A/HRC/7/20 page 19 including the need to resolve the abductions issue satisfactorily. However progress has not been made and concrete steps from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea are awaited to advance the talks constructively. 66. Another important development is the increasing acknowledgement that in the past, the country also abducted the nationals of other countries, thus globalizing the issue even more extensively. Networking between Japanese families affected by the abductions and the families of those affected in other countries has grown, and a Federation of these groups has been established to advance cooperation on the matter. Japan has adopted a variety of measures to put pressure on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, including the prohibition of visits of its vessels as well as various embargoes and restrictions on trade and exchanges. 67. An important law was adopted by Japan in 2006: the Act on Measures for Resolving the Abduction Issue and Other Human Rights Infringements Committed by the North Korean Authorities. This law provides for a series of measures, including awareness-raising activities among the Japanese public, and various national conferences have been held on this issue, as well as dissemination programmes using posters and other media to inform the public about the phenomenon of abductions. In 2007, the Act was amended to encourage the Japanese authorities to work with foreign governments and international organizations to help support the call for resolution of the abductions issue. 68. The 2006 law also provides for the possible adoption of measures to protect and support “North Korean Defectors”. This opens the door to help other groups affected by the human rights situation in the country, including the Japanese spouses and children of North Korean nationals who wish to return to Japan, Korean residents from Japan who later settled in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea but who now wish to come back to Japan as well as their families, and those North Korean nationals seeking asylum in Japan. Japan is now affording protection to a number of these persons. The humanitarian space can thus be enlarged to address a range of groups affected by the human rights situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. It is essential to provide not only social welfare support but also longer term livelihood opportunities and family/community support systems so as to enable these groups to be included into society, bearing in mind both their physical and psychological needs. 69. In view of the tenuous situation described above, the following orientations are underlined: − The Special Rapporteur calls upon the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to show a sense of responsibility urgently in addressing the issue of abductions, particularly by providing tangible results and an effective response, with due respect for the safety of the abductees, to return them immediately to Japan, and to act against the impunity of those who perpetrated the crime of abductions. − The Special Rapporteur supports the various initiatives to settle the problem of abductions in a peaceful and satisfactory manner on the basis of international law and highlights the State responsibility and individual criminal responsibility pertaining to the conduct of the country and its agents in regard to the abductions, in the expectation that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will commit itself to resolve the issue substantively in a transparent manner under the six-party talks and/or through other channels.