Posted: 03/27/2013 at 9:20am | IP Logged

SURREY, ENGLAND (ANS) -- The United Nations Human Rights Council has adopted a resolution establishing a Commission of Inquiry "to investigate the systematic, widespread and grave violations of human rights" in North Korea."

In a news release, human rights organization Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), said the organization welcomed the "long-awaited, groundbreaking" resolution.

CSW said the resolution will focus international attention on the crimes perpetrated on the North Korean people by one of the world's most brutal regimes.

CSW said it first recommended an international inquiry in 2007 in its report "North Korea: A Case to Answer, A Call to Act."

In 2011 CSW helped establish the International Coalition to Stop Crimes against Humanity in North Korea (ICNK), drawing together over 40 human rights organizations around the world to campaign for an investigation into North Korea's human rights record.

This call was echoed earlier this year by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay.

CSW said the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in North Korea, Marzuki Darusman, described the North Korean government's human rights abuses as "egregious. He recommended the establishment of "a more detailed mechanism of inquiry" in his most recent report.

CSW said the Commission of Inquiry will investigate human rights violations. Those violations include "the violation of the right to food, the violations associated with prison camps, torture and inhuman treatment, arbitrary detention, discrimination, violations of freedom of expression, violations of the right to life, violations of freedom of movement, and enforced disappearances, including in the form of abductions of nationals of other states, with a view to ensuring full accountability, in particular where these violations may amount to crimes against humanity."

The resolution also extends the mandate of the Special Rapporteur for another year.

CSW's Advocacy Director Andrew Johnston said in a news release, "CSW warmly welcomes this resolution, which is the result of years of advocacy and campaigning by CSW, along with other human rights organizations and North Korean defectors."

He added, "We hope that the Commission of Inquiry will expose the extent of the North Korean government's human rights violations and provide the first steps towards justice for the North Korean people, who have suffered terribly under one of the world's most brutal, and most closed, regimes."

Christian Solidarity Worldwide works for religious freedom through advocacy and human rights, in the pursuit of justice.

For further information, visit www.csw.org.uk.

Source: Assist News Service