On behalf of UN Watch, Yeonmi Park, 21-year-old North Korean survivor and human rights activist, addressed the UNHRC. Above: Ms. Park presented a copy of her forthcoming memoir In Order to Live (Penguin) to Australia’s Justice Michael Kirby, former head of the UN Commission of Inquiry on North Korean human rights abuses, and chair of the UNHRC panel debate. Geneva, September 21, 2015. (Photo: UN Watch.)

Speaking today in Geneva on behalf of the non-governmental human rights group UN Watch, North Korean survivor and human rights activist Yeonmi Park addressed a United Nations Human Rights Council debate on the country from which she escaped, one week before the publication of her memoir, In Order to Live (Penguin).

Ms. Park’s inspirational words during the UN panel discussion contrasted sharply with the harsh rhetoric from her former oppressor, the North Korean government.

North Korea, according to a UN summary, said the panel discussion “followed ill-minded political objectives” and belonged to a “conspiracy of the hostile forces led by the United States pursuing a plot against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.” The regime said the panel was “slander,” marked by “politicization and double standards,” and “confrontational.”

Cuba said the panel violated the North Korean people’s “right to peace” and “right to development.”

UN Watch then gave the floor to Yeonmi Park:

UN WATCH STATEMENT TO UNHRC PANEL, DELIVERED BY YEONMI PARK

“Thank you Mr. President. My name is Yeonmi Park. I’m 21 years old. I was born in 1993 in North Korea, an unimaginable place, with so much suffering and no freedom.

As a free person here today, it means a lot to me to deliver this statement on behalf of UN Watch.
Eight years ago I escaped from my homeland by scrambling across the frozen river that divides North Korea and China. I knew that if I stayed behind I would die – from starvation, from disease, from a labor camp. My hunger was unbearable, and I hoped to find food and work in China.
Instead the first thing I saw in China was my mother raped by a Chinese broker. I myself was sold for $260 at the age of 13 as a child bride to a human trafficker, and my mother was sold for $65.
I spent two terrible years hiding from Chinese police who would have sent me back to North Korea.
Finally, I made another dangerous escape across the Gobi Desert into Mongolia. It was a freezing cold, black night, and we couldn’t use our compass. So we followed the stars north, walking and crawling to freedom.
North Korea attempts to cast doubt on any criticism of its evil acts. They have released propaganda videos calling me a “human rights propaganda puppet.” But I am here to tell you I am speaking from my heart. And my heart breaks for my relatives still in North Korea, who are unjustly suffering because I speak out against the regime.
No dictatorship gives up power without a demand. We must demand that North Korea stop starving and oppressing its own people and respect their human rights.
I heard this: “Never say there is no hope.” It’s the song of the Jewish Resistance fighters who fought against the most inhuman tragedy. And I have hope. I believe some day North Korean people will be free like all of us here today.
Thank you so much for listening and bringing hope to my people. I believe that together, we can change North Korean lives.”

UN Watch is one of the leading human rights groups at the UN regarding North Korea, working closely with North Korean dissidents.

_____________

Giving Victims a Voice: UN Watch arranged the following interview in a leading French-language Geneva newspaper.

Yeonmi Park, survivante de la Corée du Nord, a fui à 13 ans

Yeonmi Park semble fragile. Mais derrière cette petite silhouette frêle se cache une lutteuse. Cette jeune Nord-Coréenne de 21 ans est une miraculée. Il y a huit ans, un soir d’hiver, glacial et sans lumière, elle a réussi l’impossible: s’échapper de la prison à ciel ouvert bâtie par la dynastie Kim Jong. Plus d’infos »

The post 21-year-old North Korean Survivor Addresses UN Debate appeared first on UN Watch.

• Program
• Facebook gallery
• Hi-res photos
• Video of Today
• Tweets of speeches
• Video of yesterday

GENEVA, Feb. 24, 2015 – The Geneva-based human rights group UN Watch today led a coalition of 20 NGOs in giving a rare UN platform to the Nigerian girl who jumped off a truck to escape from Boko Haram, the student leaders of the Hong Kong umbrella protest, and courageous dissidents and victims from China, Cuba, Iran, Tibet, Pakistan, Turkey, North Korea and Venezuela.

