Press Conference by Special Rapporteur on Human Rights

 

in Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

 

The international community must use a range of approaches to ameliorate the dismal human rights situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Vitit Muntarbhorn, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in that country, told correspondents at Headquarters this afternoon.

“We must have varied entry points in terms of leveraging […] you can’t just have one channel because it might be blocked,” said Mr. Muntarbhorn, who this morning had presented his latest annual report (A/64/224) to the General Assembly’s Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural).  “It was high time that the total United Nations system should look at this,” he added. (See Press Release GA/SHC/3957.)

Not having been allowed into the country in the five years he had served as an unpaid, independent expert on the issue, he said he looked forward in particular to the country’s report as part of the Universal Periodic Review at the Human Rights Council this December. 

He had no particular expectations for those procedures, but it would provide another angle on international engagement, the sum of which could produce results for a people he said were deprived of essential freedoms -- from the right to feed themselves to the right to be rid of fear to the right of free expression.

“You need special rapporteurs, you need the Universal Periodic Preview, you need treaty bodies,” Mr. Muntarbhorn said, noting that Democratic People’s Republic of Korea had acceded to four human rights treaties and was liable to its obligations under them.  He also pointed out that the country had appeared before the Committee on the Rights of the Child this year because of the provisions of the related convention.  He added that country presence was important and for that reason he welcomed the work of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in the country.

In addition to those approaches, he urged stronger engagement of the Security Council on rights issues in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea:  “I need the Security Council -- please”, he said.  He suggested first informal discussions on the sidelines of the body, progressively moving to informal dialogue within the Arria Formula, and finally more formal, explicit handling of the matter in the Council chamber.

He said that among the positive developments in the country in the past year, constitutional emendation had led to the inclusion of the notion human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s constitution, although undermining those notions was the explicit “military first” policy, which he suggested must be changed to a “people first” policy.

It was estimated, however, that a third of the population was going hungry, with the World Food Programme (WFP) only able to cover around 1.4 million out of the 6 million that needed food aid.  He urged support for such aid, bearing in mind, however, the principle of “no access no food”, that was, monitoring of food delivery must be allowed.  He noted that, unfortunately, monitoring access of WFP had declined from over 100 counties last year to around 60 counties this year. 

In addition, he said, food aid alone was never adequate; it had to be accompanied by food security.  The Government regularly ordered people out for a 150 day “food battle”, or intensive agricultural labour, but those involved were not guaranteed to share in the produce. 

He pointed out that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was not poor, in addition, having exported several billions of dollars worth of anthracite and other products.  The people were entitled to their fair share of those resources.

Some people, especially women, had recently tried to feed themselves through engaging in commerce, Mr. Muntarbhorn continued, but they had experienced regulatory clamp-downs, with young women barred from trade and all women traders barred from using bicycles and wearing skirts.  Such regulations had even sparked local demonstrations by women, which he found quite incredible.  People’s right to be involved in economic activities was crucial, particularly if the Government was not able to take care of them, he commented.

Public executions, torture and fear were still rife, with many punishments applicable by local administrations without trial.  The abduction issue had also not been resolved.  Clamp-downs on outflows had actually increased, with not a single person managing to get into Mongolia recently, for example, because of stringent conditions en route.  He urged all countries to take a humane approach to those who did manage to get out, appealing for aid to transit countries as well.

Asked to react to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s rejection of his assertions at the Third Committee this morning, Mr. Muntarbhorn said that delegation’s reaction was very familiar to him, and he recognized that those representatives had to react that way for home consumption.  He noted that no other countries spoke in favour of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s position.  “Any rhetoric was available to anyone, everywhere,” he said. 

What was important, he stressed, was that the door was open at all levels for the country to work with the international community on rights issues, even within the nuclear dialogue, although the issues were officially kept separate.

Harder approaches to the country could possibly work but it was hard to tell if sanctions were working in the security realm.  Sanctions could have a moral message, he asserted, saying that it was possible that sanctions had had an effect on loosening up the regime.  He recommended a graduated approach:  “not carrot, not stick, but everything and more -- turnips”.

Asked if the estimate of 154,000 political prisoners was accurate, he said that was an estimate he heard, but there was no way to confirm a number.  Many people wind up in camps, many were even born there, he remarked. 

Asked what he thought of the return of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to the country, he said there was general agreement that food aid must be provided, although development aid was questioned unless it was directly related to food security.

Finally, he confirmed that there was still de facto stratification of society, including an elite that had a comfortable lifestyle, a generally lower and middle class in various levels of deprivation, and a group that was the worst off, being targeted for punishment. 

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For information media • not an official record