Human Rights Council 40: DPRK
The UK urges the DPRK to engage credibly with the international community on human rights issues and to allow the Special Rapporteur and other human rights mechanisms free and unhindered access to the country.
The Human Rights Council takes place in Geneva.
The United Kingdom is grateful to the Special Rapporteur for his continued commitment and resolve to hold the DPRK to account for its appalling human rights abuses.
The UK remains extremely concerned by the DPRK’s human rights record. It ranks last in the Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index. It has been at the top of Open Doors’ World Watch List of countries where Christians face the most severe persecution for 18 years in a row. Citizens who dare question the regime’s ideology, demonstrate their religious faith, or view non-sanctioned foreign media content face imprisonment or even death. Other citizens, including children, face malnutrition and forced labour. Many women are subject to sexual exploitation by officials who routinely abuse their power.
Kim Jong Un has shown a willingness to engage on denuclearisation. We must continue to back US efforts. We must also ensure that engagement with the DPRK seeks to address the many hardships its people face.
To this end, we urge the DPRK to engage credibly with the international community on human rights issues and to allow the Special Rapporteur and other human rights mechanisms free and unhindered access to the country.
We would like to ask: what more can the international community do to prevent the drafting of female North Korean escapees into sexual exploitation and violence. In addition, we would like to ask how the international community can harness its current engagement with the DPRK to improve the human rights situation in the country?
Thank you.