MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on Human rights situation in North Korea, including the persecution of religious minorities

5.4.2022 - (2022/2620(RSP))

with request for inclusion in the agenda for a debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law
pursuant to Rule 144 of the Rules of Procedure

Susana Solís Pérez, Abir Al‑Sahlani, Petras Auštrevičius, Malik Azmani, Izaskun Bilbao Barandica, Dita Charanzová, Olivier Chastel, Laurence Farreng, Vlad Gheorghe, Klemen Grošelj, Bernard Guetta, Irena Joveva, Karin Karlsbro, Ilhan Kyuchyuk, Javier Nart, Urmas Paet, Dragoş Pîslaru, Frédérique Ries, María Soraya Rodríguez Ramos, Michal Šimečka, Nicolae Ştefănuță, Ramona Strugariu, Dragoş Tudorache, Hilde Vautmans
on behalf of the Renew Group

See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B9-0183/2022

NB: This motion for a resolution is available in the original language only.

B9‑0193/2022

European Parliament resolution on Human rights situation in North Korea, including the persecution of religious minorities

(2022/2620(RSP))

The European Parliament,

−  having regard to its previous resolutions on North Korea,

 

−  having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, to all of which the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is a party,

 

−  having regard to the 1984 Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,

 

−  having regard to the UN General Assembly resolution of 16 December 2021 on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,

 

−  having regard to the UN Report of the Secretary-General of 28 July 2021 on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,

 

−  having regard to the Report of 1 March 2021 by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,

 

−  having regard to the UN Security Council Resolution 2397 (2017) of 22 December 2017,

 

−  having regard to the report of the Commission of Inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea of 7 February 2014,

 

−  having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948,

 

−  having regard to Rules 144(5) and 132(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

 

 

1. whereas the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights information indicates that there are reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity have been committed in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and are likely to be ongoing;
2. whereas there are reports of evidence for serious human rights violations that have targeted individuals and communities in the DPRK for their political views and religious beliefs, such as arbitrary arrest and detention, forced labour, torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, sexual violence, the denial of fair trail , the denial of the principle of non-refoulement, the denial of the right to life;
3. whereas the DPRK has an extensive and well-structured security system which closely monitors the life of virtually every citizen and does not allow any kind of basic freedom in the country;
4. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has been used by the DPRK to further isolate the country from the outside world, resulting in  exacerbated entrenched human rights violations and the negative impact on its peoples health;
5. whereas the DPRK has so far resisted delivery of COVID-19 vaccines through channels such as COVAX and is still one of few countries in the world that has not started a proper vaccination roll out which would be in violation of the right to health;
6. whereas the DPRK has continued to pursue its nuclear capabilities and ballistic missiles programme which has been recently demonstrated by the  increase in missile testing at the beginning of 2022;
7. whereas the DPRK government does not respect the principle of rule of law and does not allow any political opposition, free and fair elections, free media, religious freedom, freedom of association, collective bargaining or freedom of movement;
8. whereas the people of the DPRK have been exposed to decades of under-development, with poor health care and high levels of maternal and child malnutrition, in a context of political and economic isolation and food and fuel shortages;
9. whereas the conflict between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea is ongoing , despite Korean Armistice Agreement signed on the 27th of July 1953;

 

 

1. Strongly condemns all violations of human rights in the DPRK and calls its government to immediately end  the use of  systematic widespread and gross violations of human rights as political tools to control and monitor its own population, which offers reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity are being committed;
2. Emphasizes the importance of the full implementation of the recommendations established by the United Nations Human Rights Council Commission of Inquiry for the DPRK report, and reiterates its grave concerns with the findings contained therein; welcomes the renewal of the mandate of the special rapporteur on the situation on human rights in the DPRK;
3. Expresses strong concern over recent reports of increased persecution of minority groups in the DPRK, including persecution on the grounds of belief or religion; condemns these persecutions and calls for their immediate cessation;
4. Condemns the severe restrictions on the freedoms of thought, conscience, religion or belief, opinion and expression, peaceful assembly and association, as well as discrimination based on the songbun system which classifies people on the basis of state-assigned social class and birth;
5. Condemns the severe, unnecessary and extreme measures the North Korean government put in place nominally to protect against Covid-19, which further restricts inherently repressed rights to food and health, and rights to freedom of movement and freedom of expression and information;
6. Calls on the DPRK to allow its people full access to civil rights such as freedom of expression, press freedom for national and international media and to allow its citizens uncensored access to information;
7. Strongly condemns the DPRKs nuclear aspirations and especially its recent missile test launches, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) which are in violation of security council resolutions;
8. Urges the DPRK government to stop its state-sponsored forced labour programme under which foreign countries have benefitted from tens of thousands of North Korean labourers under  precarious conditions, generating hard currency to help maintain the regime; underlines that in this case the responsibility to protect labour rights extends to hosting states which should ensure the protection of labour and human rights standards;
9. Expresses its deep concern about the use of reformatory labour on both adults and children; understands these practices as forced labour and a form of modern slavery and calls on the DPKR to release these workers immediately as laid out in the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention No. 105 adopted by the International Labour Organisation in 1975;
10. Regrets that the citizens of DPRK are unable to take part in free and fair elections; is deeply concerned over the use of a system of informants and mass surveillance to identify political opposition as well as the existence and use of political prison camps; demands that the DPRK dismantles its political camp system, releases its political prisoners and halts the arrest of its citizens on political grounds;
11. Strongly condemns the systematic and large-scale use of the death penalty in the DPRK; calls on the government of the DPRK to declare a moratorium on all executions, with a view to abolishing the death penalty in the near future; calls on the DPRK to put an end to extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances and to release political prisoners;
12. Regrets in the strongest terms the non-cooperation of the DPRK with international actors such as the UN Human Rights Council;
13. Calls on the DPRK to engage constructively with international interlocutors, including the EU and it’s institutions with a view to promoting concrete improvements in the human rights situation on the ground, including through dialogues, official visits to the country and more people-to-people contact; calls on the EU to resume a dialogue on the human rights situation and humanitarian aid, especially in  the post-pandemic period; calls on the international community to pursue accountability avenues, whether through referral to the International Criminal Court by the UN Security Council, or the establishment of an ad hoc tribunal;
14. Recommends to advance towards reconciliation, to establish an appropriate process of redress; urgently calls on the affected states to issue an “End of War Declaration” to put an end to the ongoing military conflict;
15. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the UN Secretary-General, the Government and Parliament of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea;