UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

21 October 2013

PUBLIC HEARINGS : The UN-mandated commission investigating the human rights situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) will hold public hearings on Wednesday , 23 October, at Central Hall Westminster in the “William Sangster Room” , aimed at gathering information from witnesses on rights violations alleged to have occurred in the Asian nation. The hearings will take place from 1 to 7 p.m .

Media are able to cover the hearings in their entirety. While there is no need to pre-register to attend the hearings, we ask media wishing to do so to inform us of your attendance by tomorrow, Tuesday, 22 October by sending an email to coidprkmedia@ohchr.org and rgomez@ohchr.org with the e-mail subject of “PUBLIC HEARING”. Please write your name, affiliation, total number of participants, and contact information including phone number and e-mail address.

PRESS CONFERENCE : Michael Kirby, Chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry, and Sonja Biserko, Member of the Commission, will hold a press conference following the completion of the hearings. The press conference will take place on Thursday, 24 October, at 2 pm . at the Media Suite of the Foreign Commonwealth Office , King Charles St, London, SW1A 2AH. Media wishing to attend the press conference, please reply to newsdesk@fco.gov.uk. Please respond by 3 pm on Wednesday 23 October. Please arrive at the FCO main reception no later than 1:45 pm and remember to bring photo ID with you. If you wish to transfer your invite to another individual in your organisation, please contact sophie.benger@fco.gov.uk beforehand.

Victims and witnesses providing testimonies to the Commission will speak about summary executions, torture and arbitrary detention, human trafficking and sexual violence, stateless children, human rights violations in the military and religious persecution. Further details about the witnesses will be available at the time of the public hearings.

In addition to the public hearings, the Commission members will meet with senior UK government officials, representatives of non-governmental organisations including Amnesty International and Christian Solidarity Worldwide, and experts with knowledge about the human rights situation in the DPRK.

UN Media contacts:
Rolando Gómez, +41.79.477.4411 (Geneva mobile) or rgomez@ohchr.org
Karen Davies, +32 473 26 22 55 (Brussels mobile) or davies@unric.org
Media requests can also be sent through to coidprkmedia@ohchr.org