The ICC and Crimes Against Humanity in North Korea
A side event at the 15th Session of the Assembly of States Parties of the ICC
Monday, 21 November 2016, 13:00-15:00
The Hague Marriott Hotel A1Room (address: Johan De Wittlaan 30 2517 JR Den Haag)
(Lunch provided from 12:30)
- ORGANISER: ICNK (International Coalition to Stop Crimes against Humanity in North Korea)
- CO-ORGANISERS: Geoffrey Nice Foundation on Law, History, Politics and Society in the Context of Mass Atrocities, Giordano Bruno Foundation
- CO-HOST: Embassy of the Republic of Korea to the Kingdom of the Netherlands
SPEAKERS (in the order of presentation)
• Kim Hyeong Soo, a defector who used to work at the Kim’s Family Health Care and Longevity Institute
• Eunkyoung Kwon, Secretary General of ICNK
• David Hawk, Member of ICNK Steering Committee and author on North Korea's Hidden Gulag
• Nicolai Sprekels, Giordano-Bruno-Foundation/Chairman of Saram e.v.
• Sir Geoffrey Nice, Prosecutor of Slobodan Milošević at the ICTY/Co-founder of Geoffrey Nice Foundation
MODERATOR • Dr. Nevenka TROMP, University of Amsterdam
TOPICS
• Appropriate strategies to ensure accountability for crimes against humanity committed by the authorities of the DPRK, especially through the International Criminal Court
• Victims’ testimonies on human rights abuse - such as torture, enforced disappearance and other inhumane acts amount to crimes against humanity - and criticism about the DPRK authorities responsible for such violation of human rights law
• National mechanisms to exploit labour, which is allegedly pertinent to enslavement
• Crimes against humanity committed in political prison camps, detention facilities and other institutions responsible for crimes against humanity
• Why the soft diplomacy will not "open up" DPRK and is actually supporting - unintended – the Human Rights Crimes by the Regime
• Referral to the ICC and the alternatives
In March 2016, stimulated by a recommendation of the Commission of Inquiry, the UN Human Rights Council established a group of independent experts to explore appropriate ways to seek accountability for crimes against humanity committed in the DPRK. The experts were asked to recommend mechanisms of accountability to secure truth and justice for the victims of such atrocities, including a referral to the ICC. The ‘side event’ on DPRK, to take place at the Assembly of States Parties Conference, will address the widespread and systematic attacks directed against civilians in the DPRK including torture, enforced disappearance, enslavement, and other inhumane acts. In addition to addressing possibilities of an ICC referral, this panel will also consider other available approaches how to stop human right abuses in DPRK and how to hold to account those responsible for these abuses.
