ICP
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.
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.
At the
press
conference,
there were
only two
correspondents,
as there was
an emergency
UN Security
Council
meeting on
Palestine at
the same time.
Inner City
Press on
behalf of the
Free UN
Coalition for
Access thanked
Benyam Dawit
Mezmur for the
briefing but
suggested that
in the future
postponement
of briefings,
so that more
journalists
could attend,
be considered.
UNCA wasn't
present at
all; nor has
it disclosed
the extend of
funding and
connection by
indicted David
Ng and Frank
Lorenzo and
their
affiliates.
Also on
the UN, when
the UN find a
staff member
using the UN's
email system
to trafficking
in sexual
images of
minors, a
crime, what
does it do? On
October 16,
Inner City
Press asked UN
Deputy
Spokesperson
Farhan Haq
about this
paragraph from
a UN
report it had
dug up:
“49. A staff
member sent,
through the
Organization’s
e-mail system,
pornographic
material,
including
pornographic
material
involving a
minor, and
failed to
report that
another staff
member had
sent the staff
member
inappropriate
material
though the
Organization’s
e-mail system.
Disposition:
dismissal.”
Inner
City Press
asked, was
that all that
happened,
dismissal?
Such that the
person could,
for example,
work in a day
care center?
Haq said in
instances the
UN waives
immunity.
Inner
City Press
asked, how
would law
enforcement
know that the
person had
used the UN's
email system
for child
porn? Haq said
there have
been cases in
which the UN
told local
authorities.
Inner City
Press asked,
did it do so
in this case?
Apparently,
the UN will
not answer
this. For now.
Here are other
paragraphs:
46. A staff
member stored
pornographic
material,
including
pornography
involving a
minor, on the
staff member’s
United Nations
computer,
distributed
other
pornographic
material
through the
Organization’s
e-mail system
and failed to
report that
another staff
member had
sent the staff
member
inappropriate
material
through the
Organization’s
e-mail system.
Disposition:
dismissal.
47. A staff
member sent,
through the
Organization’s
e-mail system,
and stored on
the staff
member’s
United Nations
computer,
pornographic
material
involving a
minor and, on
other
occasions,
distributed,
through the
Organization’s
e -mail
system, other
pornographic
material.
Disposition:
dismissal.
48. A
staff member
sent, through
the
Organization’s
e-mail system,
pornographic
material
involving a
minor and, on
three other
occasions,
distributed
other
pornographic
material
through the
Organization’s
e-mail system
and stored
pornographic
material on
the staff
member’s
United Nations
computer.
Disposition:
dismissal.
The
report is
entitled
"Practice of
the
Secretary-General
in
disciplinary
matters and
cases of
criminal
behaviour, 1
July 2014 to
30 June 2015."
, 
