage leading to rampant malnutrition and other tragedies. Although prohibited by law, torture was extensively practised and abhorrent prison conditions resulted in a myriad of abuses and deprivations, ensuring that many prisons were a death trap for the inmates. The country should, inter alia, immediately ensure effective provision of and access to food and other basic necessities for those in need of assistance and cooperate constructively with United Nations agencies and other humanitarian actors on that issue.
source:
http://www.unog.ch/80256EDD006B9C2E/(httpNewsByYear_en)/B8D1FA23EB8613E4C125757B005DA2DB?OpenDocument
