World must act on North Korea rights abuse, says UN report

[alp227]

Source: BBC

The international community must act on evidence of widespread crimes against humanity in North Korea, say the authors of a long-awaited UN report.

A panel of experts mandated by the UN's Human Rights Council said North Koreans had suffered "unspeakable atrocities", and that those responsible, including leader Kim Jong-un, must face justice.

The panel heard evidence of torture, political repression and other crimes.

Pyongyang refused to co-operate with the report and rejects its conclusions.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26220304

[geomon666]

1. Not happening

At least not militarily.

[iandhr]

2. Has North Korea called the report an act or war...

… and threatened to nuke the ROK yet. Or will they do that tomorrow?

[GP6971]

3. But no one will act

China will veto any attempt(s) to do so

[Gerhard28]

13. Good. Let's not. nt

[GP6971]

14. Meaning what? n/t

[Gerhard28]

22. See the title of the preceding post. nt

[riderinthestorm]

4. China will never agree to any action against North Korea.

However horrific this report is...

[on point]

5. Start with Bush, Cheney cabal to demonstrate no one is above law

Otherwise it is just a tool to intimidate those not in favor with the PTB. A fraud

[joshcryer]

10. This is actually a good point.

Jail our war criminals and those responsible for crimes against humanity, we gain a small iota of credibility on this issue.

It is probably more likely than China acting.

[7962]

6. Yep, China or Russsia would veto any action by the UN, so "must act" means nothing

And it will continue to mean nothing. Sad for the people; who dont even know what year it is because of the repression. But other than an invasion, what else?

[pampango]

7. North Korea crimes ‘strikingly similar’ to Nazi era

UN investigators have called for North Korean security chiefs and possibly even Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un to face international justice for ordering systematic torture, starvation and killings.

According to a report by the team of 12 investigators, Pyongyang has used food as “a means of control over the population” and “deliberate starvation” to punish political and ordinary prisoners.

Michael Kirby, chairman of the independent Commission of Inquiry, told Reuters news agency that the crimes catalogued by the team were reminiscent of those committed by Nazis during World War II.

“Some of them are strikingly similar,” he said.

http://www.euronews.com/2014/02/17/north-korea-crimes-strikingly-similar-to-nazi-era/

[Diclotican]

11. pampango

pampango

I think it is worse in the DKPR than it was in Germany under the nazi era - mostly because even the nazi st had not tasked it to the extremes that DKPR do it.. And the Nazis was rather inventive when it came to use methods who have been seen as war crimes, and crimes against humanity after 1945....

And DKPR do have had, or have a policy of using food as a weapon, to control their population - from what they have been given from the outside - or the misdeeds of their own government.. Even as the Nazis was bad - at least they, for the most part was not starwing their population - that be the ones who was "good germans" - political enemies and minorities who was deemed unfit to live - a whole different case..

Diclotican

[marshall]

18. For once the Nazi comparison isn't hyperbole

Something should be done, but unfortunately there is no one who will take the lead to do anything.

[jsr]

8. Ask China

Last edited Wed Feb 19, 2014, 12:02 PM - Edit history (1)

[pampango]

21. China answered: It's "unreasonable criticism" and "not conducive toward improving a country’s human

rights conditions."

China Faults Report Citing North Korean Leader in Atrocities

Chinese officials on Tuesday criticized a United Nations report that served notice to Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, that he may be personally held liable in court for crimes against humanity committed by state institutions and officials under his direct control.

Hua Chunying, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, called the report “unreasonable criticism,” raising questions as to whether Beijing will use its United Nations Security Council veto power to block any action on the matter. “We believe that politicizing human rights issues is not conducive toward improving a country’s human rights,” Ms. Hua said. “We believe that taking human rights issues to the International Criminal Court is not helpful to improving a country’s human rights situation.”

The report to the United Nations human rights panel is viewed by rights activists not only as the most detailed and authoritative body of data on the state of human rights in North Korea, but also as a milestone in the international debate on one of the world’s most reclusive and isolated countries.

