RES/34/24 Situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
Document Type: Final Resolution
Date: 2017 Apr
Session: 34th Regular Session (2017 Feb)
Agenda Item: Item4: Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention
Topic: North Korea
- Main sponsors29
- Co-sponsors58
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Albania
Andorra
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Benin
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Bulgaria
Canada
Chile
Costa Rica
Croatia
Cyprus
Czechia
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Honduras
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Korea, Republic of
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
North Macedonia
Maldives
Mexico
Micronesia, Federated States of
Moldova, Republic of
Monaco
Montenegro
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Palau
Poland
Portugal
Romania
San Marino
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
United Kingdom
United States
GE.17-05284(E)
Human Rights Council Thirty-fourth session
27 February–24 March 2017
Agenda item 4
Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 24 March 2017
34/24. Situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
The Human Rights Council,
Guided by the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights and other human rights instruments,
Recalling all previous resolutions adopted by the Commission on Human Rights, the
Human Rights Council and the General Assembly on the situation of human rights in the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, including Council resolution 31/18 of 23 March
2016 and Assembly resolution 71/202 of 19 December 2016, and urging the
implementation of those resolutions,
Bearing in mind paragraph 3 of General Assembly resolution 60/251 of 15 March
2006,
Recalling its resolutions 5/1, on institution-building of the Human Rights Council,
and 5/2, on the Code of Conduct for Special Procedures Mandate Holders of the Council, of
18 June 2007, and stressing that the mandate holder shall discharge his or her duties in
accordance with those resolutions and annexes thereto,
Stressing the importance of following up on the recommendations contained in the
report of the commission of inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic
of Korea,1 which was welcomed by both the Human Rights Council and the General
Assembly, and transmitted to the relevant bodies of the United Nations, including the
Security Council,
Deeply concerned at the systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations in
the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea that, in many instances, constitute crimes
against humanity, and at the impunity of perpetrators, as described in the report of the
commission of inquiry,
1 A/HRC/25/63.
Recalling the responsibility of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to protect
its population from crimes against humanity, and noting General Assembly resolution
71/202, in which the Assembly recalled that the commission of inquiry had urged the
leadership of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to prevent and suppress crimes
against humanity and to ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted and brought to justice,
Concerned that the precarious humanitarian situation in the country is exacerbated
by the failure of the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to provide
humanitarian agencies with free and unimpeded access to all populations in need and by its
national policy priorities that, among others, prioritize military spending over citizens’
access to food,
Acknowledging General Assembly resolution 71/202, in which the Assembly
expressed grave concern about the impact of diverting resources to advance nuclear
weapons and ballistic missiles programmes on the humanitarian and human rights situation
in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and emphasizing the necessity that the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea respect and ensure the welfare and inherent dignity
of people in the country, as referred to by the Security Council in its resolution 2321 (2016)
of 30 November 2016,
Reaffirming that it is the responsibility of the Government of the Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea to ensure the full enjoyment of all human rights and
fundamental freedoms of its entire population, including by ensuring equal access to
adequate food, as well as, among others, freedom of religion or belief, freedom of
expression and freedom of association and assembly,
Recognizing that particular risk factors affect women, children, persons with
disabilities and the elderly, and the need to ensure the full enjoyment of all their human
rights and fundamental freedoms by them against neglect, abuse, exploitation and violence,
Noting with appreciation the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in December 2016, and
urging it to implement its treaty obligations,
Acknowledging the participation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in
the second universal periodic review process, noting the acceptance by the Government of
the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea of 113 out of the 268 recommendations
contained in the outcome of the review and its stated commitment to implement them and
to look into the possibility of implementing a further 58 recommendations, and
emphasizing the importance of the implementation of the recommendations in order to
address the grave human rights violations in the country,
Recognizing the important work of the treaty bodies in monitoring the
implementation of international human rights obligations, and emphasizing the need for the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to comply with its human rights obligations and to
ensure regular and timely reporting to the treaty bodies,
Noting the importance of the issue of international abductions and of the immediate
return of all abductees, expressing grave concern at the lack of positive action by the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea since the investigations on all Japanese nationals
commenced on the basis of the government-level consultations held between the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Japan in May 2014, and expecting the
resolution of all issues related to the Japanese nationals, in particular the return of all
abductees, to be achieved at the earliest possible date,
Noting also the importance of dialogue for the improvement of the human rights and
humanitarian situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,
Noting further the importance of the issue of separated families and the requests of
the Republic of Korea for confirmation of the fate of family members, and of allowing the
exchange of letters, visits to their hometowns and the holding of further reunions on a
