UN mission probes human rights in NKorea; issue of abductions discussed
(28 Aug 2013) The first UN panel of experts investigating human rights violations in North Korea, met with Japanese officials in Tokyo on Wednesday, to discuss Pyongyang's past abductions of Japanese citizens. Japan and North Korea are at odds over North's nuclear programme and its kidnapping of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s. North Korea has admitted abducting 13 Japanese nationals and using them to train spies. It pledged in the 2008 talks to reinvestigate the abductions, but has not yet done so. Michael Kirby, a former justice of the High Court of Australia and chairman of the UN commission said that the international community should seek a "fresh and imaginative" way of engagement with Pyongyang. "If you have no engagement (with North Korea), that is difficult, but we must not accept it as an answer," he said. Japanese state minister in charge of North Korea's past abductions of Japanese nationals, Keiji Furuya, said that Japan regards the issue of the North Korean abductions "as the ultimate violation of human rights, and equivalent to an act of terrorism." The United Nations has empowered the Commission of Inquiry (COI) to collect evidence of human rights abuses in North Korea and ensure full accountability for any crimes against humanity. During their visit, the COI is expected to interview families of the victims that were believed to be abducted by North Korea. Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida expressed his country's hope that the commission's final report would, "result in a new declaration of intention by the international community that would call for specific actions by North Korea to improve human rights conditions." The commission's recommendations will be passed on to the UN and other international agencies for review and it's possible they could trigger consequences for North Korea. Even if North Korea is punished, it has already shrugged off years of continuous outside pressure, including tough UN and US sanctions directed at its nuclear and missile programmes. Still, the inquiry represents a cranking-up of UN pressure and an acknowledgement of past UN failures and a desire for stronger international action against Pyongyang. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
