Russia, China fail to stop Security Council discussion of N.Korean human rights
Beijing, Russia's objections to UN vote joined by just two other members of the 15-member UNSC
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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday emphasized the need to bring international attention to the human rights situation in North Korea.
A press released quoted him as saying that “the DPRK’s deplorable human rights violations such as those involving extrajudicial killings, disappearances, arbitrary arrest, rape and other forms of sexual violence, forced labor, forced abortions, torture and the detention of an estimated 80,000-120,000 political prisoners in a network of political prison camps” needed to be brought to international attention.
Kerry also called for North Korea to “comply with its international obligations and commitments, including those reflected in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
CNN quoted UN’s senior official Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein’s testimony that China and Russia attempted to block the meeting with procedural vote. Venezuela and Angola joined Beijing and Moscow in opposing the measure, while nine member states of the 15-member Security Council voted in favor.
Chad and Nigeria abstained.
Late last year the UN General Assembly voted to condemn the North’s human rights violations following the release of the UN Commission of Inquiry’s report on the North’s multiple, systematic human rights abuses. The vote also recommended referring the North’s leadership to the International Criminal Court at The Hague in the Netherlands.
But the General Assembly vote, unlike a Security Council vote, is non-binding. Now that that the matter has been brought before the Security Council China and Russia, as permanent UN members, are expected to exercise their right to veto a Security Council vote that would have legal consequences for the North.
Featured Image: New York City, USA – Security Council of the United Nations by plusgood on 2005-01-26 14:34:14
Featured Image: New York City, USA - Security Council of the United Nations by plusgood on 2005-01-26 14:34:14
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