By Jared Genser
The international community takes a modest step forward in responding to North Korea’s human rights situation.
In a historic vote of 11-2-2, the UN Security Council has voted to place the human-rights situation in North Korea on its permanent agenda, after being briefed by Assistant Secretary-Generals, for Political Affairs, Tayé-Brook Zerihoun, and for Human Rights, Ivan Simonovic. Such procedural votes are not subject to the P5 veto. The vote came just days after the UN General Assembly voted 116-20-33 to urge the Security Council to take up the case of North Korea, refer the situation to the International Criminal Court, and consider imposing targeted sanctions against those individuals identified as being responsible for the commission of crimes against humanity by a UN Commission of Inquiry which examined mass atrocity crimes there.
Yet despite what appears to be a modest step forward, advocates for human rights in North Korea have a reason to celebrate. As (one) who has worked on human-rights issues in North Korea for years, it is an extraordinary accomplishment, and is the culmination of 15 years of efforts by victims and civil society to get the world to take seriously the atrocities being committed against the people of North Korea by its government. In the wake of such progress, however, the most salient question is this: What next?
Read the full story at The Diplomat