Tomas Ojea Quintana, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights, recently tabled his latest report on human rights in North Korea. Unsurprisingly, his conclusions were harsh.

Pyongyang responded that Quintana’s “reckless remarks” were “not mere nonsense from an individual with reverse insight, but a ploy devised at the behest of the United States.” The [North] The Korean Association for Human Rights Studies, through its anonymous spokesperson, said that “the ‘special rapporteur’, not only to distort our reality, has pointed out ‘food for our people’ and viciously chose the anti-epidemic measures taken by our state for our own specific needs in order to deal with the global epidemic. ”

Quintana highlighted the impact of North Korea’s unique form of national quarantine: No other country has issued a shoot order to kill its border police. He published a detailed report and addressed the Third Committee of the General Assembly last month.

“The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has never been so isolated from the international community as it was then,” Quintana said. “This has a dramatic impact on the human rights of people inside the country and dampens hopes of achieving lasting peace and security on the Korean Peninsula. Today I urge the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the international community and its members to reverse this trajectory by rekindling the spirit of multilateral cooperation that enabled the founding of the United Nations in the first place.

His statement acknowledged the underlying human rights problem in the North as well as the negative impact of measures taken to combat the pandemic. Although the UN has generally been reluctant to criticize its members, the human rights violations in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have been so severe that many governments have agreed to make an exception. In 2014, the UN Human Rights Council issued a harsh assessment of the DPRK: a 36-page report supported by 372 pages of findings. By then everything was on the table. “Among the violations to be investigated were those relating to the right to food, those related to prison camps, torture and inhuman treatment, arbitrary detention, discrimination, freedom of expression, to life, freedom of movement and enforced disappearances, in particular in the form of kidnappings of nationals of other States ”, according to the evaluation.

Quintana’s latest report stands out for its emphasis on the well-being of the North Korean people.

“Even before the pandemic, more than 40% of people were food insecure, and many suffered from malnutrition and stunted growth,” the report said. “The country’s health infrastructure suffers from underinvestment, with critical shortages of essential medical supplies, and the lack of equipment and properly trained personnel. Lack of access to safe drinking water and sanitation and hygiene services in homes, schools and hospitals is also the root of many health and nutrition problems.

Ultimately, the DPRK bears the brunt of responsibility for the situation as the regime has implemented the kind of centralized economic planning that has failed in the world. There is a reason why countries with socialist systems so often seem to suffer from repeated “bad weather” on which malnutrition and even starvation are usually blamed. In addition, the result of “the weather” is insufficient investment in health care.

Having an inadequate medical system is one of the main reasons the regime has fought the pandemic with its usual tools of force and repression. While this has helped prevent the pervasive spread of the coronavirus in the isolation of the DPRK, the isolation has reduced income and international aid for the Korean people.

“The draconian measures that the government of the DPR Korea has taken to prevent the entry of Covid-19 include a policy of shooting at individuals who attempt to enter or leave the country,” Quintana observed. “Increased restrictions on freedom of movement and the closure of national borders have hampered market activity which has become essential for people’s access to basic necessities, including food. The food situation is a priority concern. President Kim Jong Un himself acknowledged the dire food situation earlier this year. The most vulnerable members of the population, including children, the elderly and those in detention, are at risk of starving to death. Life-saving humanitarian work by the United Nations and other international actors has also come to a halt, with no international United Nations personnel currently in the country. ”

Pyongyang is embarrassed by the two judgments. Indeed, it is difficult to know which accusation is the worst from the regime’s point of view – that North Korea’s health care system is inadequate or that North Korea’s policies are harming people’s health. “The people of DPR Korea should not have to choose between fear of hunger and fear of Covid-19,” Quintana noted. In addition, he criticized both the regime’s policies and international sanctions. Although Pyongyang has consistently denounced Western economic restrictions. Rules like this kind of gave Kim Jong-un a political boost. “Prioritizing pressure has further isolated the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and has had humanitarian and human rights consequences,” said Quintana. “It is by no means certain that the country will emerge from this isolation as the world emerges from Covid-19. If action is not taken now, the country’s extreme isolation could crystallize and become the new normal. ”

Indeed, it’s important not to underestimate Kim’s undoubtedly calculated embrace of isolation. Previously, he had initiated modest economic reforms and undertaken international diplomacy with aplomb. However, he has since reversed the first and dropped the second. Indeed, his government now displays a fear of outside contact, especially with South Korea, which increases the penalties for those caught listening to music and outside programs, including teenagers.

Quintana urged Western politics to react. “This is the time to send clear signals, to take concrete steps and to find creative ways to give impetus to the stalled diplomatic process to achieve a peaceful resolution of the conflict,” he told members of the United Nations. While it is then up to the DPRK to engage, it does not want the West to give Kim an excuse to maintain isolation.

And, as befits someone charged with dealing with the issue of human rights, he concluded with a strong affirmation of this mission:

“I would like to stress that taking a determined approach to engagement does not require neglecting human rights violations, including the issues that I highlighted in my final report to the General Assembly before you: kwanliso (political prison camps), the worst forms of child labor, the oppression of the exercise of freedom of religion and access to information, ”Quintana said. “Some of the most serious human rights violations are also qualified as crimes against humanity. These crimes are probably ongoing, embodied in the continued operation of large political prison camps. In this report, I reiterate that the existence of kwanliso (political prison camps) represents the worst excesses of a system of governance that systematically violates the human rights of its people.

Human rights and peace are both indispensable on the Korean peninsula. This is a mission for which the Biden administration must do all it can. Without genuine peace, human rights are unlikely to improve. Without Pyongyang keen to improve the status of its own people, stable peace is also problematic. The challenge is to find policies to move both forward.

Doug Bandow is a Principal Investigator at the Cato Institute. Former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, he is the author of several books, including Tripwire: Korea and US Foreign Policy in a Changed World and co-author of The Korean conundrum: America’s troubled relationship with North and South Korea.

Image: Reuters