The 2015 Geneva Summit for Human Rights, which opened yesterday in a packed UN chamber below the Human Rights Council, concluded today in an adjacent conference center before an audience of 500 human rights activists, diplomats, journalists and students.

The summit aims to place critical human rights situations on the world agenda days before foreign ministers gather on Monday in Geneva to open the annual session of the UN Human Rights Council.
Worldwide media coverage focused on the Nigerian girl who escaped the Boko Haram kidnapping (“Bring Back Our Girls”); a memorial to the murdered Charlie Hebdo journalists by two of their Paris colleagues, Philippe Val and Caroline Fourest; and the bestowal of awards to jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, and to Masih Alinejad, creator of a viral Facebook page that allows Iranian women to show hijab-free photos of themselves.

Notable speakers also included:
· Alex Chow & Lester Shum, Student leaders of Hong Kong protest movement
· Pierre Torres, French Journalist held hostage by ISIS for 10 months
· Yeon-Mi Park, 21-year-old North Korean defector
· Il Lim, North Korean defector and former slave laborer
· Ashiq Masih, Husband of Asia Bibi, Christian mother of five on death row in Pakistan for blasphemy
· Dicki Chhoyang, Foreign Minister of Central Tibetan Administration
· Maria Corina Machado, Venezuelan opposition leader persecuted by Maduro regime (by video)
· Yang Jianli, Former Chinese political prisoner, survivor of Tiananmen Square massacre
Canada, the Czech Republic and the U.S. co-sponsored yesterday’s UN opening session. Some 15 governments also met privately with the dissidents and victims at a meeting hosted by the Canadian Mission in Geneva.

The post UN Watch's Geneva rights summit draws world attention, spotlights Boko Haram, ISIS, China, Cuba, France, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Tibet, Turkey, Venezuela appeared first on UN Watch.

We need to defend those who bravely stand up to protect human rights. We must show that the world is watching. We advocate the importance of protection of human rights defenders in the UN. We support the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders. We support individuals, organizations and networks that are promoting human rights for all. We support security training and capacity building but I think we can do more and we must do more.
The fundamentals for protecting and promoting human rights are largely in place today. However, the gap between commitment on one hand and reality on the ground on the other hand is unacceptable. I think it is important that we recognize that the international system to promote and protect human rights is not equipped to address all these challenges fully and adequately.
In the UN, states with bad human rights records are actively working to undermine human rights and they are building alliances among themselves. This threatens human rights and also confidence in the UN. The answer is not to cave in, the answer is to respond forcefully. I believe it is even more important that we, we who believe in human rights, are active, committed and visible within the system and that we actively advocate the right of civil society to be heard in these forums. To promote human rights, we must work multilaterally in the UN and must work to strengthen the system. We must work regionally through the Council of Europe and support similar institutions in other regions of the world. We must work bilaterally, address issues, share concerns and build alliances across geographies.
The most rewarding and perhaps important part of my job is to meet human rights defenders. Sometimes part of the importance is that it is visible for totalitarian regimes that we meet. Other times, I am asked not to talk about the meetings because it would increase risks for the brave people who share their stories. The meetings are valuable because it gives insight and inspiration to continue also our efforts. Your strong voices and bravery makes a powerful impression.

The post Norway speaks out against dictators controlling UN appeared first on UN Watch.

The UN Watch campaign, coordinated in partnership with Free the North Korean Gulag, received important media coverage. (See right.)

Open Letter to the President of the Swiss Confederation to Freeze Assets of North Korean Leadership in Switzerland

Excellency,

We have experienced and witnessed the gross, systematic and widespread violations of human rights committed by the North Korean regime against its own people, which has been ongoing for many decades.

Because of these atrocities, and for the reasons outlined below, we appeal to you to place an immediate freeze on the financial assets located in your country, Switzerland, held by the North Korean leadership, who are directly responsible for the crimes against their own people.

We make this request based on the following:

(a) Findings of UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea

As you know, the UN Commission of Inquiry on North Korea’s human rights record found “reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity have been committed in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, pursuant to policies established at the highest level of the State for decades.”

These crimes entail “extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions and other sexual violence, persecution on political, religious, racial and gender grounds, the forcible transfer of populations, the enforced disappearance of persons and the inhumane act of knowingly causing prolonged starvation.”

