A/RES/79/181
Situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea
9.
Expresses strong support for the work being undertaken by the Office of
the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, including its field -based
structure in Seoul, in furtherance of Human Rights Council resolution 55/21, with the
aim of ensuring accountability for suspected violations of international law
committed in and by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and calls upon all
States to support such efforts;
10. Reiterates its appreciation for the work of the commission of inquiry and
acknowledges the importance of its report and the finding that the body of testimony
gathered and the information received provide 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
and by institutions under the effective control of its leadership, which was confirmed
by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in the report to the
Human Rights Council submitted pursuant to resolutions 34/24, 40/20 and 46/17;
11. Welcomes the request by the Human Rights Council to the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights to submit a comprehensive report containing
an update on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea since 2014, when the report of the commission of inquiry was published, and
taking stock of the implementation of the commission’s recommendations, to the
Council at its sixtieth session, to be followed by an enhanced interactive dialogue,
and encourages Member States to provide any necessary support for the preparation
of the comprehensive report of the High Commissioner;
12. Expresses its concern at the failure of the authorities of the Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea to hold accountable those responsible for human rights
violations, including violations which the commission of inquiry has said may amount
to crimes against humanity, and encourages the international community to cooperate
with accountability efforts and to ensure that such crimes do not remain unpunished;
13. Encourages the Security Council to continue its consideration of the
relevant conclusions and recommendations of the commission of inquiry and take
appropriate action to ensure accountability, including through consideration of
referral of the situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the
International Criminal Court and consideration of further sanctions in order to target
effectively those who appear to be most responsible for human rights violations that
the commission has said may constitute crimes against humanity;
14. Welcomes the resumption of the Security Council discussion on the
situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and reiterates its appreciation
to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special
Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea for briefing the Council on the country’s human rights situation, in the light of
the serious concerns expressed in the present resolution, and looks forward to its
continued and more active engagement on this matter;
15. Encourages the continuing endeavours of the Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights, including through its field -based structure in
Seoul, in organizing a series of consultations and outreach activities with victims and
survivors, affected communities and other relevant stakeholders with a view to
ensuring a victim- and survivor-centred approach to accountability and to including
their views in avenues for accountability, compiling a central repository to
consolidate the information and evidence relating to suspected violations of
international law, and assessing all such evidence and information in order to develop
possible strategies to be used in any future accountability process, and also
encourages the cooperation of the Office with a wide range of stakeholders in the
procurement of evidence that could be used in future criminal proceedings;
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