ID :
49000
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 04:25
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/49000
The shortlink copeid
N. Korea calls U.S. 'champion of human rights violations'
SEOUL, March 4 (Yonhap) -- North Korea slammed a recent U.S. human rights report that criticized serious abuses by the communist state, saying the United States is "the champion of human rights violations."
The latest Human Rights Record published by the U.S. government last week mainly
blasted China for what it called a worsening rights situation, but it also
described North Korea as a "dictatorship" where prison conditions are harsh,
torture occurs and pregnant female prisoners undergo forced abortions.
Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper published by the North's ruling Workers' Party, said
the U.S. is not in a position to admonish other countries.
"The U.S. has its finger in every pie in the human rights issue when it touches
upon other countries who are against its taste," the newspaper said in a
commentary carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
"Such behavior is absurd and ludicrous," it said, "The U.S. is the champion of
human rights violations."
The paper cited the case of Guantanamo Bay, a military prison the U.S. government
has run on the shore of Cuba since 1987 and now plans to shut down within a year
in the face of criticism from human rights watchers. It also condemned the U.S.
invasion of Iraq in 2003, claiming the conflict killed numerous innocent Iraqi
citizens.
"It is the U.S. imperialists who deserve to be called an evil murderer and a gang
of barbarians," it said.
North Korea also fired back against "serious concerns" expressed by South Korea
over its human rights record in a session of the U.N. Human Rights Council in
Geneva on Tuesday. Such remarks "instigate confrontation and hatred," Choe
Myong-nam, a councilor with the North's diplomatic mission to Geneva, said. He
blasted Seoul for violating the spirit of landmark inter-Korean summits, in which
the Koreas agreed to maintain mutual respect and cooperation on reunification, by
denunciations of the North's internal issues.
The Seoul government said it criticizes North Korea "with care."
"Our government views the North Korean human rights issue as a universal value,"
Unification Minister Hyun In-taek said in a press meeting. "I believe the
criticism that our government made with care should be seen from a universal
humanitarian perspective."
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
The latest Human Rights Record published by the U.S. government last week mainly
blasted China for what it called a worsening rights situation, but it also
described North Korea as a "dictatorship" where prison conditions are harsh,
torture occurs and pregnant female prisoners undergo forced abortions.
Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper published by the North's ruling Workers' Party, said
the U.S. is not in a position to admonish other countries.
"The U.S. has its finger in every pie in the human rights issue when it touches
upon other countries who are against its taste," the newspaper said in a
commentary carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
"Such behavior is absurd and ludicrous," it said, "The U.S. is the champion of
human rights violations."
The paper cited the case of Guantanamo Bay, a military prison the U.S. government
has run on the shore of Cuba since 1987 and now plans to shut down within a year
in the face of criticism from human rights watchers. It also condemned the U.S.
invasion of Iraq in 2003, claiming the conflict killed numerous innocent Iraqi
citizens.
"It is the U.S. imperialists who deserve to be called an evil murderer and a gang
of barbarians," it said.
North Korea also fired back against "serious concerns" expressed by South Korea
over its human rights record in a session of the U.N. Human Rights Council in
Geneva on Tuesday. Such remarks "instigate confrontation and hatred," Choe
Myong-nam, a councilor with the North's diplomatic mission to Geneva, said. He
blasted Seoul for violating the spirit of landmark inter-Korean summits, in which
the Koreas agreed to maintain mutual respect and cooperation on reunification, by
denunciations of the North's internal issues.
The Seoul government said it criticizes North Korea "with care."
"Our government views the North Korean human rights issue as a universal value,"
Unification Minister Hyun In-taek said in a press meeting. "I believe the
criticism that our government made with care should be seen from a universal
humanitarian perspective."
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