The UN further found that North Korea “displays many attributes of a totalitarian State: the rule of a single party, led by a single person, is based on an elaborate guiding ideology.”

Consequently, the UN has found that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un bears primary responsibility for these human rights violations. The commission of inquiry reported multiple indications of central government accountability.

(b) Switzerland endorsed creation and findings of UN Commission

Switzerland has a moral responsibility to act on the findings of the commission of inquiry because it played a leading role in its establishment and endorsement. As a member of the Human Rights Council for 2013, Switzerland actively supported the resolution that created the commission of inquiry (A/HRC/RES/22/13) and, moreover, Switzerland was a sponsor of the Council resolution (A/HRC/RES/25/25) which formally adopted the commission’s report on 28 March 2014.

Please note that Resolution 25/25 called on the General Assembly to request the Security Council to consider action to hold to account those responsible for human rights violations and crimes against humanity. The UN resolution specifically calls for consideration of “effective targeted sanctions against those who appear to be most responsible for crimes against humanity.”

Switzerland has no legal or moral reason to wait before proceeding with these vital targeted sanctions. It is incumbent upon Switzerland to match its calls for action in the Human Rights Council by taking action in its own capacity, echoing the grave concerns that have been expressed and affirmed by multiple UN bodies.

(c) Swiss law and prior precedents support case for freezing North Korean assets

Switzerland has every basis in law and prior precedent to act for the people of North Korea. We recall that, acting on these laws, Switzerland in recent years has frozen the assets of several foreign leaders, including Bashar al-Assad of Syria, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia, and Muammar Gaddafi of Libya.

Switzerland did so in accordance with Swiss laws: the Embargos Act (2002), and the Act on the Restitution of Illicit Assets (RIAA/LRAI 2011). Moreover, in 2014, Switzerland adopted a new law on the issue, theFederal Act on the Freezing and Restitution of Illicitly Acquired Assets of Foreign Politically Exposed Persons, which only underscores the government’s commitment to address this important issue.

Conclusion

In conclusion, based on international law and Swiss domestic law, prior Swiss precedents, and the basic principles of morality and humanity, we respectfully urge Switzerland to immediately freeze all assets of the North Korean leadership, whether held in their names or those of their associates, that are located within its territory.

Sincerely,

Kang Cheol Hwan
Because his grandfather was falsely charged with treason against the nation, all his family members were sent to Camp 15, as guilt by association.

Shin Dong Hyuk
He was born in Camp 14 and witnessed his mother and brother’s public execution. While he was imprisoned in Camp 14, he was subjected to many types of torture.

Ahn Myeong Chul
Because his father committed suicide, his family was sent to a political prison camp, as guilt by association.

Jeong Kwang Il
He was falsely charged with espionage and taken to Camp 15. In Camp 15, he received horrible torture such as pigeon torture, beating, and starvation.

Kim Young Soon
She and all her family members were taken to Camp 15 just because she was a friend of Kim Jong Il’s wife.

Lim Jeong Soo
His father was a prisoner of war, so all his family members were taken to a political prison camp. His father died in a camp from extreme torture. His mother and two brothers died in a camp because of starvation. Also, agents seared his belly with a hot iron. He lived in a camp for 22 years.

Lee Keum Ran
She escaped from North Korea but was caught in China and repatriated to North Korea. After repatriation, she was detained in Camp 15 and witnessed horrible torture committed to other detainees such as forced abortion, beating and so on. She also received horrible torture.

Kim Eun Cheol
He was detained in Camp 15 just because he escaped from North Korea. In Camp 15, he received torture such as beating and starvation. He also witnessed public executions of other prisoners.

Lee Soon Shil
She was repatriated to North Korea from China 9 times and received horrible torture in a labor training camp. Agents seared her body with a hot iron and beat her. Her daughter was trafficked in China.

Kim Tae Jin
He escaped from North Korea but was repatriated to North Korea from China. Then he was detained in Camp 15 and received torture such as beating and forced to sit all day without any movement.

Kim Dong Ram
His son was taken to a political prison camp without any trial just because he escaped from North Korea and interacted with Christianity.

Kim Kwang Hwi
Her family was related to Kim Il Sung’s second wife, Kim Sung Ae. During the 1970s, her family was politically purged and sent to a political prison camp.

