A/HRC/31/70 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 19 January 2016 Original: English Human Rights Council Thirty-first session Agenda item 4 Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Note by the Secretariat The present report, submitted to the Human Rights Council pursuant to Council resolution 28/22, is the last to be submitted by the current mandate holder. Two years have passed since the commission of inquiry on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea presented to the Human Rights Council its finding that crimes against humanities had been and were being committed in the country. Regrettably, the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has not improved, and the crimes against humanity documented by the commission of inquiry appear to continue. Nonetheless, the situation in the Korean peninsula appears to be improving, as seen in the increasing dialogue and interactions between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea. Public discussions on the future of the Korean peninsula seem more visible, at least in the Republic of Korea. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur stresses that a framework on accountability measures for crimes against humanity and other human rights violations must be a component of discussions on the future of the Korean peninsula, including a unification scenario. GE.16-00641(E) *1600641*