ID :
382441
Mon, 10/05/2015 - 04:34
Auther :

U.N. special rapporteur calls for regular inter-Korean family reunions

By Chang Jae-soon WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 (Yonhap) -- The U.N. special rapporteur on North Korea's human rights situation has called for regular reunions of families separated since the Korean War, calling the situation "very disconcerting." Special Rapporteur Marzuki Darusman made the appeal in a report to the U.N. General Assembly, stressing that for older generations "even a delay of one or two years means that their chance of seeing their relatives may be lost forever." Since the first-ever summit of their leaders in 2000, the two Koreas have held temporary family reunions on an irregular basis. Such reunions were sometimes long suspended when political and security tensions rose. The last family reunions were held in February last year. Last month, the two Koreas agreed to hold a new round of reunions in late October. But its prospects were thrown into doubt after Pyongyang later threatened to scrap the agreement citing Seoul's criticism of the North. "As of May 2015, of the 129,668 applicants for the reunions arranged by the Red Cross societies of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea since 2000, only 1,956 had benefited from face-to-face meetings and 279 from video reunions," Darusman said in the report. "Most strikingly, nearly half of the applicants (62,028) have passed away during the past 15 years owing to their advanced age. The special rapporteur finds the situation very disconcerting and sincerely hopes that regular family reunions will resume without delay," he said. Darusman urged the North to allow separated families to reunite without delay and use unmonitored communication facilities, such as telephone, mail and e-mail. In the Sept. 8-dated report, which was posted on the U.N. website this weekend, the special rapporteur also renewed his calls for the U.N. Security Council to refer the communist nation to the International Criminal Court for human rights abuses. "Efforts must be undertaken to ensure the accountability of those responsible for human rights violations, including through referral by the Security Council of the situation in the country to the International Criminal Court, while continuously seeking engagement with the authorities to bring relief to the people of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," he said in the report. The report included the latest developments in the North's human rights abuses, such as summary executions, abductions, arbitrary detention and exploitation of its people working overseas. "More than ever, the international community should stay the course in its efforts to address the human rights situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea profoundly and meaningfully," the special rapporteur said. "Victims and their relatives, both inside and outside the country, have suffered for far too long, and their demands for justice and accountability cannot go unheeded," he said. Darusman said the General Assembly should reiterate its condemnation of the "long-standing and ongoing systematic, widespread and gross violations of human rights" in the North and reaffirm the international community's responsibility to protect North Korean people from crimes against humanity. He also urged Pyongyang to immediately halt all human rights violations, dismantle all political prison camps, allow all abductees to return to their countries and engage genuinely in bilateral talks with South Korea on issues of mutual interest. jschang@yna.co.kr (END)

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