North Korea is in the news again for the same old reason “nuclear tests. The United Nations Security Council was right to pass aresolution; the world is right to be deeply concerned. There is also anotherreason to take action on North Korea: It has possibly the worst human rightsrecord in the world. In the world’s most oppressed nation, there is no freedomof speech or religion; in the world’s most closed nation, no freedom ofinformation; in the world’s darkest nation, little light, politically,spiritually and even physically. If you look at a satellite map of the KoreanPeninsula, the South is lit up brightly; the North, where electricity is almostas scarce as hope, the map is almost completely black.
North Korea is ruled by the only dictatorship that is both adynasty and, in its own mind, a deity. An estimated 200,000 people are in direcondition in North Korea’s prison camps, or kwan-li-so. Extreme torture, sexualviolence, slave labor, starvation and execution are commonplace. Abuses are sowidespread and severe that the former UN special rapporteur on human rights inNorth Korea, Vitit Muntarbhorn, described the country as “sui generis “ in acategory of its own.” He called on the United Nations to take up the case “atthe pinnacle of the system” and urged the international community to “mobilizethe totality of the UN to ... support processes which concretize responsibilityand an end to impunity.” Until very recently, his calls fell on deaf ears.
Momentum is now gathering pace, however, for theestablishment of a commission of inquiry to investigate crimes against humanityin North Korea. For the first time, factors favorable to achieving this havecome together, providing a window of opportunity. But that window is narrow.
The current composition of the UN Human Rights Council meansthat such a proposal, at the approaching session in March, stands a good chanceof being passed. So it is now a matter of leadership and initiative. Agovernment, or a group of governments, most likely from Europe but with strongbacking from Japan, South Korea and the United States, needs to respond to thechallenge and put forward a recommendation.
Late last year, 179 North Korean escapees wrote to foreignministers of many countries, urging them to establish a commission of inquiry.Over 40 human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and HumanRights Watch, have backed the idea. Legislators around the world have spokenout in favor. Most recently, Japan and Australia have joined calls for aninquiry. It is no longer a fringe issue.
Yet what would such an inquiry achieve? It is likely thatNorth Korea would not cooperate, and very unlikely that if an inquiryrecommended a referral to the International Criminal Court, the SecurityCouncil would take that step. Even if it did, the fact that Sudan’s Omaral-Bashir still roams free despite a warrant for his arrest hardly instillsconfidence that action could be taken to hold Kim Jong-un to account.
Nevertheless, these are not arguments for inertia. Even if,as is likely, Pyongyang won’t play ball, there are thousands of escapees fromNorth Korea who would give evidence. Investigators, who would be respectedworld experts acting with the full authority, credibility and resources of theUN, could assemble and assess evidence. Simply attaching the tag “crimesagainst humanity” “ if that was the conclusion “ might put pressure onPyongyang to temper its behavior. A commission of inquiry would makerecommendations for what the UN and the international community should do.
Some may argue that an investigation would threaten anylingering hope of dialogue. I disagree. I have long advocated criticalengagement, rather than isolation, because our objective should be to priseopen the world’s most closed nation, not turn the key in the lock
Just as Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan put concern forSoviet dissidents firmly on the table, the world today needs to look NorthKorea in the eye and challenge Pyongyang over its gulags. Critical engagement,investigation, information, and accountability go hand in hand.
A commission of inquiry would put North Korea’s horrifichuman rights record where it belongs “ at the center of the internationalagenda. It is time to shine a light on one of the darkest corners of the earth.
Benedict Rogers is the East Asia team leader at ChristianSolidarity Worldwide and a co-founder of the International Coalition to StopCrimes Against Humanity in North Korea