Kim Hye Sook
She was taken to a political prison camp when she was only 13 because of guilt by association.

Park Soon Hee
Her co-worker’s family escaped from North Korea, but North Korean agents kidnapped them in China and brought them back to North Korea. They were later sent to a political prison camp just because they escaped from North Korea.

Jeong Hee Soon
She and her daughter escaped from North Korea to earn money in China. In China, her daughter wanted to go to South Korea, but on the way to South Korea, her daughter was caught by the Chinese police and repatriated to North Korea. Later, her daughter was taken to a political prison camp.

Kim Mi Hee
Her family was falsely charged with breaking the statue of Kim Il Sung and taken to a political prison camp. Almost 90 people who were related to her family were also taken to a political prison camp under false charges.

Kwon Young Hee
Her brother escaped from North Korea to earn money in China. However, that time was the national mourning period of Kim Il Sung’s death, so when he was arrested in China and repatriated to North Korea, he was sent to a political prison camp and treated more severely because he escaped from North Korea during the mourning period of Kim Il Sung’s death.

Shin Hye Sook
Her husband frequently crossed a river between North Korea and China to meet his sister in China. However, someone in her town reported him to the National Security Agency, and he was taken to a political prison camp. Also, Shin Hye Sook was forcibly divorced from her husband by the NSA.

Ji Seong Ho
His arm and leg were amputated because of a train accident in North Korea. Because of starvation, he escaped from North Korea but was repatriated to North Korea and received horrible torture. Since he had a physical disability, he was treated more severely than other prisoners in North Korea.

Ji Hyeon Ah
She escaped from North Korea and was repatriated back three times. While she was investigated in the National Security Agency, she received horrible human rights violations and was subjected to forced abortion without anesthesia. Also, when she was detained in a labor detention facility, she witnessed forced abortion and infanticide of other prisoners and prisoners’ babies.

The post UN Watch and 20 North Korean survivors urge Swiss to freeze regime’s bank accounts appeared first on UN Watch.

1. Turkey remained as a main sponsor of the resolution.  With a tally of nine dead following last June’s protests against Prime Minister Erdogan and the continued use of force by police in recent protests in March, it is inappropriate and regrettable that Turkey remained as a main sponsor for this resolution.  Sponsors of the text should have taken note of Egypt’s removal as main sponsor of the resolution on Freedom of Expression, following its widespread arrest and imprisonment of journalists.
2. Countries tried to pass four problematic amendments to the text that would weaken the resolution and make it easy for problematic countries to justify use of force against peaceful protestors.  For example, one of these amendments sought to place additional responsibilities on protestors.  This would have deflected the responsibility that States have to protect individuals from human rights violations.  However, most concerning is that each one of these amendments was proposed by South Africa on behalf of the Like Minded Group, which included human rights champions such as Algeria, Belarus, China, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, Russia,  Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.  As the British delegation so aptly put it:
   

   A sad day for #humanrights, when #SouthAfrica aligns itself with #Russia, #Belarus, #SaudiArabia, #Cuba against peaceful protests at #HRC25.
   — UK Mission Geneva (@UKMissionGeneva) March 28, 2014

   South Africa, as a democratic state, should be promoting the right to peaceful protests rather than curtailing it.

3. Each of the four amendments were defeated, however, not by a landslide of outraged countries as should be expected, but by a small margin of three to six votes each time (see results here: amendment 1; amendment 2; amendment 3; amendment 5).  Moreover, it was regrettable that only a minority of Council members opposed them. What should have been a ‘non-brainer’ for the UN’s leading human rights body, clearly was not.  In addition, democracies, such as India, did not stand up for principle and voted in favor of these troubling amendments and even voted against the resolution.

A resolution of this kind should have passed without issue, yet the difficulty of the process highlights the increasingly problematic input of some of the Council’s member states.

The post Shaky road to important peaceful protest resolution appeared first on UN Watch.