larger scale and a regular basis,
Reaffirming the importance of States engaging fully and constructively with the
Human Rights Council, including with the universal periodic review process and other
mechanisms of the Council, for the improvement of their situation of human rights,
1. Condemns in the strongest terms the long-standing and ongoing systematic,
widespread and gross human rights violations and other human rights abuses committed in
the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and expresses its grave concern at the detailed
findings made by the commission of inquiry in its report, including:
(a) The denial of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and of
the rights to freedom of opinion, expression and association, both online and offline, which
is enforced through an absolute monopoly on information and total control over organized
social life, and arbitrary and unlawful State surveillance that permeates the private lives of
all citizens;
(b) Discrimination based on the songbun system, which classifies people on the
basis of State-assigned social class and birth, and also includes consideration of political
opinions and religion, discrimination against women, including unequal access to
employment, discriminatory laws and regulations, and violence against women;
(c) Violations of all aspects of the right to freedom of movement, including
forced assignment to State-designated places of residence and employment, often based on
the songbun system, and denial of the right to leave one’s own country;
(d) Systematic, widespread and grave violations of the right to food and related
aspects of the right to life, exacerbated by widespread hunger and malnutrition;
(e) Violations of the right to life and acts of extermination, murder, enslavement,
torture, imprisonment, rape and other grave forms of sexual violence and persecution on
political, religious and gender grounds in political prison camps and ordinary prisons, and
the widespread practice of collective punishment with harsh sentences imposed on innocent
individuals;
(f) Systematic abduction, denial of repatriation and subsequent enforced
disappearance of persons, including those from other countries, on a large scale and as a
matter of State policy;
2. Urges the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to
acknowledge its crimes and human rights violations in and outside of the country, and to
take immediate steps to end all such crimes and violations through, inter alia, the
implementation of relevant recommendations in the report of the commission of inquiry,
including, but not limited to, the following steps:
(a) To ensure the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and the
rights to freedom of opinion, expression and association, both online and offline, including
by permitting the establishment of independent newspapers and other media;
(b) To end discrimination against citizens, including State-sponsored
discrimination based on the songbun system, and to take immediate steps to ensure gender
equality and to protect women from gender-based violence;
(c) To ensure the right to freedom of movement, including the freedom to choose
one’s place of residence and employment;
(d) To promote equal access to food, including through full transparency
regarding the provision of humanitarian assistance so that such assistance is genuinely
provided to vulnerable persons;
(e) To immediately halt all human right violations relating to prison camps,
including the practice of forced labour, to dismantle all political prison camps and to release
all political prisoners, to immediately cease the practice of the arbitrary execution of
persons in custody, and to ensure that justice sector reforms provide protections for a fair
trial and due process;
(f) To resolve the issue of all persons who have been abducted or otherwise
forcibly disappeared, and their descendants, in a transparent manner, including by ensuring
their immediate return;
(g) To ensure the reunion of separated families across the border;
(h) To abolish immediately the practice of guilt-by-association punishment;
3. Recalls General Assembly resolution 71/202, in which the Assembly
expressed its very serious concern at the violations of workers’ rights, including the right to
freedom of association and effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining, the
right to strike and the prohibition of the economic exploitation of children and of any
harmful or hazardous work of children, as well as the exploitation of workers sent abroad
from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to work under conditions that reportedly
amount to forced labour;
4. Reiterates its deep concern at the commission’s findings concerning the
situation of refugees and asylum seekers returned to the Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea, and other citizens of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea who have been
repatriated from abroad and made subject to sanctions, including internment, torture, cruel,
inhumane and degrading treatment, sexual violence, enforced disappearance or the death
penalty, and in this regard strongly urges all States to respect the fundamental principle of
non-refoulement, to treat humanely those who seek refuge and to ensure unhindered access
to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights with a view to protecting the human
rights of those who seek refuge, and once again urges State parties to comply with their
obligations under international human rights law and the Convention relating to the Status
of Refugees and the Protocol thereto in relation to persons from the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea who are covered by those instruments;
5. Stresses and restates its grave concern about the commission’s finding that
the body of testimony gathered and the information received provided 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; these crimes against
humanity entail extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced
abortions and other sexual violence, persecution on political, religious, racial and gender
grounds, the forcible transfer of populations, the enforced disappearance of persons and the
inhumane act of knowingly causing prolonged starvation;
6. Stresses that the authorities of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
have failed to prosecute those responsible for crimes against humanity and other human
rights violations, and encourages the members of the international community to cooperate
with accountability efforts and to ensure that these crimes do not remain unpunished;
7. Welcomes General Assembly resolution 71/202, in which the Assembly
encouraged the Security Council to continue its consideration of the relevant conclusions
