20 March 2014
Article from bbc.com found here
When UN-appointed jurists reported human rights violations taking place in North Korea, including torture and starvation, China refused to back the claim. They stated that "the inability of the commission to get support and co-operation from the country concerned made it impossible for the commission to carry out its mandate in an impartial, objective and effective manner,"(Chen Chuandong, Chinese diplomat). All information for the report was gathered from North Korean refugees and defectors because North Korea would not allow the panel to enter the country or speak with them. The US, EU, and Japan proposed that an investigation be made in North Korea, but they will face serious opposition from Russia, China, Vietnam, and Cuba in Geneva.
The North Korea situation is unstable to say the least, but I do agree that more real information needs to be gathered in the country itself if possible. I understand that it is very difficult to get accurate information about North Korea because they heavily filter everything that the few visitors are allowed to see, but I think it's unfair to make such serious accusations based only on the testimonies of these refugees.
While these accusations may not be completely accurate because they can't be confirmed, I think that they are valid to make as long as North Korea does not let any one in. If China or North Korea want to correct the accusers, then they need to show them why they are wrong. If China and North Korea are so firmly against an investigation, they shouldn't claim the accusations are unfairly made.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jason. I think that you have to take the little information that you have and make it a truth until you can prove it wrong. The refugees's testimonies are that little information that we have.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you both. I also think that these accusations are the key factor in analyzing the situation. The thing is that we don't want to make another mistake like we did during World War II. We heard some rumors about the persecution of the Jews from Nazi Germany across Europe, but we left it alone. I believe the US, the EU, Japan, and other supportive democracies don't want to see something as extreme as the Holocaust happen again. Like Ronnie said, we must take the little information and use it because it is some of the only information we have.
ReplyDeleteI agree that more information needs to be gathered. I don't believe that anyone has the right to judge what is going on in this predicament without any actual information.
ReplyDeleteI am 100% against China and North Korea for claiming that the human rights reports are false. How disgusting of a government to dare say that there are no problems, and if there are, then they are small. The only reason China backs North Korea is because they are their only allies. But still, far more de-humanization activities go on there and we've known about it for a long time. This new announcement saying that N.K. is doing bad stuff is not new news. We all know about it and it would be politically dumb to admit and accept the claims.
ReplyDelete