UN Inquiry Chief Rejects N. Korean ‘Charm Offensive’

A judge who led a United Nations inquiry into North Korea’s human rights record says the North should be prosecuted in the International Criminal Court for its dismal record.

 

Retired Australian Judge Michael Kirby spoke to reporters Wednesday in New York, ahead of a decision next month by a U.N. committee on whether to refer Pyongyang to the ICC for alleged crimes against humanity.

 

The European Union and Japan have circulated a draft resolution to a General Assembly rights committee that seeks a possible referral to the Hague-based court.

 

Kirby referred to recent North Korean concessions, including the release Tuesday of American Jeffrey Fowle, as part of a “charm offensive” aimed at diverting attention from what the international community sees as a long history of rights abuses by the North.

 

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