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North Korea lashed out at the European Union over its draft UN resolution addressing human rights in the country, state media reported on Thursday, telling the bloc to “mind its own business”.
Pyongyang has long been accused by the United Nations and other critics of widespread rights abuses, including running prison camps and severely restricting freedom of expression and access to information, while little is known about its criminal justice system.
The UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution condemning North Korea’s human rights violations every year since 2005.
“The EU submitted again a ‘draft resolution’ flagrantly distorting the human rights policy and situation of the DPRK,” the North’s UN mission said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, referring to the country by the initials of its official name.
The North said the move was a “farce” and a “politically-motivated provocation”.
“Human rights are by no means a monopoly of the West,” it said.
“In cities across Europe, from Paris to Brussels where the EU is headquartered, streets are filled with demonstrators from all walks of life demanding such elementary rights as the rights to existence,” it added.
“The EU had better mind its own business, instead of hyping up the non-existent ‘human rights issues’.”
The resolution is expected to be adopted by the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee later this month before going to the full assembly for final approval.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said last year that human rights in North Korea have shown no improvement over the past decade and had in fact worsened in many cases.
Additional sources • AFP