كلمة السيدة فلافيا بانسيري، نائبة المفوضة السامية لحقوق الإنسان، في الاجتماع الجانبي أثناء الدورة الخامسة والعشرين لمجلس حقوق الإنسان، الذي نظمته منظمة رصد حقوق الإنسان

"Now We Know"
 Victims of North Korean Abuses Respond

17 March 2014

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you for inviting me to this event, “Now We Know: The Victims Respond.”   The High Commissioner and I welcome this effort to amplify the discussion in the Human Rights Council today of the human rights situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The Commission's report, released last month, includes multiple excerpts of witness testimony and individual cases. Some of them will share their experiences with you this evening. 

The detailed and scrupulous work of the Commission has alerted the world as never before to the crimes that have been committed as a result of policies established at the highest level of the DPRK's government.  And its work was achieved thanks to survivors: victims who courageously spoke up about the unspeakable abuses and deprivations they had endured.

The High Commissioner and I salute the victims who testified during the Commission of Inquiry, and those who took part in the confidential interviews. Your perseverance, your courage in bearing witness, and your resilience have sounded the alarm. You have bravely given voice to those who perished, as well as to those who are not able to tell the story of what they endured.

These include well over 200,000 persons, some of them children, have been abducted from other countries and taken to the DRPK.  Many have never been heard of again. Countless numbers of North Koreans have been starved to death through wilful and misguided government policies. Others have been enslaved, tortured and killed. Hundreds of thousands of political prisoners are believed to have perished in the country’s brutal camp system in the past five decades, with an estimated 80,000 to 120,000 political prisoners still trapped to this day.  Women have suffered despicable sexual violence; pregnant women have had their unborn children forcefully removed from their bodies.  Those seeking to leave the country are at risk of trafficking, exploitation, refoulement and unforgiving punishment upon return.

The nature of the system in DPRK means that almost the entire population must live in fear that they or their loved ones may fall victim to the arbitrary actions of the state.

These findings must  be treated with the greatest urgency. There must be a stop to these violations, with redress for the victims and accountability for the violators.

As the Commission Chair Justice Kirby has said so forcefully, now we know -- and now we must act. I hope today’s discussions can result in suggestions for immediate, practical steps to this end, taking as a guide the detailed and far-reaching recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry, and doing justice to the powerful voices of the victims and survivors who have come before you.

Thank you