ID :
52479
Fri, 03/27/2009 - 08:25
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/52479
The shortlink copeid
U.N. Commission adopts resolution condemning N. Korea's rights condition
GENEVA, March 26 (Yonhap) -- The United Nations Commission on Human Rights Thursday adopted a resolution condemning human rights abuses in North Korea and demanding that the reclusive communist state allow entry of a U.N. special rapporteur.
The resolution, co-sponsored by the European Union and South Korea, was approved
by a vote of 26-6 with 15 abstentions at a commission meeting at the U.N.
headquarters here.
Among the opposition were China and Russia, often been under fire themselves for
alleged human rights violations in Tibet, Chechnya and other separatist
provinces.
It is the second time in just a few months that South Korea co-sponsored a U.N.
resolution against North Korea's human rights violations.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry said, "Human rights is a common value of the human
being and should be separated from other issues and dealt with for itself."
South Korea co-sponsored another resolution, approved by the U.N. General
Assembly in December, that urged North Korea to "respect fully all human rights
and fundamental freedoms" by "immediately putting an end to the systematic,
widespread and grave violations of human rights."
North Korea has been at odds with the conservative Lee Myung-bak government,
which has raised concerns over North Korea's human rights conditions and pledged
not to seek inter-Korean reconciliation unless the North make progress in the
multilateral talks on ending its nuclear ambitions.
Unlike Lee, who took office in February last year, his liberal predecessors had
been reluctant to endorse or initiate any resolution on North Korea's human
rights records for fear of provoking the isolated communist neighbor, with which
Seoul is seeking denuclearization and eventual reunification.
Lee's immediate predecessor, Roh Moo-hyun, zigzagged on the sensitive rights
issue. Roh's government abstained on a vote for a similar resolution in 2005,
voted for it in 2006 soon after North Korea's detonation of its first nuclear
device, then stepped back to abstain in 2007.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
The resolution, co-sponsored by the European Union and South Korea, was approved
by a vote of 26-6 with 15 abstentions at a commission meeting at the U.N.
headquarters here.
Among the opposition were China and Russia, often been under fire themselves for
alleged human rights violations in Tibet, Chechnya and other separatist
provinces.
It is the second time in just a few months that South Korea co-sponsored a U.N.
resolution against North Korea's human rights violations.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry said, "Human rights is a common value of the human
being and should be separated from other issues and dealt with for itself."
South Korea co-sponsored another resolution, approved by the U.N. General
Assembly in December, that urged North Korea to "respect fully all human rights
and fundamental freedoms" by "immediately putting an end to the systematic,
widespread and grave violations of human rights."
North Korea has been at odds with the conservative Lee Myung-bak government,
which has raised concerns over North Korea's human rights conditions and pledged
not to seek inter-Korean reconciliation unless the North make progress in the
multilateral talks on ending its nuclear ambitions.
Unlike Lee, who took office in February last year, his liberal predecessors had
been reluctant to endorse or initiate any resolution on North Korea's human
rights records for fear of provoking the isolated communist neighbor, with which
Seoul is seeking denuclearization and eventual reunification.
Lee's immediate predecessor, Roh Moo-hyun, zigzagged on the sensitive rights
issue. Roh's government abstained on a vote for a similar resolution in 2005,
voted for it in 2006 soon after North Korea's detonation of its first nuclear
device, then stepped back to abstain in 2007.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
