A/HRC/26/43 17. The main perpetrators, as documented by the commission of inquiry, include officials of the State Security Department, the Ministry of People’s Security, the Korean People’s Army, the Office of the Public Prosecutor, the judiciary and the Workers’ Party of Korea, who are acting under the effective control of the central organs of the Workers’ Party of Korea, the National Defence Commission and the Supreme Leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.10 18. The findings of the commission of inquiry, which indicated that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, as a State Member of the United Nations, has committed crimes against humanity over a span of several decades, raised questions regarding the accountability of the international community. The commission recalled that the leaders gathered at the 2005 World Summit of Heads of State and Governments had reaffirmed that each individual State had the responsibility to protect its populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, and that, in addition, world leaders had pledged to uphold the complementary responsibility to protect held by the international community.11 The commission also found that, in the light of the manifest failure of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to protect its population from crimes against humanity, the international community, through the United Nations, bears the responsibility to protect the population of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea from crimes against humanity using, first and foremost, appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other peaceful means. The responsibility of the international community was further warranted by the fact that the crimes of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea against humanity have an impact on many persons from other States, who were systematically abducted and who continued to suffer enforced disappearance, along with the families that they had left behind. In a number of these cases, the abductions involved blatant violations of the territorial sovereignty of other States.12 19. The international community must set in train immediate, impartial and just action to secure accountability, fulfil the responsibility to protect, put human rights first and stop grave human rights violations, in accordance with international law. C. Contextual factors affecting justice and reconciliation on the Korean peninsula 20. The Special Rapporteur draws particular attention to one of the main findings of the commission of inquiry that has, however, generated less discussion than it deserves: the historical and political context of human rights violations in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The commission emphasized that the current situation of human rights in that country had been shaped by the historical experiences of the Korean people. Confucian social structures and the experience of the Japanese colonial occupation had to some degree informed the political structures and attitudes prevailing in the country today. The division imposed on the Korean peninsula, the massive destruction caused by the Korean War and the impact of the Cold War had engendered “an isolationist mindset and an aversion to outside powers that are used to justify internal repression”.13 21. The Special Rapporteur believes that genuine recognition of this historical and political context is essential for the international community if it is to to address meaningfully the situation human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Among its recommendations, the commission made stated clearly that the international 10 11 12 13 Ibid., para. 24. Report of the detailed findings of the commission of inquiry (see footnote 5), para. 1024. Ibid., para. 1025. A/HRC/25/63, para. 25. 7