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Outside and Inside the UN Contesting the UN Human Rights COI Report on…

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작성자 최고관리자 작성일14-10-31 22:51 조회5,953회 댓글2건

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Outside and Inside the UN Contesting the UN Human Rights COI Report on North Korea

A small demonstration that took place across the street from the UN on Wednesday, October 22 was a sign of the problem represented by the Commission of Inquiry (COI) report by the UN Human Rights Council on North Korea. The COI report had been issued in March 2014.

The demonstrators carried posters challenging the action by the UN. The posters portrayed the sentiment that the report and UN actions around the report represented an injustice. These posters included statements such as:

Hier klicken!

“Stop Using N Korean Human Right as a Weapon for Another Korean War, “Stop Shameful Hypocrisy Pretending Human Rights Defender”, “Stop Psychological Warfare on the Korean Peninsula “, “Remember S. Korean National Security Law An Extreme Human Rights Violation !!!”, “Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp, Human Rights???”, “Human Rights, Why Only N.Korea???”, ”Mind Your Business in the U.S.A.???”

The reason the issues raised by the demonstration are important is that the UN has not attempted any impartial investigation of the Korean conflict to determine its roots and how to find a resolution.

The signs carried by these demonstrators provide clues to the context in which this Commission of Inquiry operated. If the COI report is intended as a weapon to start another Korean War, as one of the signs proposed, then the actions the Human Rights Council are but a pretext for an aggressive action against a sovereign nation.

Another poster asked if the Human Rights Council considered violations of human rights such as the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp in the US or the National Security Law in South Korea?

These are well documented examples of serious Human Rights abuses, but instead of doing something to condemn such documented abuses, the Human Rights Council is targeting North Korea where there is little actual evidence that could be recognized in a court of law of any such human rights abuses.

Instead the kinds of claims being substituted for evidence are testimony of defectors, and supposed satellite images.

In the Iraq case in 2003, such so called evidence proved inaccurate, yet provided a pretext for the US invasion and regime change activity. Similar false claims were used as a pretext for the NATO war against Libya in 2011.

This protest held outside the UN at noon was in response to an event being held at the UN later in the day. The event, sponsored by the permanent missions of Panama, Botswana, and Australia was to present the testimony of two North Koreans who had defected to South Korea and who were making a plea that member states support an upcoming resolution by the EU and Japan against North Korea.

The DPRK had not been invited to offer its position, but its representatives did attend the event. They were called on only as part of the question period at the end of the event.

During the question period, the DPRK representatives raised the criticism that the COI report did not make any effort to be an all sided report. Instead it only presented the testimony of the defectors, of critics of North Korea.

The content of the testimony presented at the Oct 22 UN meeting included often repeated claims of harsh treatment, but missing were clear statements of what the circumstances were of the situations being described. Nor was there any effort to provide factual evidence supporting the claims.

 

 

The head of the Commission of Inquiry, the Australian Judge Michael Kirby played a major role in this meeting at the UN. In response to a comment from the DPRK representatives that the soliciting of the testimony from the defector witnesses was politically motivated, Judge Kirby responded that his experience as a judge was such that he knew how to conduct such questioning.

His response failed to acknowledge that the role he is playing in the UN process is not the same as in a national court of law, where there are expected to be standards for evidence and due process for the accused.

Also in a national court of law there are in general appeals processes for the accused, as well as the right of the accused to confront those who are making the accusations.

No such rights are accorded to the accused by the process that the Judge is involved in. Instead he is acting as a prosecutor with no rights for the accused to provide a defense.

At the UN meeting, the representatives of both Panama and Botswana spoke about their interest in fulfilling the obligations of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) framework as part of why they are supporting taking action against North Korea. The problem with such statements is that they are ignoring the abuse that occurred by NATO in Libya under the mantle of R2P.

This event at the UN on Wednesday, October 22, was directed at urging support for actions at the UN directed against North Korea. But another event a few days earlier demonstrated the need for a very different approach to the question of the stalemate in efforts to resolve the conflicts that exist between the US/EU and North Korea.

This event which took place on Monday, October 20, was sponsored by the US Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and was chaired by Donald Gregg, a former US Ambassador to South Korea.(1)

The program featured Gregg interviewing Jang Il Hun who is the Deputy Ambassador for the DPRK Mission to the UN, with time provided for questions from those in the audience.

Ambassador Jang is the DPRK representative for the New York channel for contact between the DPRK and the US. The US has no formal diplomatic relations with the DPRK.

The tone of most of the CFR event provided a striking contrast to the UN meeting held a few days later.

Introducing the topic of the program, Ambassador Gregg referred to a program held earlier in the year with Judge Kirby discussing the COI report process. During this earlier program at CFR Ambassador Gregg asked Judge Kirby if he had noticed any improvement in the situation in North Korea.

Judge Kirby responded that he had observed improvement under Kim Jung Un. As Gregg noted, however, this judgment was not reflected in the COI report. (2)

Also the issue of the stalemate in relations between the US and the DPRK was raised. Ambassador Jang was asked what could be done to help to make a breakthrough to end the stalemate.

In general it was agreed that neither accusations regarding human rights problems nor even efforts to revive the long stalled six party talks process would be a helpful direction. Instead a visit by a friendly group organized by the Council of Foreign Relations was proposed and Ambassador Jang responded that if he received a detailed proposal for such a visit, he could make recommendations about it to his capital.(3)

These three situations demonstrate that there are substantive issues to be discussed through a diplomatic process with the DPRK. The program at the CFR in particular demonstrated that if an effort is made to resolve problems with the DPRK, progress is possible.

