UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Cuba is
challenging a resolution in the U.N. General Assembly on human rights in
North Korea, seeking to cut key language about a referral to the
International Criminal Court that has Pyongyang nervous.
The draft
amendment obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press warns that such
language sets "a dangerous precedent that could be applied in the future
against any developing country."
North
Korea has been shaken this year by a groundbreaking U.N. commission of
inquiry report that detailed widespread human rights abuses in the
impoverished but nuclear-armed country and warned that leader Kim Jong
Un could be held accountable.
The
General Assembly resolution drafted by the European Union and Japan has
more than 50 co-sponsors, but Cuba's proposal is aimed at gaining the
support of developing countries in Africa and elsewhere. Some have
bristled at the idea of country-specific resolutions, worrying that they
could be targeted, too.
A
North Korean official who answered the phone at that country's mission
said he didn't know how many countries were backing Cuba's amendment and
wasn't able to comment further. The phone rang unanswered at Cuba's
mission Wednesday afternoon.
Japanese
Ambassador Motohide Yoshikawa told the AP that "for sure" the EU-Japan
resolution has more support among U.N. member states.
Yoshikawa
also rejected North Korea's recent efforts to try to get the language on
the ICC referral removed in exchange for allowing a visit by the U.N.
special rapporteur on North Korea or even the new U.N. high commissioner
for human rights."This should not be linked as a bargain or a negotiation," the ambassador said.
The EU-Japan resolution, which is expected to face a vote in the General Assembly's human rights committee on Tuesday, would need the support of a simple majority to move to the full 193-member body. But if the amendment makes it to a vote and gets a simple majority, the resolution would be changed.
Lobbying
for both approaches is now under way. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty
International and six other groups this week wrote to U.N. member states
urging their support for the resolution, saying it "is the best way for
the international community to encourage North Korea to make genuine
progress in its respect for human rights."
The
resolution, which would be non-binding, echoes the recommendations of
the U.N. commission of inquiry report, saying the U.N. Security Council
should refer North Korea's human rights situation to the ICC.
China,
North Korea's top ally and a permanent council member, has signaled it
would veto such a move, but Pyongyang has been unnerved by the idea that
its young leader could face prosecution.
Cuba's
proposed amendment calls instead for a human rights dialogue between
North Korea and other states, a visit by the U.N. special rapporteur to
North Korea and technical cooperation between Pyongyang and the U.N.
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.