Sim Farar
Public Delegate
New York, New York
November 17, 2021
AS DELIVERED
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
The United States thanks the European Union for introducing this resolution and for its emphasis on the importance of promoting accountability for human rights violations and abuses committed by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The United States is proud to co-sponsor this resolution.
The human rights and humanitarian situations in the DPRK remain dire. The UN Commission of Inquiry’s findings remain relevant to understanding the situation in the DPRK today. Those findings detail human rights violations and abuses that the COI describes as “systematic, widespread, and gross,” including those involving “extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortion and other sexual violence, persecution of political, religious, racial and gender groups, the forcible transfer of populations, and the enforced disappearance of persons and the inhumane act of knowingly causing prolonged starvation.” These egregious human rights violations and abuses have been exacerbated by the DPRK’s full-scale border shutdown, internal travel restrictions, and restricted imports of humanitarian supplies.
The DPRK government’s repressive actions extend beyond its own borders, and the United States condemns its involvement in international abductions, forced disappearances, and deportations. We welcome the resolution’s acknowledgment of the pressure the DPRK government exerts on other States to forcibly return refugees and asylum seekers, and we remain gravely concerned about the reported use of torture and compulsory abortions following forced repatriations to the DPRK.
We urge the Government of the DPRK to demonstrate respect for human rights, honor its commitments to implementing recommendations from Universal Periodic Reviews, and cooperate with the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the DPRK.
Thank you, Chairperson.
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