Ministry Statements & Speeches:
Thank you Vice President,
New Zealand thanks the High Commissioner for his report on the human rights situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and to the other speakers for their insights. We commend the victims and witnesses who contributed to the report.
New Zealand continues to be appalled by the dire situation in the DPRK across almost every area of basic human rights. We remain deeply concerned about reports of public executions, abductions, arbitrary detention, forced labour, torture, and sexual and gender-based violence. We condemn the failure of the DPRK to hold accountable those responsible for these grave abuses.
We are particularly concerned that the application of the death penalty has significantly expanded since 2015, including for sharing foreign media. New Zealand is committed to the abolition of the death penalty worldwide. We welcome the recommendation that the DPRK end its use of the death penalty and urge the immediate halt of public executions.
We also strongly condemn the DPRK regime’s ongoing diversion of its limited national resources toward its illegal nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, at the direct expense of the welfare of its people.
We continue to urge the DPRK to engage with the recommendations from its most recent Universal Periodic Review and we encourage the DPRK to invite the High Commissioner and Special Rapporteur to visit the country.
We ask, what more can the international community do to improve the lives of the people of the DPRK.
Thank you.