Human Rights Violations in North Korea and the Failure of the United Nations - Research Paper Example

The human rights situation in many parts of the world is appalling. Analyse an appropriate case study and explore how the United Nations has failed that group Student’s Name Student’s Number Words Count: 2,386 Words Human Rights Violations in North Korea and the Failure of the United Nations Introduction Every human being has rights that are supposed to be protected by the constitution. However, as much as there are many countries in the world where human rights are valued and safeguarded, the human rights situation in many parts of the world is appalling, where there are rampant human rights abuses, such as violence, sexual abuse against girls and commission of crimes against humanity among others (The Borgen Project, 2015). For instance, there have been many cases of human rights violations in countries, such as Burma, Eretria, North Korea, South Sudan, Syria, Libya and Equatorial Guinea, which currently ranks among the worst human rights abusers (Gummow, 2013). In these countries, the oppressive governments abuse human rights at will with people having nowhere to turn to for help. It is, however, surprising that such human rights abuses continue in these countries under the watch of the United Nations, an international body that was founded after the end of World War II to promote peace among nations and to ensure human rights protection from abusive regimes (Genser and Cotler, 2012). North Koreans are among the people who have been failed miserably by the United Nations that despite knowing the kind of suffering and human rights abuses they face at the hand of their oppressive government, the UN body has done nothing to help. This report analyzes the human rights situation in North Korea and brings out how the UN has failed these people. Appalling Human Rights Situation: Case Study of North Korea North Korea is an East Asian country situated in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. North Korea separated from its South Korea following the Korean War and had a population of about 24.9 million people in 2013, according to the World Bank report. Its neighboring countries include South Korea, Russia and China. North Korea is regarded as one of the most oppressive nations in the world as the country is characterized by many human rights abuses, including extermination, rape, forced abortion, murder, imprisonment, enslavement and torture among others under the current rule of Kim Jong-Un (The Economist, 2014). Besides, the freedoms of the people and the press have been severely curtailed since Kim Jong-Un rose to power. The death of the former ruler of North Korea, Kim Jong-il in 2011 opened a window of hope for the over 24 million Koreans as they believed that this would mark the beginning of their freedom and the end to human rights abuses (Gummow, 2013). However, such hopes were short-lived following the appointment of his son Kim Jong-un as the successor. Since taking the reins of power, Kim Jong-un has been ruthless with his people than even his father as he oppresses and inflicts all manners of atrocities against the Koreans. The Economist (2014) report indicates that, under the rule of Kim Jong-un, prisoners, the majority of who comprise of impoverished persons are locked up for committing petty crimes in their efforts to make a living and survive. Once locked up in cells, they are subjected to horrific treatments as was the case in 2011. The Borgen Project (2015) report indicates that, in 2011, approximately 120,000 prisoners were locked up in gulags under the direction of the Kim Jong-un, where they were starved and later painfully executed in public by firing squad without trial. This was a painful experience considering that the majority of the prisoners committed very petty offenses and were not even given a chance for hearing in court, which amounts to serious human rights violation. The UN 2012 study that gathered responses from defectors in North Korea and compared life in this East Asian country to that of German-run concentration camps in WWII found that firing squad happens in North Korea at a level never seen before (Klingner, 2016). So far, there are more than 100,000 North Korean prisoners with petty offenses that are awaiting execution in the gulags. The young Kim Jong-un has also been perpetuating human rights abuses by forcing Korean mothers to drown their new born babies (Jews News, 2014). Just recently, the tyrant, Kim Jong-un forced many women to drown their new born babies in buckets. To force a mother to kill her own baby is not just a human rights abuse but amount to a serious crime that Koreans are forced to live with when the entire world is watching. Any woman is not expected to question or reject the orders of Kim Jong-un as any attempt to question the orders or to reject is met with torture and even execution (Buckley, 2014). As such, whenever the oppressive ruler orders women to kill their babies, they are forced to oblige. Besides, human rights abuses are rampant in North Korea as the Korea Institute for National Unification (2014) noted that women are sometimes forced to procure abortion. Any government that has respect for human rights cannot force women to procure abortion because even the unborn babies have rights as humans. However, just recently, Kim Jong-un ordered that all Korean women that had been repatriated from China to undergo abortion in case they were pregnant to prevent any chance of babies fathered by Chinese men being born in Korea (Korea Institute for National Unification, 2014). A witness says that all the pregnant women from China were injected with drugs to induce abortion against their will. However, mothers with children fathered by Chinese men were forced by guards at the detention facilities to kill those babies by drowning them in water or suffocating them with a cloth (Buckley, 2014). Kim Jong-un also mercilessly ordered the execution of his uncle and former girlfriend despite there being no tangible