Meanwhile actions being taken by nations like Japan and the EU in particular who are threatening to bring a resolution against the DPRK, can only deepen the conflicts. And holding meetings inside or outside the UN where defector witnesses are encouraged to urge member nations of the UN to condemn the DPRK are but acts to fan the flames of hostility and conflict.

The demonstration in front of the UN and the CFR meeting, though held outside the UN, reveal that the obligations of the UN Charter are obligations that can be met. And that the process of conflict resolution needs the broad participation of all those who can contribute to its success.

There seem to be two tactics being used in international relations with the DPRK. Either hold punishment meetings or encourage dialogue. The UN Charter supports only the latter efforts.

 

 

Ms. Ronda Hauben is one of the frequent contributors for The 4th Media.

 

http://blogs.taz.de/netizenblog/2014/10/25/outside-and-inside-the-un/

 

Notes

(1) http://www.cfr.org/north-korea/conversation-jang-il-hun/p33642

(2) Gregg: “And I asked him, as I was the commentator, about 50 years, and have you noticed any changes during that period? And he said, yes, there have been improvements under Kim Jong-un, which I wish he’d said that in his report, but he at least said it in response to my — to my question.”

(3) JANG: Yes. If I receive any detailed proposal concerning the proposed visit, then I can make recommendations for my colleagues in the capital

[Source: the 4th Media 2014.10.28]

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U.S. escalates hostility vs. North Korea: False charges on human rights

By Preston Wood
Nov 05, 2014
1


The long-term belligerence of the United States and its imperialist partners in Europe and Japan, acting continuously with hostility against North Korea since the Korean War, has escalated once again.

Using the United Nations as its cover, Secretary of State John Kerry recently called a UN special session devoted to promoting a long trumped-up list of alleged violations of human rights by the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea. Only countries that blindly follow U.S. policy were invited to the recent hearing, even though it took place at the UN.

A draft resolution was circulated by the European Union in late October, undoubtedly at the behest of the United States, encouraging the UN Security Council to refer the North Korean government to what is known as the “International Criminal Court” (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, an imperialist tool of propaganda and repression. The purpose of the resolution is to continue a campaign of lies about the government of North Korea to order to demonize and isolate and punish the DPRK for refusing to surrender its sovereignty and right to self-determination.

The International Criminal Court is in fact not real court at all, but a fake court that has been used as a tool to spread lies. It is a bully court that illegally charges and often detains political prisoners under false charges, in order to cover-up the crimes of those who have resisted imperialist domination.

The Korean War is not over

The Korean War, that began on June 25, 1960, more than half a century ago, has continued until this day. The armistice agreement signed on July 27,
1953, has never been replaced by the peace treaty, and so the war continues, in a very real sense, because the U.S. continues to threaten North Korea, engages in war exercises that simulate the destruction of North Korea, imposes draconian economic sanctions that are designed to destabilize and weaken North Korea, and continues a non-stop campaign of aggression built on outrageous lies and falsehoods, including projects such as the recent report.

Using extreme and inflammatory language full of references to such things as torture, rape, extermination, murder – without a trace of evidence – the report is designed to conjure up frightening images of sensationalized and false scenarios. The author, John D. Kirby, and retired Australian judge,
and, according the U.S. State Department, an “expert” on human rights issues in the DPRK, claims to have collected the testimony of witnesses and victims of abuses who had “escaped” the country.

Coincidentally, at the same time as the report was issued, Kirby was presented an award by the U.S. ambassador the United Nations, Samantha
Power, as if to put a stamp of approval on the report and the U.S. attempt to bring the issue to the UN Security Council.

This effort is similar to an effort earlier in 2014 to refer Syria, a country that also has defied U.S. policies of aggression and attempts at regime change, to the same so-called court. This attempt was thwarted by the veto power of Russia in the UN Security Council.

North Korea responds

Referring to the “hostile forces” behind the anti-DPRK “human rights resolution,” the Permanent Mission of the DPRK responded quickly to the Sept 23 meeting at the UN that was hosted by the United States. A press release issued by the Foreign Ministry stated that “While the DPRK has made earnest and sincere efforts to promote international dialogue in the field of human rights, the hostile policy of the U.S. has been to tarnish the image of the DPRK with the aim of bringing down its social system at any cost.

“By convening the recent meeting, where the lies and slanders of the report were aired, the U.S. is enacting yet another smear campaign against the DPRK, and is turning its face away from the DPRK’s efforts to establish an international dialogue around the issue.” The statement adds that the U.S,
by circulating a prejudiced and groundless document, has once again violated the UN Charter.

U.S. hypocrisy on human rights

The statement goes on to point out the blatant arrogance and hypocrisy of the United States in undertaking this campaign. “The U.S. is disqualified,”
the statement continues, “to refer to the human rights situation of other countries due to the abuses of human rights it commits, including spying on
its own people through wire-tapping and surveillance, killing innocent people with drones, supporting Israeli atrocities in Gaza, racial discrimination inside its borders, the use extreme violence by police, the maltreatment of prisoners, widespread gun-related crimes, violence against women, etc…” All this, in summary, disqualifies the U.S. government from talking about alleged human rights violations in countries where it is seeking instability, and regime change.

U.S. hands off North Korea!

If the U.S. succeeds in bringing this hostile program of referring North Korea to the international court, to the Security Council, as it intends to do within the coming months, the lies and true motivation of the United States to weaken and overthrow the socialist country of North Korea will require solidarity with the DPRK from all those around the world who oppose the U.S. drive for wealth and power, in Asia and everywhere.


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