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North Korea's Systematic Rights Violations May Amount to Crimes Against
Humanity, UN Says

Lisa Schlein

   GENEVA - A report by the UN Human Rights Office accuses North Korea of
   systematic, widespread human rights violations to maintain control over
   the population, which UN officials say may amount to crimes against
   humanity.

   Hundreds of people who escaped from the Democratic People's Republic of
   Korea were interviewed for this report. UN monitors say the information
   gathered from their testimony provides reasonable grounds to believe
   crimes against humanity are being committed in the country's prison
   system.

   UN human rights spokeswoman, Ravina Shamdasani, tells VOA crimes
   against humanity continue in the ordinary prison system. She says there
   are credible accounts of systematic infliction of torture or other
   forms of severe physical and mental pain suffered by detainees.

   "We have found that seven years on from a UN investigation, which found
   that horrible crimes against humanity were being committed in the DPRK,
   including murder, enslavement, torture, enforced disappearances--we
   have found that seven years later, not much has changed," said
   Shamdasani. "Possible crimes against humanity are continuing and
   ongoing and there has been no accountability for the past crimes that
   were documented."

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