evince to show that the two had committed a crime. The tyrant leader reportedly executed his uncle Jang Song-thaek after a dispute arose between the leader and his uncle over a highly profitable clam and crab fishing grounds (Berman, 2013). Investigations found that Kim Jong-un killed his uncle just because he wanted to take over the profitable fishing ground from his uncle. Kim Jong-un also ordered the firing squad to kill his former girlfriend in 2013 on allegations that his girlfriend violated pornography laws by making sex video (Seamons, 2013). In any country that abide by the rule of law and respect human rights, the woman would have been tried before a court of law instead of just being executed merely on allegations, which have not been proven. These are just a few of such cases of human rights violations that occur in North Korea on a daily basis. Additionally, because President Kim Jong-un is opposed to any dissenting voices and opposition, the ruler reportedly operates several secrete prisons, where opposition politicians and any person appearing to oppose his rule are detailed and tortured and even killed so as to instill fear on the public, something that amounts to human rights violations (Labott and Browne, 2016). How the United Nations Has Failed North Koreans The United Nations (UN) is an international organization that was founded immediately after the end of World War II to replace the League of Nations. The main purpose of the UN has been to promote peace in the world and to ensure human rights protections across the globe. Although the UN has succeeded in some parts of the world in promoting peace and ensuring human rights protection, the UN has been a total failure in the case of North Korea. As highlighted above, the people of North Korea are being subjected to all manners of human rights abuses under the clear watch of the United Nations and they are doing nothing to save the Koreans (Human Rights Watch, 2015). In fact, despite the United Nations studies having confirmed that the human rights violations are rampant in North Korea, the organization appears to have taken a back seat on the issue and only stare as North Koreans continue to suffer under the rule of Kim Jong-il and now his oppressive son Kim Jong-un. In fact, the Human Rights Watch (2016) wonders as to why the UN has been unable to act in North Korea. It would be expected under normal circumstances that the United Nations as the body that has the right to ensure human rights protections in the world to take Kim Jong-un to stand trial under the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague. However, Hancocks et al. (2015) notes that this has not been the case as the UN has not made any such attempt to ensure that Kim Jong-un is tried for the human rights abuses and to serve as a lesson to future rulers. Instead, then United Nations have only been talking about considering taking the oppressive ruler to ICC but not taking any action. There are many countries where oppressive governments that have no respect for human rights have been taken to the ICC and tried, such as Charles Taylor or Liberia and Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya (Hancocks et al., 2015). Therefore, the UN has failed the people of North Korea by not arresting and charging Kim Jong-un before the ICC for crimes against humanity and human rights abuses many years after the UN verified that Kim Jong-un indeed violates the rights of its people. Hassig and Oh (2009) argue that it is only through such moves that the UN will be able to help the People of North Korea. Unfortunately, China being a member of the UN Security Council and with a veto powers has been strongly opposed to the idea of prosecuting Kim Jong-un at the ICC, thereby allowing the tyrant to continue violating the human rights of its population notes the U.S. Department of State (2016) report. Besides, the UN has failed in promoting human rights protection in North Korea by its failure to promote democracy in the country. It is strongly believed that democracy and human rights go hand in hand. This implies that, whenever democracy is lacking in a country, there is bound to be human rights violations, a situation that is witnessed in North Korea. Since North Korea split from the former Korea and became an independent state, the country is being ruled by a totalitarian regime that rises to power through succession (Padden, 2016). This has resulted in a situation where power is inherited in a family with the emergence of opposition being curtailed through imprisonment and torture. For instance, President Kim Jong-un has curtailed opposition and dissenting voices in the country by arresting, torturing and imprisoning without trial any person who attempts to oppose his rule (Human Rights Watch, 2015). As such, it is a failure on the part of the United Nations to see such human rights violations continue to be perpetuated in North Korea while doing nothing. As an international body, the UN would be expected to be proactive enough and help build strong institutions and the constitution that promote multiparty democracy in North Korea instead of leaving opposition leaders to be imprisoned and killed under its watch while doing absolutely nothing (Genser and Cotler, 2012). Additionally, the UN has failed the people of North Koreans by allowing Kim Jong-un to operate secrete prisons that he uses to inflict atrocities on people. For instance, the UN report has found that Kim Jong-un operates several secrete prisons where political prisoners and people opposed to his rule are held and tortured (Walker, 2014). These are crimes against humanity that the UN has a responsibility to stop by ensuring that all those responsible for such acts, including Kim Jong-un are arrested and charged at the ICC. However, the UN has failed to do so, thus allowing Kim Jong-un and his henchmen to continue oppressing Koreans and committing crimes against humanity. Moreover, the UN has failed to promote human rights in North Korea as its efforts appear to focus mainly