There appears to be little immediate prospect of winning approval for International Criminal Court prosecution, however. Approval is necessary from the Security Council’s permanent members, which include North Korea’s long-term ally China, and Beijing’s remarks suggested that it was opposed to strong action, although officials did not address the issue of China’s using its veto power.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/19/world/asia/china-faults-report-citing-north-korean-leader-in-atrocities.html

[joshcryer]

9. Nothing will be done.

And 20 years from now we will ask why.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

19. I won't ask why.

The answer is "what could have been done?"

NK has nukes and the backing of a regional superpower.

Not all problems - even appalling ones - have solutions, sadly.

[joshcryer]

20. Pressure on China, for one.

Our debt to China isn't that big of a deal despite common belief. China can't sell because it would destroy their economy.

You could even tell China that they get to keep North Korea as a kind of Iron Curtain, allow them to build bases there, etc. Of course, the US will never do that, because it would allow China one chess move closer to our assets. edit: by "pressure on China" I didn't mean to imply for a military solution, I meant to get China to pressure NK on rights abuses and to allow in perhaps the UN so that they can get a handle on the situation. If it turns out NK is really doing badly food-wise then USAID and such could be offered.

If you want a military analysis, it's perfectly feasible, but it would cost a lot of lives, 80k dead minimum. It would be the stupid way to go about it. People of the future would rightly say "why did they do that?"

The nukes aren't part of the equation because NK has not established it can launch one, and the two tests were done under very controlled circumstances, and one was thought to be a dud. Delivering a nuke via a vehicle or other ground means is basically impossible.

[davidpdx]

12. While it may be years before people are brought to justice

we need to do all we can from the other side of the fence(so to speak) through helping refugees and continuing to get the word inside North Korea. See the link in my signature line.

http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/02/17/pkg-hancocks-north-korea-human-rights.cnn.html

http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/02/17/globex-un-commission-north-korea-kirby.cnn.html

[GP6971]

15. I haven't researched

this yet....but are there any grounds that the UN should allow membership to such states???? I realize a lot of major countries do this, but not so blatantly......it's more subtle. Just as harsh I'm sure.

[Kablooie]

17. How many states force mothers to drown their newborns?

I just read some accounts of the torture that goes on in prisons there.
One prisoner did drawings.
It sounds like they are torturing thousands of prisoners for just about anything.
You get tortured for collapsing during torture.

[Nanjing to Seoul]

16. Pol Pot died in his sleep at an old age. So did Idi Amin. I hold out little hope for anything to

come out of this.

Even the Burmese military junta leaders escaped justice.

So is Bashir Al-Assad, Isasias Alfewerki, Islam Karimov, that nutjob in Turkmenistan, Alexandr Lushenko of Belarus, Robert Mugabe, Omar Al-Bashar of Sudan. . .even Francisco Franco and Augusto Pinochet avoided justice.

Sadly, the only way NK will ever free itself of Juche is through a firing squad of the Kim family. But they are so poor, hungry, beaten down, brutalized and suppressed, it won't happen. Especially with China continually propping them up.

[Xithras]

23. A new Korean war would be catastrophic.

North Korea can't be conquered militarily without one hell of a fight. They have a million foot soldiers. They have enough artillery within range of Seoul to level that city (population ~10 million) in under an hour. They have ballistic missiles with enough range to strike nearly all U.S. assets in Asia. They have nuclear weapons. They have biological and chemical weapons. And most importantly, they have the will to use them all, and soldiers indoctrinated enough to follow the orders they are given.

There is no question that we would be victorious in the end, but the most OPTIMISTIC estimates put the projected death tolls at 50,000+ "invasion" forces, 250,000+ NK soldiers, and 2 million civilians. And the numbers just get worse from there. A LOT worse. It's a war that would end with a victory, but NOBODY would really "win". The Korean peninsula would be a smoking, radioactive wasteland when it was all over.

If North Korea is going to be set free from it's current dictatorship, it shouldn't happen by military force. There needs to be a better way.

[WestSeattle2]

24. They have no oil, gold or diamonds. No human rights violations to see

there. Move along folks.

If they had anything of value, the Bush family would have purloined it under the guise of "human rights" or "national security" decades ago.