US welcomes UN report on abuses in North Korea

The US on Monday expressed its backing for a scathing new UN report detailing North Korea's flagrant human rights abuses. The report stated that crimes against humanity were taking place in the country, following a one-year investigation that included 240 testimonies from North Korean escapees, many of them from prison camps where people were starved to death, tortured due to a "guilt by association" law, and made to dig their own graves. Oftentimes, three generations of a family were exterminated, it added. The 400-page report indicates that such crimes are still being committed in North Korea, also known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). "We strongly welcome and support the final report released by the UN Human Rights Council Commission of Inquiry (COI) on the DPRK, which provides compelling evidence of widespread, systematic, and grave human rights violations," said State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf in a statement. "The COI report reflects the international community's consensus view that the human rights situation in the DPRK is among the world's worst. We urge the DPRK to take concrete steps - as recommended by the COI - to improve the human rights situation for the North Korean people. "We continue to work actively with our partners and with international organizations to raise awareness of and address the deplorable human rights conditions," she added. The US co-sponsored, along with the EU, Japan and South Korea, the UN resolution that first established the COI nearly one year ago. "We look forward to thoroughly reviewing the report and discussing its recommendations with our partners (and) we look forward to the COI's presentation of its report in front of the UN Human Rights Council in March," noted Harf.