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PressRelease
STATEMENT BY THE DELEGATION OF THE DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA Agenda item 70: Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (b) Human rights questions,including alternative approachesfor improving the effectiveenjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms New York, 31 October2001 Mr. Chairman, On the internationalarenatoday we witnesscontinuedacts that deprive people of their lives and violate human rights and fundamentalfreedoms,going againstthe trends of the times aspiringafter peaceand security. countriesunder of The typical exampleis the undisguisedaggression independent "war the pretext of the global on terrorism" followed by indiscriminatemassivekillings there. of in of The U.S. invasionand occupation Iraq resulted more than a million losses populationto the victims lives and triggeredsectarian conflict,thus reducingthe innocent of bomb explosionand suicidalattack.The sameis the casein Afghanistan. How can we talk about humanrights and fundamentalfreedomsin thosecountries and territorieswhere innocentwomen, children and peacefulpeople are sheddingtheir blood almosteveryday? and their human rights are violated without The people's survival is threatened places where we see aggressionand interference in internal affairs of exception in and Palestine. suchas lraq, Afghanistan sovereign states Human rights immediately mean national sovereignty.The human rights, which not guaranteed national sovereignty,areno more than a fiction. Peopleenjoy their by are of human rights by legal and institutional measures the state to which they belong and is wherenationalsovereisntv exercised.

Therefore, we should, above all, put an end to aggressionand interferencein internal affairs of sovereignstatesif we are to promoteand protecthumanrights. Mr. Chairman, Removing double standardand selectivity is also important in the enjoymentof human rights and fundamentalfreedoms. of Samerules should be applied to all human rights issuesirrespective the size of rights should not be the country and the status of alliance. Moreover, the human politicized. To our regret, however, the unlawful acts of Israel in the occupiedterritories,the of operation of CIA overseassecretprisons and maltreatment prisonersthere and other human rights violations that arouse deep concern of the international community are ignored, whereas the developing countries which take independentroad of their own "human rights violations". choice are becomingthe target of In particular, the adoption of resolutions on human rights situation in the developing countries is a culmination of selectivity and double standard,which only leads to confrontation and distrust, without rendering any help to the activities of the internationalcommunity for promotion and protectionof human rights. Another important issuein the promotion and protectionof human rights today is to eliminate chauvinismagainstother nationsprevailing in the developedcountries. Due to the emergenceof neo-Nazism and ultra-right forces in many developed countries of the world, the acts of rejecting foreigners are rampant and the minority nationalsarebecomingthe targetof violence. In this connection,my delegationwishes to draw attention of this committee to authoritiesof the Korean residentsin Japan. the suppression the Japanese by authoritiesare intensifying their crackdown on the In recent months,the Japanese General Association of Korean Residents in Japan(Chongryon),the lawful overseas compatriot organization of the DPRK which was establishedto defend the democratic rights of the Koreansthere. They mobilized hundreds of heavily armed policemen and even armoured vehicles more than several Scoresof time from early this year to carry out search operations against the facilities related to Chongryon as well as housesof the Koreans them without acts as assaultingand arresting. and perpetrateda seriesof such outrageous appropriatereason.They even try to forcibly auction off the land and building of the Hall of its headquarterin an attemptto deprive the Korean residentsof their living conditions' This is a wanton violation of the llN Charter and other international human rights it instruments on respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms of all people as

servesas heinousfascistactsto eliminatethe activitiesof Chongryonand the Koreansby physically exterminatingtheir operationcenter. Japanhas legal and moral responsibilities providing democraticnationalrights for of to the Korean residentsin Japan,the direct victims and their descendents the abduction and forcible drafting of 8.4 million Koreansit had carriedout during its colonial rule. However, the frantic repressionof Chongryon now going on in Japan, clearly shows once again the political and moral r,'ulgarityof the Japaneseauthorities who neither recognize and apologize nor compensatefor their past crimes perpetratedin Korea and other Asian countriesincluding the issueof "comfort women" for the imperial Japanese arrny,rvhich constitutes biggesthumanrights trafficking in the 20'ncentury. the Mr. Chairman, The DPRK since its foundation has made every possible effort to promote and protect human rights of the people, even under the continued threat of aggressionand unprecedented economic blockade forced upon by the U.S. and other hostile forces over the past 60-oddyears. Today our people exercise fundamental freedoms and rights to the full as dignified masters of the state and society. They enjoy not so abundant but equal and fruitful life and press forward the building of a powerful state with optimism for the better future. Our country is free from serious social problems such as rape, prostitution, discrimination and violence and all our people lead stablelife while enjoying the benefit of social welfare system including education,medical care and dwelling housesfree of cost. The DPRK will safeguard more firmly our style socialist system, which guaranteesenjoyment of human rights legally and in practice based on the peoplecentered Juche idea and make active contributions to the promotion and protection of human rights worldwide. I thankyou.