and recommendations of the commission of inquiry and to 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 the further development of 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;
8. Also welcomes the decision of the Security Council to hold a third Council
meeting on 9 December 2016, following the ones held in December 2014 and December
2015, during which the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea was discussed in the light of the serious concerns expressed in the present resolution,
and looks forward to the continued and more active engagement of the Council on this
matter;
9. Commends the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea for the activities undertaken to date and his
continued efforts in the conduct of his mandate despite the lack of access to the country;
10. Welcomes the reports of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human
rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the group of independent experts
on accountability for human rights violations in the Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea,2 submitted to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-fourth session, which
emphasized the importance of ensuring accountability for human rights violations in the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea;
11. Recalls the conclusions and recommendations made by the Special
Rapporteur and the group of independent experts on accountability, and acknowledges the
practical steps identified by the group of independent experts that can be taken immediately
to contribute to a comprehensive approach towards accountability in the Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea;
12. Decides to strengthen, for a period of two years, the capacity of the Office of
the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, including its field-based
structure in Seoul, to allow the implementation of relevant recommendations made by the
group of independent experts on accountability in its report aimed at strengthening current
monitoring and documentation efforts, establishing a central information and evidence
repository, and having experts in legal accountability assess all information and testimonies
with a view to developing possible strategies to be used in any future accountability
process;
13. Requests the High Commissioner to provide an oral update on the progress
made in this regard to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-seventh session with a view to
submitting a full report on the implementation of the said recommendations to the Council
at its fortieth session;
14. Decides to extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur of the situation of
human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, in accordance with Human
Rights Council resolution 31/18, for a period of one year;
15. Calls again upon all parties concerned, including United Nations bodies, to
consider implementation of the recommendations made by the commission of inquiry in its
report in order to address the dire situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea;
2 A/HRC/34/66 and Add.1.
16. Encourages the continuing endeavours of the field-based structure of the
Office of the High Commissioner in Seoul, and welcomes its regular reports to the Human
Rights Council;
17. Recalls the report of the High Commissioner on the role and achievements of
the Office with regard to the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic
of Korea submitted to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-first session,3 and invites the
High Commissioner to provide the Council with regular updates on the issue;
18. Calls upon all States to undertake to ensure that the field-based structure of
the Office of the High Commissioner can function with independence, that it has sufficient
resources to fulfil its mandate, that it enjoys full cooperation with relevant Member States
and that it is not subjected to any reprisals or threats;
19. Requests the Office of the High Commissioner to report on its follow-up
efforts in the regular annual report of the Secretary-General submitted to the General
Assembly on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea;
20. Requests the Special Rapporteur to submit regular reports to the Human
Rights Council and to the General Assembly on the implementation of his mandate,
including on the follow-up efforts made in the implementation of the recommendations of
the commission of inquiry;
21. Urges the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,
through continuous dialogues, to invite and to cooperate fully with all special procedure
mandate holders, especially the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, to give the Special Rapporteur and supporting
staff unrestricted access to visit the country, and to provide them with all information
necessary to enable them to fulfil such a mandate, and also to promote technical
cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner;
22. Encourages the United Nations system, including its specialized agencies,
States, regional intergovernmental organizations, interested institutions, independent
experts and non-governmental organizations to develop constructive dialogue and
cooperation with special procedure mandate holders, including the Special Rapporteur on
the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and the field-
based structure of the Office of the High Commissioner;
23. Encourages all States, the United Nations Secretariat, including relevant
specialized agencies, regional intergovernmental organizations and forums, civil society
organizations, foundations and engaged business enterprises and other stakeholders towards
which the commission of inquiry has directed recommendations to take forward those
recommendations;
24. Encourages the United Nations system as a whole to continue to address the
grave situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic in a coordinated and
unified manner;
25. Encourages all States that have relations with the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea to use their influence to encourage it to take immediate steps to end all
human rights violations, including by closing political prison camps and undertaking
profound institutional reforms;
26. Requests the Secretary-General to provide the Special Rapporteur and the
Office of the High Commissioner with regard to the field-based structure with all the
3 A/HRC/31/38.
assistance and adequate staffing necessary to carry out the mandate effectively, and to
ensure that the mandate holder receives the support of the Office of the High
Commissioner;
27. Decides to transmit all reports of the Special Rapporteur to all relevant bodies
of the United Nations and to the Secretary-General for appropriate action.
57th meeting
24 March 2017
[Adopted without a vote.]