North Korea asks UN to revoke human rights resolution

Seoul, Feb 4 (IANS/EFE) North Korea has formally asked the UN to revoke its resolution on human rights in the country, arguing that it is based on "false testimonies" by deserters, the state-run KCNA news agency reported Wednesday.

The agency published a letter by North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong addressed to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and President of the 69th General Assembly Session, Sam Kutesa, in which it cited the case of a famous dissident who recently admitted to having altered details of his past.

Shin Dong-hyuk, 32, admitted in January to having lied about certain parts about his past as a prisoner at a forced labour camp in the book "Escape from Camp 14" by Blaine Harden in 2012.

In the letter, Ri claimed that Shin's entire history and all the testimonies of human rights abuses given by other North Korean dissidents, were "false and lies" and were a part of a US ploy to overthrow the North Korean regime.

He asked the UN authorities to recognise that the resolution was based on invented information and take appropriate measures to revoke it.

In December, the UN General Assembly officially adopted a resolution presented by the European Union and Japan, urging measures to hold accountable those responsible for crimes against humanity in North Korea.

A report by the UN's human rights commission in March disclosed evidence of extermination, murders, slavery, forced disappearances, summary executions, torture and sexual violence, among other crimes perpetrated by the totalitarian state.

As the North Korean government has not permitted the UN to freely examine the human rights conditions in the country, the report was compiled from the testimonies of victims and witnesses of the abuses in North Korea.

--IANS/EFE

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