U.N. General Assembly’s Third Committee Condemns North Korea’s Human Rights Violations

By Christine Khamis

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

 

PYONGYANG, North Korea –

A committee of the United Nations General Assembly condemned on Thursday what it described as rampant and planned human rights violations in North Korea. Pyongyang has rebuked the resolution, saying that it was a hostile plot coordinated by the United States and its allies.

The resolution, which urges North Korea to end all human rights abuses, was drafted by the European Union and Japan and is non-binding. It was adopted by the General Assembly’s Third Committee, whose focus is on human rights and includes 193 nations. The General Assembly has condemned human rights abuses every year since 2005. For the second consecutive year, the resolution encourages the U.N. Security Council to consider sending North Korea to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. The resolution will be voted on in the full General Assembly next month.

112 of the countries in the Third Committee supported the resolution, while 19 voted against the resolution. 50 countries abstained from voting. Among the countries that voted against the resolution were China, Russia, Nicaragua, and Syria. Many of the countries that voted against the resolution said that they object to resolutions singling out specific countries for human rights abuses.

The resolution stated that there have been “ongoing, systematic, widespread, and gross violations of human rights” in North Korea. The resolution accused North Korea of abuses such as torture, rapes, use of prison camps, enslavement, forced abortions, and forced transfers of populations. The Third Committee also stated that Pyongyang has not cooperated with the U.N.’s special rapporteur for North Korea, Marzuki Darusman.

Before the Third Committee’s vote, North Korea’s Deputy Director for U.N. Affairs, Choe Myong-Nam, called for nations to vote against the resolution and said that Pyongyang will “react in the strongest possible terms” to the resolution. North Korea’s U.N. mission emailed reporters a statement rejecting the resolution, saying that the resolution is a product of political confrontation, plot, and conspiracy by the United States and other countries who are hostile toward North Korea and that the resolution is irrelevant to promoting and protecting human rights. The mission stated that North Korea’s government has always maintained a policy of taking responsibility for and promoting human rights of the “popular masses”.

Ri Hung Sik, Ambassador at-large of North Korea’s Foreign Ministry gestures while speaking to reporters at North Korean Mission to the United Nations this week. (Photo courtesy of Reuters UK)

The United Nations General Assembly Committee also approved resolutions concerning human rights violations in Iran, Syria, and Myanmar. The resolutions will now also go on to the full General Assembly.

 

For more information, please see:

Channel NewsAsia – UN Votes to in Record Number to Condemn North Korea Rights Violations – 20 November 2015

CBS News – U.N. Panel Condemns N. Korea for Gross Human Rights Abuses – 19 November 2015

New York Times – Human Rights Committee Condemns North Korea – 19 November 2015

Reuters UK – U.N. Panel Condemns North Korea Abuses, Pyongyang Cites U.S. ‘Plot’ – 19 November 2015

 

 

Colombia/FARC Peace Talks Slowing Down According to Rebels

By Kaitlyn Degnan
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia — FARC rebels have accused the Colombian government of stalling the peace talks. In a statement released on Tuesday, FARC head Timoleon said that FARC was “worried that on the government side there seems to be a deliberate effort to slow down (negotiations), to complicate the progress of the agreement.”

FARC Leader Timoleon Jiminez speaking in Havana, Cuba. (Photo courtesy of TeleSur)

FARC fears that the alleged stalling and the government’s emphasis on maintaining the March 23, 2016 deadline for a final agreement is a tactic to coerce the rebels to make concessions.

Negotiations for peace have been in the works in Havana, Cuba since the end of 2012. In September, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC leadership signed an agreement on transitional justice.

However peace is not simple: there are a number of complexities which both the government and FARC leadership will have to contend. For example, FARC is not the only paramilitary group active in Colombia, and there is a concern among members that if they give up their arms they will be at risk of attack from other groups.

President Santos has said that the government plan was for FARC to set up communities in secured areas, both for their own protection and so they can be ruled out in the case of violence committed elsewhere. FARC has yet to agree to this.

During a visit to the Philippines early this week to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Meeting, President Santos also announced that he would request a UN resolution to bring official monitors into the country to oversee the ceasefire once the final peace agreement is signed. He said that the resolution would be “the best way possible” to ensure the success of the peace process.

The conflict between Colombia and FARC rebels has been ongoing since 1948. If ended, it would signal the end of a civil conflict which has left at least 220,000 people dead.

