UNITED NATIONS
North Korea has asked the UN Security Council to address the issue of torture carried out by the CIA.
Monday’s move comes after an UN General Assembly committee adopted a draft resolution last month that encouraged the Security Council to refer Pyongyang to the International Criminal Court for alleged human rights violations.
"The so-called 'human rights issue' in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) is politically fabricated and, therefore, it is not at all relevant to regional or international peace and security," North Korean U.N. ambassador Ja Song Nam wrote in a letter to the council.
Inspired by a UN Commission of Inquiry report from early this year that described Pyongyang as having committed "crimes against humanity," the resolution asked council members to consider targeted sanctions against those who appear to be most responsible for acts that may constitute those crimes.
The resolution received the support of 111 states against 19, including Russia, China, Iran and Syria. Another 55 countries abstained from the vote.
The non-binding measure requires General Assembly ratification in December. It would then go to the Security Council, where North Korea's allies China and Russia are expected to veto it.
North Korea has recently found itself under more global scrutiny than usual, with a UN investigator assigned to the country’s human rights issue calling for North Korea to be referred to the International Criminal Court.
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