Inner City Press Asks North Korea's Ri Hung Sik About UN's Darusman, Zeid Invited, Ban UNheard

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 17 -- When Ri Hung Sik, Ambassador at-large of the Democratic People's Republic of Korean, held a press conference at the North Korean mission on November 17, his topic was the upcoming vote on annual DPRK human rights resolution in the UN General Assembly's Third Committee. He added that he he heard nothing, nothing at all, about UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visiting North Korea, which Yonhap ascribed to a senior UN source.

  Inner City Press ran back to the UN and asked Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric to respond, and about what Ri Hung Sik said about South Korea's National Security Act, that it prohibits South Koreans from praising the DPRK. Dujarric said he hadn't heard of the law and that Ban is an international civil servant.

  Before Inner City Press left the DPRK mission, it asked Ri Hung Sik for his view of UN Special Rapporteur Marzuki Darusman and when or if UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid will visit North Korea.

  Of Darusman, Ri Hung Sik said he met him only once, and that it seems Darusman does not speak his own words, or think his own thoughts. Of Zeid, he said the discussion is of technical cooperation, but no date was given. Video here.

   During the press conference, Reuters asserted that they had been no vote on last year's DPRK human rights resolution. Ri Hung Sik said Reuters was wrong, and it was. Then even though it had earlier cut in with a follow-up questions, Reuters cut off another correspondent trying to ask a follow-up about Qatar, on which Ri Hung Sik cast some blame. There was no question, as at a prior DPRK press conference, about Donald Trump.

  Back on October 28 when Darusman held a press conference about the DPRK, Inner City Press asked him to comment on the recent Intercept report that the US Pentagon used an NGO to spy in North Korea. Would the UN Special Rapporteur advise member states, particularly those concerned about human rights in DPRK, not to use NGOs to spy? Video here.

  Well, no. In fact, Darusman said that such spying might be justified. Video here. Inner City Press asked him about DPRK's allegation that its sailors in the Mudubong ship detained in Mexico were suffering human rights violations. Darusman answered, but it was not clear.

 InnerCityPro.com has transcribed both answers:

Inner City Press: Do you have any recommendations to the international community in terms of whether it’s good practice to use NGOs to collect intelligence? And, the Mission here brought up the alleged detention of their sailors on the Mu Du Bong, have you looked into this?

Darusman: On the first part, I’ve seen the news report on that but I have not really looked into that at this point. The nature of the problem is very specific. It has to do with a case of what is being reported in the media. I hesitate to comment too far and I would perhaps seek further clarification on this issue by contacting parties that would be knowledgeable about this. I wouldn’t want to speculate on the truth of untruth. But this again brings up the whole dimension of the North Korea problematic, and this is that, it is such an isolated society, where information is at a high premium, and ways and means need to be sought to gather information to get a picture of what is happening there. I can understand that these things could happen. But to what extent the details are the way they are.

On the second issue, treatment, certainly this is part of the mandate of rapporteur, to look at the well being of the North Korean peole either inside or outside the country. I will certainly be looking into this and planning out further what is the state of this matter, and this sort of merges into the bigger picture of mistreatment of NK workers in other regions of the world, including the Middle East and Russia.


What are the effects and place of sanctions and "de-SWIFT-ing" on countries, as relates to human rights? Inner City Press on October 27 asked the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, for this view, both in his formal reports and as reported.

  Specifically, Inner City Press asked if the removal of Iran from SWIFT made the purchase of medicine more difficult, and about a comment attributed to him the day before by Reuters, in an article that did not disclose where or in what context Shaheed said he favor travel bans and other "smart" sanctions.

  Shaheed said he does not favor general sanctions; to another question he appeared to step back from supporting sanctions on individuals. Inner City Press asked him directly where and with whom (at least, which countries' delegations) he had met the day before.

  The Reuters quotes (and a related CBS "humble-brag" in the UN's October 27 noon briefing, which may not have given rise to any actual reporting) he said were from a "breakfast with media" sponsored by Human Rights Watch. HRW unlike other NGOs does not disclose or open such session, nor would it tell Inner City Press and the Free UN Coalition for Access, when they asked, what HRW had raised to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

 Shaheed said he met met with the Missions of the US, (South) Korea, UK and Canada. Seeming to note the lack of balance, he added, "Iran." Oh.

  Still, Shaheed is one of the more transparent Rapporteurs; Inner City Press briefly asked him about Maldives afterward. Watch this site.

On October 26 when Idriss Jazairy, Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights held a UN press conference, Inner City Press asked him about sanctions on Sudan and Eritrea, his proposal for a registry, and about the use of SWIFT to in essence impose sanctions. Tweeted photo here.

  Idriss Jazairy declined to comment on Eritrea, saying Security Council sanctions are being his jurisdiction. He was critical of unilateral measures on Sudan, which he said he will visit in November. He likened his registry proposal to that in place for conventional arms.

  On SWIFT, he said he its use makes it impossible, for example, for cancer patients in Iran to get medicine. Earlier on October 26, the past president of UNCA, now the UN Censorship Alliance, bragged about UN Rapporteur Ahdmed Shaheed's "preview" of his presentation on Iran, which Reuters later channeled without saying where Shaheed spoke. Inner City Press for the Free UN Coalition for Access asked the OHCHR spokesperson, who said he didn't know. We'll have more on this.
 

On October 20 when the UN Special Rapporteur on torture Juan E. Méndez held a press conference, Inner City Press asked him for his view of the only partial release of the US Senate's report on CIA torture, about Guantanamo Bay and whether he thought President Barack Obama's visit to a prison might make his long-pending request to visit US prisons move faster. Video here.

   Mendez said there should be more release(s), and accountability. He said he had had to request the US' conditional offers to visit Guantanamo Bay and US prisons, as he would not be allowed to speak with all prisoners. He praise Obama's visit, but still - Mendez can't get in.

On October 16 when the Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Benyam Dawit Mezmur held a press conference at the UN, Inner City Press asked him about US President Barack Obama's decision to continue to provide military aid to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Somalia, and South Sudan, despite all four being on the UN's (and US') lists on children and armed conflict. Video here.  

    Benyam Dawit Mezmur said that while the US is the lone holdout on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the issue can still be gotten-at under the Optional Protocol. Inner City Press asked about the sexual abuse of children in the Central African Republic by French and UN peacekeepers.

   Benyam Dawit Mezmur replied that the Committee is asking France about the alleged sexual abuse of children, and will conduct a review in January. We aim to have more on this.