JAPAN: United Nations special rapporteur Marzuki Darusman says North Korea's humanitarian situation still dire

Record ID: 464139

  • Title: JAPAN: United Nations special rapporteur Marzuki Darusman says North Korea's humanitarian situation still dire
  • Date: 29th January 2011
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (JANUARY 28, 2011) (REUTERS) UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN NORTH KOREA MARZUKI DARUSMAN TAKING HIS SEAT AT NEWS CONFERENCE CAMERA FILMING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN NORTH KOREA MARZUKI DARUSMAN SAYING: "A number of issues that came up during my visit to the Republic of Korea in November 2010 were brought to my attention during my current mission as well. The information gathered during the meeting with the defectors from the DPRK who are currently living in Japan reinforces a number of reports that emphasizes dire humanitarian situation and the absence of civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights for the people of the DPRK, underscoring the importance of providing humanitarian aids to DPRK, subject of course, to proper monitoring of distribution of aid and measures to be taken by the DPRK to insure respect of a wide range of human rights." JOURNALIST LISTENING TO DARUSMAN DARUSMAN GIVING CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN NORTH KOREA MARZUKI DARUSMAN SAYING: "The DPRK, as I have mentioned earlier, cannot afford to find itself in isolation and needs to seize every opportunity to establish dialogue with the international community. I'm confident that such a response by the DPRK will be reciprocated by the international community in good will. I will continue to engage with the DPRK authorities with a hope that the authorities would change their course and interact with me as the independent expert on the situation of human rights in the DPRK." REPORTER WORKING ON COMPUTER DARUSMAN STANDING UP AND SHAKING HANDS WITH MODERATOR AND TRANSLATOR DARUSMAN LEAVING CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 13th February 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan, Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAE988P8I1Q7WGOYDBIIUBKJCJH
  • Story Text: United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea, Marzuki Darusman, says the humanitarian situation in the reclusive state remains unchanged, calls on Pyongyang to engage with the international community.
    United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea, Marzuki Darusman, said on Friday (January 28) the humanitarian situation in the reclusive state remains dire and called on Pyongyang to engage in the international community.
    "A number of issues that came up during my visit to the Republic of Korea in November 2010 were brought to my attention during my current mission as well. The information gathered during the meeting with the defectors from the DPRK who are currently living in Japan reinforces a number of reports that emphasizes dire humanitarian situation and the absence of civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights for the people of the DPRK, underscoring the importance of providing humanitarian aids to DPRK, subject of course, to proper monitoring of distribution of aid and measures to be taken by the DPRK to insure respect of a wide range of human rights," Darusman told journalists gathered at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo.
    In an earlier report which Darusman released on Sept. 24, 2010, he said there was an urgent need for Pyongyang to take immediate steps to ensure its people were provided with basic supplies of food, water, sanitation and health.
    Darusman, an Indonesian, said in the 19-page report that correspondence from inside the impoverished North indicate continued suffering of the people from chronic food insecurity, high malnutrition rates and spiralling economic problems.
    Darusman had not visited North Korea to observe the situation first-hand due to Pyongyang' refusal to issue him a visa but reports from defectors in South Korea and Japan tell him the situation has little changed in Pyongyang in the last year.
    North Korea's Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Pak Tok Hun responded to the reports calling it "a political plot fabricated by hostile forces in the attempt to isolate and stifle our system," at a U.N. human rights committee in October 2010.
    Despite the North's antagonism against him, Darusman hoped that its leaders would consider using him as an avenue to reconnect the isolated state with the rest of the world.
    "The DPRK, as I have mentioned earlier, cannot afford to find itself in isolation and needs to seize every opportunity to establish dialogue with the international community. I'm confident that such a response by the DPRK will be reciprocated by the international community in good will. I will continue to engage with the DPRK authorities with a hope that the authorities would change their course and interact with me as the independent expert on the situation of human rights in the DPRK," said Darusman.
    Darusman's report also said only 20 percent of the required 492 million U.S. dollar in aid needed for U.N. humanitarian aid programs in 2009 was mobilised.
    As a result, it said, some needy North Koreans are no longer receiving international aid.
    North Korea is under U.N. Security Council sanctions for its 2006 and 2009 nuclear tests.
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