"The Report of the Commission of Inquiry of the UN Human Rights Council reveals grave violations of the human rights. People are being abused physically, tortured psychologically, the regime wants to control every aspect of their life. The report does not leave the slightest doubt that the highest authorities of the country know about the crimes being committed and supports this behaviour", spoke the Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the United Nations.
Ambassador Murmokaitė underlined that it was necessary to consider handing over the situation in North Korea to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court and the application of targeted sanctions to those representatives of the regime whose actions can be equated with the crimes against humanity. The Permanent Representative also urged North Korea to implement the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry without delay and urged the Security Council to constantly monitor the situation and hold regular meetings to discuss it.
UN Assistant-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Tayé-Brook Zerihoun and UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Shimonovich who spoke at the meeting underlined that violations of human rights in North Korea were wide-spread and were being committed on a systematic basis. According to the speakers, it was necessary to ensure responsibility for the crimes committed and to encourage North Korea to become engaged in a dialogue with human rights monitoring mechanisms.