on preventing North Korea from developing nuclear weapons. This is evidenced by the sanctions that the UN Security Council has imposed on North Korea in the recent past over nuclear weapon. However, no such sanctions have been imposed on Kim Jong-un in a bid to force him to respect human rights, according to the Amnesty International (2016) report. As such, critics of the UN efforts on North Korea such as Kim (2010) argues that the UN is not bothered much about the bad state of human rights in North Korea and that its main focus is on riding the country off nuclear weapons. As such, human rights activists feel that the UN has betrayed the people of North Korea who would have expected the organization to impose tough sanctions on Kim Jong-un over human rights abuses instead of nuclear weapons. Conclusion Human rights situation in many parts of the world is in indeed appalling. In most parts of the world, people are subjected to all manners of human rights violations, such as violence, forced abortions, sexual abuse against girls and commission of crimes against humanity among others. As indicated in the report, North Korea is one of the countries with the worst incidences of human rights abuses. Since Kim Jong-un took power following the death of his father in 2011, the people of North Koreans have been reduced to some-what slaves in their own country by Kim Jong-un who subject them to all sorts of human rights abuses. most recently, Kim Jong-un ordered the execution of more than 120,000 prisoners with petty offenses in public, in addition to forcing women to drown their babies and procure forced abortions. Additionally, Kim Jong-un operates secrete prisons, where he tortures and kills anybody who is perceived to be opposed to his totalitarian rule among other human rights violations. However, the most worrying thing is that the people of North Koreans are being abused in this manner under the watch of the United Nations that has done nothing despite knowing that such human rights violations occur in North Korea. Other than talking, the UN has not made any meaningful attempt to force Kim Jong-un regime to account for the human rights violations. As such, it can be authoritatively concluded that the United Nations has failed the people of North Korea and it is time for the UN to take proactive measures to protect the citizens from North Korea from this tyrant leader otherwise Kim Jong-un will commit even worse atrocities and human rights abuses. References Amnesty International. (2016). North Korea. Retrieved from https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/asia-and-the-pacific/north-korea/ Berman, T. (2013). ​Kim Jong-un executed uncle after violent clash over clams and crabs. Retrieved from http://gawker.com/kim-jong-un-executed-uncle-after-violent-clash-over-cl-1489077656 Buckley, P. (2014). North Korea’s Kim Jong-un forces women to drown their babies, have abortions. Retrieved from http://www.lifenews.com/2014/02/17/north-koreas-kim-jong-un-forces-women-to-drown-their-babies-have-abortions/ Genser, J., & Cotler, I. (2012). The responsibility to protect. Cambridge: OUP USA. Gummow, J. (2013). 14 shocking global human rights violations of 2013. Retrieved from http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/14-shocking-global-human-rights-violations-2013 Hancocks, P., Roth, R., Jiang, S., & Griffiths, J. (2015, Dec. 11). Top U.N. official calls for North Korea to face International Criminal Court. CNN http://edition.cnn.com/2015/12/10/asia/un-north-korea-meeting/ Hassig, R., & Oh, K. (2009). The hidden people of North Korea: Everyday life in the Hermit Kingdom. Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield. Human Rights Watch. (2015). North Korea: Events of 2015. Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2016/country-chapters/north-korea Human Rights Watch. (2016). North Korea. Retried from https://www.hrw.org/asia/north-korea Jews News. (2014, Feb. 19). North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un forced mothers to drown newborn babies: U.N. Report. Jews News p. 2 http://www.jewsnews.co.il/2014/02/19/north-koreas-kim-jong-un-forced-mothers-to-drown-newborn-babies-u-n-report.html Kim, M. (2010). Escaping North Korea: Defiance and hope in the world's most repressive country. London: Rowman & Littlefield. Klingner, B. (2016, July 6). US sanctions North Korea for human rights violations. The Daily Signal p. 3 http://dailysignal.com/2016/07/06/us-sanctions-north-korea-for-human-rights-violations/ Korea Institute for National Unification. (2014). White paper on human rights in North Korea 2014. New York, NY: 길잡이미디어. Labott, E., & Browne, R. (2016, July 8). U.S. sanctions North Korean leader for first time over human rights abuses. CNN p. 1 http://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/06/politics/north-korea-kim-jong-un-human-rights/ Padden, B. (2016, April 21). Rights group denounces North Korean atrocities. Voice of America p. 1 http://www.voanews.com/a/rights-group-north-korea-atrocities-persist-despite-pressure/3295206.html Seamons, K. (2013, Aug. 29). Report: Kim Jong Un’s ex-girlfriend executed. USA Today, p. 1 http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/08/29/newser-kim-jong-un-girlfriend/2726081/ The Borgen Project. (2015). Top 3 countries with the worst human rights violations. Retrieved from http://borgenproject.org/human-rights-violations/ The Economist. (2014, Feb. 22). Humanity at its very worst. The Economist p. 1 http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21596999-un-report-accuses-north-korea-unspeakable-human-rights-abuses-and-hints-chinas-complicity U.S. Department of State. (2016). Report on human rights abuses and censorship in North Korea. Retrieved from http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/259366.htm Walker, P. (2014, Feb. 18). North Korea human rights abuses resemble those of the Nazis, says UN inquiry. The Guardian p. 3 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/17/north-korea-human-rights-abuses-united-nations Read More