Achieving Justice for the Victims of the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea

Since 2019, GRC have been engaged in seeking accountability for victims and survivors of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) regime and providing mentorship to Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) working to achieve such justice.

Context

Since its foundation in 1948, the DPRK regime has victimised hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of its citizens as well as the nationals of other States. As found by the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the DPRK, the violations that the DPRK committed include systematic, widespread and gross violations of fundamental human rights. In many instances, the acts perpetrated by the DPRK authorities are to such a magnitude and character that they constitute crimes against humanity. These violations and criminal acts have continued unabated and with absolute impunity for those responsible for over 70 years, while the current status quo decreases the likelihood of producing challenges to the political regime.

Impact

GRC’s ongoing work in relation to DPRK can be divided into four strands:

• Assessment of previous legal accountability efforts and actions taken by North Korean human rights CSOs, including domestic and international initiatives (civil and criminal) and identification of areas for improvement, as well as exploration of a full range of legal accountability mechanisms and feasible remedies available. This included the production of an Accountability Strategy Report. A short-version of the report is available online, and the long 90-pages report can be made available upon request.
• Capacity building activities and extensive period of legal consultations (remote and in person) with a number of North Korean CSOs with a view to enhance their capabilities to carry out accountability and advocacy activities to raise awareness about the crimes and human rights abuses committed by the DPRK authorities. GRC has identified some of the causes of the missed initiatives undertaken to date and informally assessed the CSOs technical and legal capacity and needs, mapping how GRC could assist them in their efforts in pursuing justice and accountability. GRC also engages with non-governmental organisations representing South Korean and Japanese victims whose family members have been allegedly abducted, detained and ill treated by the DPRK regime with a view to assist them in achieving accountability for the crimes committed against them.
• Co-leading advocacy initiatives, including high-level side events focussing on shedding light on the violations committed against the North Korean people. The focus of the 2022-23 advocacy initiative is to illuminate the dystopic discrimination and human rights abuses taking place against women and girls in the DPRK and elevate the work and voice of its North Korean CSOs partners. To realise this objective, GRC is hosting a high-level side event in Geneva, at the sidelines of the UN Human Rights Council session in March 2023.
• GRC having established relationships with various international stakeholders, also facilitates engagement between North Korean CSOs and international human rights and justice actors including, OHCHR, UN-mandate holders including SR on the situation of human rights in the DPRK, UN CEDAW Committee, International Criminal Court Officials, UN Working Groups e.g., Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls and nation-state representatives.
• GRC has the capacity to organise interdisciplinary, all-inclusive forums. In 2023, it is going to organise a Pan-Asian forum, to bring together various organisations working in the Asian region, where they will have the opportunity to share their experiences, successes and lessons learned and exchange practical advice with North Korean CSOs on how the latter may capitalize on the accountability and advocacy-related work with the end goal of elevating the international community’s awareness on the human rights abuses and international crimes committed in the DPRK. Such initiatives are possible as GRC has developed over the years, a wide network of CSOs contacts with groups representing for example Rohingya, Uyghur, Sri-Lankan (Tamil) groups, Falun Gong activists and organisations. 

Partners

GRC is privileged to support the work of UN OHCHR Accountability Project for the DPRK established by the UN Human Rights Council via Resolution 25/25 of April 2014. This has included briefings in Geneva and joint meetings with OHCHR and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the DPRK; as well as ongoing consultations with North Korean human rights CSOs. In support of the mandate of the OHCHR DPRK Accountability team, GRC also conducted a mission to Seoul and participated in round-table discussions together with relevant stakeholders.

GRC is pleased that since October 2021, supported by the US National Endowment for Democracy (NED) foundation, has continued to expand its efforts in pursuing truth, justice, and accountability for the victims of a range of crimes and human rights abuses committed in the DPRK.

Through the NED Project titled ‘Strengthening Legal Capacity to Pursue Accountability’, GRC supported in Phase I of the Project, a number of North Korean CSOs in identifying and accessing the different justice and accountability pathways available; and built the CSOs legal capacity and skills to produce effective legal accountability submissions, creating momentum towards international action and paving the way for future accountability efforts against the DPRK regime.

Phase II of the Project, commenced in October 2022 and focuses on shedding light and seeking accountability for the human rights violations and discrimination against women in the DPRK. Having identified in Phase I of the project the different available justice and accountability pathways, GRC find this angle as one which not only falls within the priorities of the North Korean CSOs, but also of other stakeholders, including the OHCHR, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the DPRK, as well as States; while there is also a large volume of information on women’s rights and the violations taking place against them which could be utilized for advocacy and accountability initiatives.

GRC is regularly engaged with relevant regional and international stakeholders, CSOs, humanitarian actors and policy makers to explore options for accountability, offer legal expertise on the situation in the DPRK and represent the interests of victims. For more information about our work in the DPRK contact Catriona Murdoch at catrionamurdoch@globalrightscompliance.co.uk or Sofia Evangelou at sofiaevangelou@globalrightscompliance.co.uk.