Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) - country of concern: latest update 31 December 2014
Updated 21 January 2015
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Any incidents or events taking place after 31 December 2014 will be covered in future reports.
0.1 Latest Update: 31 December 2014
The period between October and December 2014 saw increased interaction with the DPRK on human rights issues ahead of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Third Committee human rights vote in November. Despite this, there has been little discernable change in the human rights situation.
On 21 October, the DPRK unexpectedly released an American citizen, Jeffrey Fowle, who had been arrested in May 2014 for reportedly leaving a bible at a hotel. On 8 November, Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller, the two remaining American citizens in detention in DPRK, were also released. This followed a visit to Pyongyang by the US Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper.
Kenneth Bae had been arrested in November 2012, for allegedly using his tourism business to form groups to overthrow the DPRK government, and sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment with hard labour. Matthew Todd Milller had been detained in April and sentenced to six years’ imprisonment with hard labour for a crime “committed as part of the US anti-DPRK human rights campaign”. The trials of both Bae and Miller failed to meet international standards.
While these releases are welcome developments, the DPRK has made no statement in connection with them, nor has it provided a reason. It is therefore not possible to determine their wider significance for the DPRK’s human rights practice.
In December, the DPRK held events in Pyongyang to mark World HIV/Aids Day on 1 December, and International Disabled Person’s Day on 3 December. While the DPRK’s willingness to acknowledge these events is encouraging, it is noteworthy that DPRK citizens were not invited to participate.
During this period, the UK worked alongside international partners to draft a joint EU-Japan resolution on the human rights situation in the DPRK for consideration during the November session of the UNGA Third Committee in New York.
The resolution urged the DPRK immediately to end systematic, widespread and grave violations of human rights reported by the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI), submitted the COI’s report to the UN Security Council (UNSC) for consideration, and encouraged the UNSC to consider referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was passed by UNGA Third Committee on 18 November. On 18 December, the UNGA 73rd Plenary Meeting voted on the EU/Japan resolution on the Human Rights Situation in the DPRK and adopted the resolution by 116 in favour, 20 against and 53 abstentions.
During this period, there was a noticeable increase in DPRK outreach to the international community on human rights. However, this primarily consisted of lobbying connected with the prospective UNGA resolution. The DPRK met Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials in London and Brussels during October while, during the same period, the UK Ambassador met a senior DPRK Foreign Ministry official in Pyongyang. The UK expressed a hope that engagement would continue and offered assistance to improve the human rights situation. However, the UK also underlined the need to see evidence of change, stressed concern over the DPRK’s failure to meet to international obligations, and re-iterated the international community’s call for the DPRK to engage with international organisations and allow visits by international non-governmental organisations, the UN Special Rapporteur, and EU Special Representative for human rights.
On 28 November, the DPRK’s Association for Human Rights Studies released a report condemning the UN resolution as a “draconian anti-DPRK resolution” and strongly criticised the US, EU and Japan for tabling the resolution. The report questioned the impartiality of the UN, and the DPRK continues to insist that it does not accept the validity of the COI and its report.
In December, the UNSC formally recognised the human rights situation in the DPRK to be a potential threat to international peace and security, and added “the situation in the DPRK” to its agenda. The first discussion on this was held on 22 December.
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