Executive Summary

This report evaluates the 17 countries that have formally submitted candidacies for the November 12, 2013 election of 14 new members to the UN Human Rights Council. To evaluate qualifications we applied the membership criteria established by UNGA Resolution 60/251. In particular, we examined (a) each candidate’s record of domestic human rights protection; and (b) its UN voting record.The report finds as follows:
• Not Qualified
7 candidates have poor records and fail to qualify:
Algeria, China, Cuba, Jordan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam
• Questionable
6 candidates have problematic human rights and/or UN voting records:
Maldives, Morocco, Namibia, South Africa, South Sudan, Uruguay
• Qualified
Only 4 out of the 17 candidate countries are qualified to be Council members:
France, Macedonia, Mexico, UK
The absence of competition in both the Western and Eastern European groups are unfortunate, and undermine the premise and rationale for holding elections. Nevertheless, this report reminds UN member states that they have the right to refrain from voting for a non-qualified candidate such as Russia, even though it is running on a closed slate. Instead, as detailed in the report, during the ballot they can actually defeat such candidacies, and instead free up the process for qualified alternatives to come forward. We note several alternative candidacies for the relevant regional groups, who have better human rights and U.N. voting records:
• Qualified Alternative Candidates
Africa: Cape Verde, Ghana, Zambia
Asia: Mongolia and East Timor
Eastern Europe: Hungary, Slovenia, Lithuania

In regard to candidate countries deemed Questionable, they should, at a minimum, be asked to commit to redress the shortcomings identified in this report.

Click here for full report PDF

The post EVALUATION OF CANDIDATES FOR 2014-2016 MEMBERSHIP ON THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL appeared first on UN Watch.

Cuba is a prime example. To prevent a pro-democracy rally today, 200 people were temporarily detained by the Communist-led island’s security services. In a related development yesterday, hundreds of government devotees blocked the opposition group Ladies in White from marching in central Havana. Despite talk of reform, the reality is that Cuba remains a police state.

On this day, we pay tribute to Cuban dissidents Fidel Suarez Cruz and Bertha Antunez—along with other courageous champions of human rights fighting repressive governments in Iran, China, Syria, Burma, Sudan, Pakistan, Vietnam, Uganda and Zimbabwe—by featuring their voices below.

They and other activists gathered recently at the United Nations in New York to testify at the “We Have A Dream” human rights summit, organized by UN Watch together with an international coalition of 20 NGOs, held in parallel with Durban III and the opening of the General Assembly.

Our summit of dissidents concluded with a powerful declaration that rejected dictators’ “specious arguments to justify policies and practices of abuse and repression in the name of claimed exceptions to the universality of basic human rights.”

“Belonging to diverse faiths and cultures, and originating from all regions of the world, we, the authors of this Declaration, unequivocally reject such dishonest apologetics, which suit the interests of the despots, and not the interests, or ideas, of their peoples.”

“We assert that the writ of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights continues to run through all societies, and for all times.  The talk of tyrants is refuted by the cries of prisoners—who, from the dungeons of Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Tibet, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, and elsewhere—demand justice and freedom on the basis of these universal laws and eternal truths…”    Click for more

GENG HE
Chinese Dissident

ANNE-ISABELLE TOLLET
Journalist and Author

AHMAD BATEBI
Iranian dissident

JOHN DAU
Genocide Survivor and Human Rights Activist

THUY TRAN
Vietnamese activist and writer

JIANLI YANG
Chinese Dissident

BERTHE KAYITESI
Genocide Survivor

JACQUELINE KASHA
Ugandan LGBT Activist

LUKA BIONG DENG
Director of KUSH & former Minister

REBIYA KADEER
Uyghur Activist and Former Prisoner

ADEEB YOUSIF
Darfuri Activist

THAUNG HTUN
Burmese Activist

IRWIN COTLER
Canadian MP

GRACE KWINJEH
Zimbabwean Dissident and Journalist

JOEL BRINKLEY
Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist

BERTHA ANTUNEZ
Cuban Women Rights activist

FIDEL SUAREZ CRUZ
Cuban Dissident

NGAWANG SANGDROL
Tibetan activist

MARINA NEMAT
Iranian Author and former prisoner

PHILIPPE ROBINET
Publisher, cofounder of Oh! Editions

JUDITHE REGISTRE
Women for Women International

BANAFSHEH ZAND-BONAZZI
Iranian Activist

RAMI NAKHLEH
Syrian Dissident

DAVID KEYES
co-founder of Cyber Dissidents

MARAN TURNER
Director of Freedom Now

NASSER WEDDADY
Civil Rights Outreach Director, AIC

.

