NAN-F-26
Evidence
Geneva, March 24, 2017 (dpa/NAN) UN Human Rights Council is to take concrete steps to collect evidence of grave human rights violations in North Korea to prepare grounds for trials in the future.
The UN body on Friday in Geneva decided to strengthen the human rights office in Seoul with additional staff to help monitor and document alleged crimes against humanity in North Korea.
The council set up a central repository for evidence in Geneva.
UN experts should also assess all the available information to develop legal strategies for future trials against North Korean officials and leaders, the council said in a resolution.
A UN investigation concluded in 2014 that North Korea’s top leadership is involved in atrocities including mass imprisonment, enslavement, abductions, murder and starvation.
The UN Security Council in New York, which includes North Korea’s ally China, has not taken steps to prosecute and try these alleged crimes against humanity.
Although the UN Human Rights Council has no power to launch such trials, it has been pushing ahead preparations in case prosecutions are launched in the future.
(dpa/NAN)
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Edited by Celine-Damilola Oyewole/Sadiya Hamza