 

For more information, please see:

Colombia Reports – Santos will ask UN to monitor and verify pending ceasefire with FARC – 16 November 2015

Latino Post – Colombia Government Seeks to Help FARC Rebels Become Law-Abiding Civilians? – 16 November 2015

TeleSur – FARC Calls on Colombian Government to Stop Stalling Peace Talks – 17 November 2015

Latin American Herald Tribune – FARC Chief Accuses Colombian Government of “Slowing Down” Peace Process – 18 November 2015

Manila Times – PH to help Colombia in peace talks – Aquino – 18 November 2015

Syria Deeply: ‘Women Key to Syrian Future’ – Q&A with Raed Fares

Dear Readers,

Welcome to the weekly Syria Deeply newsletter. We’ve rounded up the most important stories and developments about Syria and the Syrians in order to bring you valuable news and analysis.

‘Women Key to Syrian Future’ – Q&A with Raed Fares

“Women have the most critical role in rebuilding Syria and raising the next generation of Syrians,” said Raed Fares, a community leader in Idlib whose plethora of projects aims to strengthen Syrian civil society through a combination of awareness, education and inclusivity.

Inside ISIS Inc: The Journey of a Barrel of Oil

ISIS controls most of Syria’s oil fields, and crude is the militant group’s biggest single source of revenue. Here, we follow the progress of a barrel of oil from extraction to end user to see how the ISIS production system works, who is making money from it and why it is proving so challenging to disrupt.

Islamic State Authorities Ban Syrian Banknotes

ISIS has banned the use of newly pressed 500 and 1,000 Syrian pound notes, and while some residents fear this could be the beginning of a currency switch throughout the jihadist-controlled territory, others told Syria Deeply it’s a ploy by the upper echelon of ISIS to make a quick buck.

More Recent Stories to Look Out for at Syria Deeply:

• Will Paris Attacks Prompt U.S. Boots on Ground?
• Paris Terror Attacks Have Benefited Assad?
• ISIS and the Paris Attacks, ‘An Act of War’

Find our new reporting and analysis every weekday at www.syriadeeply.org.
You can reach our team with any comments or suggestions at info@newsdeeply.org.
Top photo: People lay flowers and candles in front of the restaurant Le Carillon, one of the establishments targeted in Friday’s gun and bomb attacks, in Paris, Monday, November 16, 2015. French police raided more than 150 locations overnight as authorities released the names of two more potential suicide bombers involved in the Paris attacks – one born in Syria, the other a Frenchman wanted as part of a terrorism investigation. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

ICTJ: For Social Change to Take Root, Children Must be Involved in Truth-seeking

Dear friends,
Children and young people are particularly affected by conflict and mass atrocity, whether they are forced to fight or have access to critical social services like education interrupted. As the leaders of tomorrow, children must be included in transitional justice processes wherever countries are looking to break from legacies of violence.

Today, Universal Children’s Day, ICTJ is shining a light on the need to actively engage children in truth-seeking processes.  The International Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted 26 years ago, guarantees children a right to participate and be heard. In our work around the world, we regularly hear children and young people express their desire to have a say in building a brighter future for themselves and their countries by learning about past atrocities.

To mark this important day, I am pleased to share with you a series of reflections and helpful tools drawing upon our Children and Youth unit’s work in Kenya.

I believe you will find of particular interest our video, “Voices of Tomorrow,” featuring Mark and Sharon, two young people who discuss their experiences participating in the proceedings of Kenya’s Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC). Their strength and positive outlook for themselves and their country’s future are truly inspirational.

Transitional justice practitioners will want to take time to watch two instructional videos produced by ICTJ, which provide guidance for the inclusion of children in truth commissions. Based on interviews with former Kenya TJRC commissioners, child protection agencies, and international experts, the videos present key insights from their practical experience. They will be valuable tools for countries and communities seeking to establish truth-seeking processes.

Educators will be interested in Learning From Our Past. Developed in collaboration with the TJRC, Facing History and Ourselves, and Shikaya, this illustrated booklet based on the TJRC final report is designed to guide discussions about the past among students and spark their conversations about strengthening justice, and building democracy and social cohesion in Kenya. Booklets like this can help ensure that children remain engaged in the transitional justice process well beyond the act of testifying before a truth commission.

Finally, I would also like to share with you an ambitious research project that ICTJ has embarked on with UNICEF. After two and a half years of work, this week we published a report on the links between transitional justice, education, and peacebuilding. Education can play a vital role in disrupting intergenerational cycles of violence, and understanding the interactions between the education sector and transitional justice processes is crucial to ensuring communities successfully address legacies of mass violence.

A book compiling this important research will be published in spring 2016, and in the intervening months we will be publishing a series of papers and analysis pieces examining different countries and themes. In the meantime, I encourage you to listen to this podcast exploring some of our researchers’ findings.

We want to hear from the youth. We want to engage with young people working towards a better tomorrow. Please share your thoughts with us on Twitter (using hashtag #ChildrensDay), Facebook, or by email to communications@ictj.org.


Thank you,

David Tolbert, President
International Center for Transitional Justice