ID :
101868
Fri, 01/22/2010 - 22:43
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/101868
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U.N. rapporteur alarmed by food, medicine shortage in N. Korea
TOKYO, Jan. 22 Kyodo -
A U.N. independent investigator on the human rights situation in North Korea
sounded the alarm Friday about the shortage of basic necessities such as food
and medical supplies in the reclusive country, which has seen international aid
decline following its nuclear and missile tests carried out last year.
U.N. special rapporteur Vitit Muntarbhorn, who is on his last visit to Japan
before his six-year term expires in the summer, told a press conference that
the human rights situation in the North is ''extremely grave,'' with continued
suppression of political dissidents, public executions and severe punishment of
asylum seekers and their families.
The Thai investigator also said Pyongyang has been exacerbating the human
rights situation by implementing currency redenomination, which in his opinion
is targeted at ''the elimination of the market system'' and ''pushing people
back to the former dependency syndrome'' by bolstering state control.
The redenomination of the won was introduced late last year for the first time
in 17 years, setting the exchange rate between the old and new currency at 100
to 1.
Muntarbhorn said people are reportedly desperate to get rid of old money and
are punished if they do not exchange the money through state authorities.
''There is no guarantee that they will be given the full equivalent anyway,''
he said, describing the condition as ''state extortion from people.''
The law professor at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, who has been serving
on the U.N. pro bono mission since July 2004, said although the U.N. sanction
adopted after the North's second nuclear test in May last year does not bar
humanitarian aid, international assistance has declined as a result of
''sovereign choice'' of donor countries that mistrust Pyongyang.
He also said despite the arrival of the H1N1 flu in the North, there is a
shortage of medicine.
Muntarbhorn claimed in an interview Kyodo News following the news conference
that Pyongyang has been restricting activities of the World Food Program, which
aims to deliver food to more than 6 million people but currently only covers
less than 2 million.
In 2008, the U.N. agency had access to about 150 counties, but the number sank
to 50 to 60 in 2009, he said.
Pyongyang also tightened conditions for those monitoring the WFP's food aid
process last year, as it required a seven-day advance notice instead of a
24-hour notice, the rapporteur said.
Turning to the issue of Pyongyang's past abductions of Japanese nationals in
the 1970s and 1980s, Muntarbhorn expressed sympathy to the abductees' families
and called for an early return of them.
''What is so sad and tragic about the pain and suffering is that it is
unending. People don't know what's happened and they can't stop their grief,''
he said at the press conference. ''Several families and several parents face
the aging issue. We want them to see the day when the information, the
circumstances will be clear about what happened and the return of their loved
ones.''
''We would like to see effective and expeditious ways of resolving this issue,
which makes it all the more important that the talks resume,'' the investigator
said, referring to the Japan-North Korea working-level talks that were last held
in August 2008.
He urged Pyongyang to ''set a concrete time frame and take concrete actions in
order to resolve the abductions issue as soon as possible, ensuring the
immediate return of Japanese and other abductees'' in a media statement. The
academic said he will include the demand in his upcoming final report to be
submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council in March.
During his stay in Japan, Muntarbhorn visited Obama, Fukui Prefecture, where
two Japanese were abducted, and met with abductees' kin, including Shigeru and
Sakie Yokota, whose daughter Megumi was abducted by North Korean agents in 1977
at age 13.
The investigator said having a personal access to abduction victims was one of
the most striking experiences during his six-year term. Even though he was
denied by North Korea to enter the country, Muntarbhorn said he has been able
to cover the situation in the North comprehensively through various sources
including aid workers and refugees.
==Kyodo
A U.N. independent investigator on the human rights situation in North Korea
sounded the alarm Friday about the shortage of basic necessities such as food
and medical supplies in the reclusive country, which has seen international aid
decline following its nuclear and missile tests carried out last year.
U.N. special rapporteur Vitit Muntarbhorn, who is on his last visit to Japan
before his six-year term expires in the summer, told a press conference that
the human rights situation in the North is ''extremely grave,'' with continued
suppression of political dissidents, public executions and severe punishment of
asylum seekers and their families.
The Thai investigator also said Pyongyang has been exacerbating the human
rights situation by implementing currency redenomination, which in his opinion
is targeted at ''the elimination of the market system'' and ''pushing people
back to the former dependency syndrome'' by bolstering state control.
The redenomination of the won was introduced late last year for the first time
in 17 years, setting the exchange rate between the old and new currency at 100
to 1.
Muntarbhorn said people are reportedly desperate to get rid of old money and
are punished if they do not exchange the money through state authorities.
''There is no guarantee that they will be given the full equivalent anyway,''
he said, describing the condition as ''state extortion from people.''
The law professor at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, who has been serving
on the U.N. pro bono mission since July 2004, said although the U.N. sanction
adopted after the North's second nuclear test in May last year does not bar
humanitarian aid, international assistance has declined as a result of
''sovereign choice'' of donor countries that mistrust Pyongyang.
He also said despite the arrival of the H1N1 flu in the North, there is a
shortage of medicine.
Muntarbhorn claimed in an interview Kyodo News following the news conference
that Pyongyang has been restricting activities of the World Food Program, which
aims to deliver food to more than 6 million people but currently only covers
less than 2 million.
In 2008, the U.N. agency had access to about 150 counties, but the number sank
to 50 to 60 in 2009, he said.
Pyongyang also tightened conditions for those monitoring the WFP's food aid
process last year, as it required a seven-day advance notice instead of a
24-hour notice, the rapporteur said.
Turning to the issue of Pyongyang's past abductions of Japanese nationals in
the 1970s and 1980s, Muntarbhorn expressed sympathy to the abductees' families
and called for an early return of them.
''What is so sad and tragic about the pain and suffering is that it is
unending. People don't know what's happened and they can't stop their grief,''
he said at the press conference. ''Several families and several parents face
the aging issue. We want them to see the day when the information, the
circumstances will be clear about what happened and the return of their loved
ones.''
''We would like to see effective and expeditious ways of resolving this issue,
which makes it all the more important that the talks resume,'' the investigator
said, referring to the Japan-North Korea working-level talks that were last held
in August 2008.
He urged Pyongyang to ''set a concrete time frame and take concrete actions in
order to resolve the abductions issue as soon as possible, ensuring the
immediate return of Japanese and other abductees'' in a media statement. The
academic said he will include the demand in his upcoming final report to be
submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council in March.
During his stay in Japan, Muntarbhorn visited Obama, Fukui Prefecture, where
two Japanese were abducted, and met with abductees' kin, including Shigeru and
Sakie Yokota, whose daughter Megumi was abducted by North Korean agents in 1977
at age 13.
The investigator said having a personal access to abduction victims was one of
the most striking experiences during his six-year term. Even though he was
denied by North Korea to enter the country, Muntarbhorn said he has been able
to cover the situation in the North comprehensively through various sources
including aid workers and refugees.
==Kyodo
