Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (HL2187):
Question by Lord Alton of Liverpool
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the international rule of law and the authority of the United Nations of the non-implementation of the recommendation of the 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry to refer evidence of crimes against humanity in North Korea to the UN Security Council for investigation by the International Criminal Court. (HL2187)
Tabled on: 20 July 2021
Answer:
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon:
The UK remains extremely concerned by the appalling human rights situation in North Korea, as we made clear alongside G7 leaders on 13 June and G7 Foreign and Development Ministers on 5 May. The international community has a responsibility to respond to human rights violations in North Korea. The UK continues to press for annual debate in the UN Security Council on DPRK human rights issues. We welcome and support the annual Human Rights Council and UNGA Third Committee resolutions on human rights in North Korea which stress the importance of following up recommendations from the UN Commission of Inquiry Report on Human Rights in the DPRK, and provide the basis for further work on a credible framework for accountability for human rights violations in the country.
Date and time of answer: 30 Jul 2021 at 14:30.
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Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (HL2189):
Question by Lord Alton of Liverpool
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry into North Korea, what steps they have taken following the passage of Resolution 69/188 by the UN General Assembly to refer the situation in that country to the International Criminal Court. (HL2189)
Tabled on: 20 July 2021
Answer:
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon:
The UK remains deeply concerned by the appalling human rights situation in North Korea and is fully committed to the principle that there must be no impunity for the most serious international crimes. Since Resolution 69/188 was adopted by the General Assembly on 18 December 2014, the UK has continued to maintain a high level of engagement at the UN on the situation, continuing to press for annual debate on North Korean human rights issues in the UN Security Council, and working to secure a robust resolution on human rights in the DPRK at the annual Human Rights Council. North Korea is not a party to the Rome Statute and is unlikely to accept the International Criminal Court (ICC) jurisdiction ad hoc; therefore referral to the ICC would have to be through a UNSC resolution. We judge that there would not be the required support among the members of the Security Council for such a resolution.
Date and time of answer: 30 Jul 2021 at 14:27.