The post Issue 328: UN Watch’s Tribute for Human Rights Day appeared first on UN Watch.

GENEVA – North Korea today began chairing the summer plenary of the UN-backed Conference on Disarmament, eliciting a boycott by the Canadian government and a sharp protest by 28 non-governmental organizations. Menawhile, Burma, Iran, Nigeria and Norway offered varying degress of congratulations to the North Korean chair. For more on today’s plenary, click here.

• See below for this week’s joint appeal by 28 human rights NGOs
• Remarks by N. Korean defector Kim Joo-il at UN press conference: Transcript  Audio
• NGO protest in front of CD headquarters in Geneva: Photos  YouTube Video
• Photos of today’s CD plenary chaired by North Korea

“Allowing an international outlaw to oversee international arms control efforts is just plain wrong,” advocacy group U.N. Watch’s director Hillel Neuer said today. “North Korea is a ruthless regime that menaces its neighbors and starves its own people, and should not be granted the propaganda coup of heading a world body dedicated to peace.”

Canada is boycotting the conference until North Korea’s presidency expires in September.

Former North Korean army captain Kim Joo-il, a defector now living in Britain, told a Geneva press conference organized by UN Watch this week that the regime is using its presidency “as propaganda for manipulating its residents,” to “perpetuate idolatry” of dictator Kim Jong-il and the “slavery” of North Koreans.

“Even if the presidency of North Korea of the Conference on Disarmament remains only for one hour — not even a week or a month — it is symbolic. The support of the international community is going to push North Korean residents even more into the hell that they are already living in right now,” he said.

______________________

Joint Statement of NGOs Against North Korea’s
Presidency of the Conference on Disarmament

The undersigned coalition of human rights and non-governmental organizations strongly protest North Korea’s presidency of the Conference on Disarmament (CD), for the reasons described below.  We call on all CD Member States to register their protest, as Canada has already done.  We also call on North Korea to hand over its presidency to a more suitable country.

1. North Korea is a Gross Violator of Disarmament Principles and Flouts UN Security Council Decisions

The North Korean regime has no credibility on disarmament. Few if any countries pose a greater nuclear threat to the world than North Korea. The rogue regime, led by the unstable dictator Kim Jong-il, possesses an estimated dozen nuclear weapons combined with a record of hostile actions and threats to its neighbors and the world at large.  Moreover, as reported by a UN panel last year, North Korea has defied UN sanctions and used front companies to export nuclear and missile technology to the repressive regimes in Iran, Syria and Burma.

Just last week, the IAEA found that North Korea’s nuclear program remains a matter of “serious concern,” noting reports about the construction of a new uranium enrichment facility and a light water reactor.

Even for a short period, the symbolism of an international outlaw heading “the undisputed home of international arms control efforts”—as the CD was recently described by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon—is terribly wrong.

We further note:

• On July 15, 2006, ten days after North Korea test launched a series of missiles, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1695 requiring all UN member states to “prevent the transfer of missile and missile-related items, materials, goods and technology to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s missile or weapons of mass destruction programs, as well as procurement of such items and technology from that country.” The resolution further cited North Korea for having “endangered civil aviation and shipping through its failure to provide adequate advance notice.”

• On October 7, 2006, three years after it withdrew from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, North Korea conducted its first nuclear test. In response, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1718, finding North Korea’s actions to constitute “a clear threat to international peace and security,” barring a range of military goods from entering or leaving North Korea, and imposing an asset freeze and travel ban on persons related to the nuclear-weapon program.

• In April 2009, North Korea violated this resolution with another rocket launch. The President of the Security Council issued a statement condemning North Korea, and demanded that it cease conducting further launches.

• In May 2009, North Korea conducted another nuclear test, detonating a bomb comparable to those that obliterated Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1874, finding that North Korea’s clear threat to international peace and security “continues to exist,” and sharpening the import-export ban of weapons to North Korea by calling on all states to inspect, seize and dispose of military items and deny fuel or supplies to vessels carrying them.

• Two months ago, U.S. Navy warships intercepted a North Korean vessel carrying missiles to Burma and turned it around.

