U.N. panel passes resolution to condemn North Korea’s human rights violations

SEOUL, Nov. 16 (UPI) — A United Nations committee has adopted a resolution that condemns North Korea’s human rights violations.

The U.N. Third Committee passed the resolution by consensus without a vote. The resolution, titled “Situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” led by Japan and the European Union, will be handed to General Assembly next month for 14 consecutive years since 2005.

The South Korean government is one of the 61 participating countries that took part in drawing up the resolution.

“The adopted resolution highlights the importance of dialogue and engagement to improve human rights and humanitarian situations in the North while welcoming ongoing diplomatic efforts,” Seoul’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday.

North Korea “resolutely and totally” rejected the draft, calling it a “product of a political plot of hostile forces trying to overthrow the social system,” according to the U.N. Third Committee.

North Korean Ambassador to the U.N. Kim Sung denounced the European Union and Japan for instigating a confrontation by tabling the text. He called Japan a criminal state that had occupied the Korean Peninsula during World War II and said Europe is home for “crimes against humanity” with Islamophobia, xenophobia and refugee crisis.

North Korea remains one of the most repressive, totalitarian states. According to Amnesty International, the country restricts freedom of expression and freedom of movement and some 120,000 people are arbitrarily detained in political prison camps.