\n
When they eventually did, her mother said to her, \u201cIf you are going to die anyway, better to be shot crossing the two-mile border than starve here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shortly thereafter they fled from the Democratic People\u2019s Republic of Korea, more commonly known as North Korea.<\/p>\n
Ms. Kim gave testimony to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday during a meeting convened to discuss human rights abuses and violations in DPRK: \u201cThe human rights situation in the country has been of grave concern for years, and, in many respects, is deteriorating,\u201d Ilze Brands Kehris, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, told delegates.<\/p>\n
The representative from DPRK denounced the meeting, insisting that the information presented was a \u201cfabrication.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wide-ranging abuses<\/h2>\n
North Koreans have been forced to exist in \u201cabsolute isolation\u201d for many years, according to UN Special Rapporteur on human rights for the country, Elizabeth Salm\u00f3n.<\/p>\n
The independent UN Human Rights Council-appointed expert said this isolation has exacerbated the impact of multiple rights violations which include forced labour systems, infringement on freedom of expression and movement, torture and the forced disappearance of hundreds of thousands of civilians.<\/p>\n
The DPRK has also denied entry to humanitarian aid despite UN data which suggests that it is desperately needed \u2013 11.8 million people, or 45 per cent of the population, are estimated to be undernourished and more than half the population lacks adequate sanitation.<\/p>\n
Instead of social services, Pyongyang has prioritized militarisation, exacerbating human rights violations, said the Special Rapporteur.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the DPRK expands its extreme militarization policies, it exacerbates the extensive reliance on forced labour and quota systems, showing how peace, security and human rights are strongly interrelated,\u201d Ms. Salm\u00f3n said.<\/p>\n
\u2018Please do not turn away\u2019<\/h2>\n
Ms. Kim pleaded with delegates and UN officials to take action.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease do not turn away from the innocent lives being lost in North Korea and elsewhere. Silence is complicity<\/strong>,\u201d she said.<\/p>\nMs. Kehris noted that the international community has taken many steps in past decades to address ongoing human rights abuses in the DPRK but that these actions have failed the change the status quo.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven the gravity and scale of the violations, and inability or unwillingness of the [DPRK] to pursue accountability, international accountability options must be considered, including referral of the situation to the International Criminal Court,<\/strong>\u201d she said.<\/p>\nDespite such challenges, the senior official did note that Pyongyang has shown \u201cincreased willingness\u201d to engage with her office, OHCHR.<\/p>\n
In September, OHCHR is due to present a report to the Human Rights Council which will make new proposals on improving the situation.<\/p>\n
In her remarks, Ms. Salm\u00f3n insisted that long-term accountability for the DPRK must go hand in hand with peace.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeace is a foundation for human rights. Human rights cannot thrive without peace. In this rapidly developing political climate, we must act together to prevent geopolitical tensions from destabilizing the Korean Peninsula,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Hope for the future<\/h2>\n
It has been more than 25 years since Ms. Kim fled: \u201cOne day, I hope to return to North Korea, hand in hand with my daughters, to show them a North Korea not defined by control and fear but filled with freedom and hope,<\/strong>\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
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