North Korea has allowed millions of its own people to literally starve to death in order to pursue its illicit nuclear-weapons arsenal. North Korea is currently facing another famine. Yet history shows that aid may not even help. An estimated two million people were killed by famine in the 1990s, while Kim Jong-il and his regime kept foreign aid for themselves.

2. North Korea is a Gross Violator of Human Rights

As one of the world’s worst violators of human rights, North Korea should not be granted the symbolic legitimacy of chairing a world body dedicated to peace.

The United Nations General Assembly and Human Rights Council have repeatedly condemned North Korea for its massive violations of human rights. Resolution 65/225 (2010), the UNGA’s most recent condemnation of North Korea, found, inter alia, the following gross violations:

• Systematic, widespread and grave violations of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights;
• Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including inhuman conditions of detention, public executions, extrajudicial and arbitrary detention;
• The absence of due process and the rule of law,  including fair trial guarantees and an independent judiciary;
• The imposition of the death penalty for political and religious reasons;
• Collective punishments;
• The existence of a large number of prison camps and the extensive use of forced labour;
• All-pervasive and severe restrictions on the freedoms of thought, conscience, religion, opinion and expression, peaceful assembly and association, the right to privacy and equal access to information, by such means as the persecution of individuals exercising their freedom of opinion and expression, and their families, and on the right of everyone to take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives, of his or her country;
• The violations of economic, social and cultural rights, which have led to severe malnutrition, widespread health problems and other hardship for the population in North Korea, in particular for persons in exposed groups such as women, children and the elderly;
• Violations of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women, in particular the trafficking of women for the purpose of prostitution or forced marriage and the subjection of women to human smuggling, forced abortions, gender-based discrimination, including in the economic sphere, and gender-based violence; and
• Violations of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of children, in particular the continued lack of access to basic economic, social and cultural rights for many children.

Hillel Neuer
UN Watch

Tae-Jin Kim
Free the North Korean Gulag

Kim Joo-il
North Korean Residents Society

Yang Jianli, Initiatives for China  – Former prisoner of conscience and survivor of Tiananmen Square massacre

Yang Kuanxing, Yibao – Chinese writer, original signatory to Charter 08, the manifesto calling for political reform in ChinaYang

Dr. Ahmed Subhy Mansour
International Quranic Center

Jeff King
International Christian Concern, USA

Abdurashid Abdulle Abikar
Center for Youth and Democracy, Somalia

Amina Bouayach
Moroccan Organisation For Human Rights (OMDH)

Atle Sommerfeldt
Norwegian Church Aid

Ulrich Delius
Asia Desk, Society for Threatened Peoples, Germany

Ali Abdullahi Egal (Ali Bashi)
Fanole Human Rights & Development Organization, Kenya & Somalia

Harris Schoenberg
UN Reform Advocates

Dr. Francois Ullmann
Ingenieurs du Monde

Dr. Vanee Meisinger
Pan Pacific and Southeast Asia Women’s Association of Thailand

Dr S.M. Thadhani
Mulchand & Parpati Thadhani Foundation

Dickson M. David Ntwiga
Solidarity House International, Kenya

1. P. Gautam
   Nepal International Consumers Union

Bhawani Shanker Kusum
Gram Bharati Samiti (GBS), Jaipur, India

Seng Xiong
International Fund for Hmong Development

Ali AlAhmed
The Gulf Institute

Ann Buwalda, Esq.
Jubilee Campaign USA

Gary Bailey
International Federation of Social Workers

Christina Fu
New Hope Foundation

Daniel Feng
Foundation for China in the 21st Century

Gibreil I. M. Hamid, President
Darfur Peace and Development Centre, Switzerland

Emina Burak
Children of the Earth

Dr. Yael Danieli
International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies

The post North Korea opens disarmament plenary as Canada boycotts & 28 groups protest appeared first on UN Watch.

“Our nations must be united in the struggle to democratize the United Nations… I firmly believe solidarity is essential to ensure that we achieve our common goals,” said Ambassador Brockmann. “I firmly believe in the revitalizing power of love.”

What the ex-Sandinista means by “democracy,” of course, is more power at the UN to dictatorships like Syria, Zimbabwe and Cuba, and less to elected liberal democracies on the Security Council like the U.S., France and the U.K.    

In a jab at the US, Brockmann said the UN must prevent “acts of aggression such as those occurring in Iraq and Afghanistan,” a comment that drew a quick rebuke.

