A UN investigator has said there is enough evidence to hold North Korean leader Kim Jong-un accountable for “massive” human rights atrocities committed by the state.
The comments by Marzuki Darusman, special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea, are some of the strongest yet from the UN about Kim’s responsibility for what they say are widespread abuses.
A UN inquiry concluded in a report published in February that North Korean security chiefs and possibly Kim should face international justice for ordering systematic torture, starvation and killings that were comparable to Nazi-era atrocities.
The report “was able to point unequivocally to the responsibility and the culpability (for) these massive human rights violations to a single source of policy decision-making in the country”, Darusman said. “And therefore it’s only now that we are in the position to in fact directly put culpability on the supreme leader for these massive human rights violations.”
A UN resolution drafted by the EU and Japan calls for North Korea’s referral to the international criminal court (ICC) for crimes against humanity. It does not name Kim.
North Korea has dismissed the UN inquiry as part of a US plot aimed at destroying the country’s political system. Its diplomats went on a vigorous campaign in recent months to counter moves to drag North Korea to the ICC but the regime has abruptly halted the charm offensive in response to the draft UN resolution.
“That, perhaps, has somewhat agitated the North Korean delegation,” Darusman said, referring to the focus on Kim.
The draft resolution will likely go to a UN general assembly committee that deals with human rights as early as next week. If it is approved, it will be put to a vote at the general assembly next month.
Only the 15-member security council can refer the situation in North Korea to the ICC, but diplomats say China, North Korea’s main benefactor, would probably veto such a move.
