UN investigator cautious on North Korea engagement

United Nations, A UN human rights investigator said Tuesday that he was surprised and gratified that North Korean officials raised the possibility of allowing him to visit their country, but the prospect of such a trip remains deeply uncertain because of demands theNorth Koreans made in exchange.
Marzuki Darusman said North Korea is insisting that a UN resolution drop a recommendation that the North be referred to the International Criminal Court over its human rights record. The special investigator said he conveyed this message to theEuropean Union and Japan, which drafted the resolution, but that he would not be involved in any further discussions between the parties.
Darusman met with four North Korean officials on Monday, the first such encounter since the office of special rapporteur for human rights in North Korea was created 10 years ago. He said he was surprised when the officials mentioned the possibility of a visit, which would be a breakthrough in international efforts to have a firsthand look at the way the deeply impoverished but nuclear-armed country treats its citizens.
“It’s quite a big jump for North Korea,” Darusman said at a news conference. “It’s a very pragmatic step they are taking.”
But Darusman said the North Koreans made clear they want mention of the ICC dropped from the draft resolution “so that they would be in a position to issue an invitation.”
There was no immediate response from the UN missions of the EU and Japan, whose resolution is expected to be introduced to the UN General Assembly next month. The nonbinding resolution would urge the Security Council to refer North Korea’s situation to the ICC, as well as press for targeted sanctions. It doesn’t name names but a UN commission of inquiry warned leader Kim Jong Un in a letter earlier this year that he may be held accountable for orchestrating widespread crimes against civilians.
Darusman said the North Koreans were also upset about the mention of Kim because “it touches on the sanctity” of the leader.
Darusman, who has been special rapporteur since 2010, said he welcomed the possibility of more engagement with the North but he stressed that officials must still be held accountable for human rights atrocities. He said it is “out of question” for the resolution drop calls for North Korean officials to be held accountable within the UN system but he spoke of the possibility of “reformulating” the language. When asked whether that could mean dropping direct mention of the ICC he said, “It depends on how you formulate that.”
The North has been on the defensive since the UN commission of inquiry released a harshly critical report accusing the regime of running political prison camps with up to
120,000 people and sponsoring abductions of South Koreans,Japanese and others.
That report recommended that the North’s situation be referred to the ICC, something Daruman backed in the annual report he presented Monday to the General Assembly’s commission on human rights.
Even of the Security Council were to take up the matter, China would likely veto any resolution that included a referral of its North Korean ally to the ICC. But the North Koreans have engaged in an unusually public diplomatic blitz to stop the idea from even reaching a vote.
Choe Myong Nam, a North Korean foreign ministry official in charge of human rights issues, told The Associated Press on Monday that no date has been fixed for a visit from Darusman, but his country is looking for a “new and objective report” on North Korea’s human rights situation. “Previous reports he has prepared have been based on rumors and fabrications, as well as distortions,” he said.
Phones rang unanswered Tuesday at North Korea’s UN Mission.

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