“The president of the General Assembly is supposed to be a uniter,” said Richard Grenell, a spokesman for the U.S. Mission. “We have made it clear that these crazy comments are not acceptable, and we hope he refrains from this talk and gets to work on General Assembly business.”

For more, click here.

The post GA President-elect calls for more “love,” less “aggression” appeared first on UN Watch.

On May 21, 2008, the UN General Assembly will elect 15 new Human Rights Council members. Twenty countries are candidates. However, each is not competing against all of the others, but rather only against the ones from the same UN regional group. In this year’s election, two regional groups have submitted the same amount of candidates as available seats. The African Group has 4 countries vying for 4 available seats, and the Latin American and Caribbean Group (“GRULAC”) has 3 countries vying for 3 available seats. This does not mean that the candidate countries for these groups will automatically be elected; in order to become a Council member a country must receive the votes of at least 97 of the 192 General Assembly member states (an absolute majority). In the three other regional groups there is competition between the candidates. The Asian Group has 6 countries vying for 4 available seats; the Eastern European Group has 4 countries vying for 2 available seats; and the Western Europe and Others Group (“WEOG”) has 3 countries vying for 2 available seats.

Methodology

According to Resolution 60/251, General Assembly members are supposed to elect Council by “tak[ing] into account the candidates’ contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights and their voluntary pledges and commitments made thereto.” The resolution also provides that consideration ought to be given to whether the candidate can meet the obligations of Council membership, which include (a) “to uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights” and (b) to “fully cooperate with the Council.” Guided by these criteria, Freedom House and UN Watch evaluated each candidate’s suitability for election to the Human Rights Council by examining its record of human rights protection at home and its record of human rights promotion at the UN, based on the following sources of information and analysis:

• Its rating in Freedom in the World 2008, an annual survey by Freedom House that measures political rights and civil liberties worldwide, ranking countries as free, partly free, or not free;
• Its rating in The Economist 2007 Democracy Index, which considers a country’s electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, government functioning, political participation, and political culture, and ranks it as a full democracy, a flawed democracy, a hybrid regime, or an authoritarian regime;
• Its rating in Freedom of the Press 2008: A Global Survey of Media Independence, an annual survey by Freedom House that examines the legal, political and economic environments in which journalists work in order to assess the degree of print, broadcast, and internet freedom in every country in the world, ranking each as free, partly free, or not free;
• Its ranking in the 2007 Worldwide Press Freedom Index by Reporters Sans Frontières, which measures the degree of freedom that journalists and news organizations enjoy in each country, and the efforts made by state authorities to respect and ensure respect for this freedom; and
• Its voting record on key human rights proposals, which are classified as positive, negative or mixed based on the following assessments:
  • UN Watch analysis of 2007-2008 votes at the Human Rights Council;
  • Democracy Coalition Project (DCP) analysis of 2007 votes at the Third Committee;
  • DCP analysis of 2006-2007 positions taken at the Human Rights Council; and
  • DCP analysis of 2006 votes at the Third Committee.

Rating

Based on the above assessment of each country’s record of human rights protection at home and of its UN voting record, we find that 12 candidate countries are qualified for election to the Human Rights Council; 5 candidates have poor records and are not qualified to be Council members; and 3 countries fall somewhere in between, with qualifications that are questionable.

Qualified: Argentina, Chile, Czech Republic, France, Ghana, Japan, Serbia, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

Questionable: Brazil, East Timor, and Burkina Faso.

Not Qualified: Bahrain, Gabon, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Zambia.
For supporting information, see the charts below.

Candidates from the African Group (for 4 seats)
To replace Gabon, Ghana, Mali, Zambia

Candidates from the Asian Group (for 4 seats)
To replace Japan, Pakistan, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka

Candidates from the Eastern European Group (for 2 seats)
To replace Romania, Ukraine 

Candidates from GRULAC (for 3 seats)
To replace Brazil, Guatemala, Peru

Candidates from WEOG (for 2 seats)
To replace France, United Kingdom

The post Evaluation of 2008-2011 UN Human Rights Council Candidates: Joint Analysis by Freedom House and UN Watch Presented at United Nations Headquarters, May 6, 2008 appeared first on UN Watch.