A/HRC/34/66
15.
The situation of detainees at various law enforcement detention centres and
correction facilities is also of concern. There exists at least one prison camp (prison camp
No. 12) in Hoeryong city, which was among the most severely affected areas. 25 No
information is available concerning the impact of the flood on political prison camp No. 25,
which is reportedly located in Chongjin city, North Hamgyong Province. 26
16.
The Special Rapporteur notes with concern that international funding for emergency
relief remains inadequate. As of 10 December 2016, the United Nations country team had
mobilized only 38 per cent of the $28 million required to respond to the emergency. 27
Similarly, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies had
reportedly secured only 25 per cent of its September 2016 emergency appeal for 15 million
Swiss francs. 28 Multiple factors could be at work to make the raising of funds for the
emergency in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea challenging, including crises in
other parts of the world as well as increased tensions on the Korean peninsula.
Nevertheless, the Special Rapporteur stresses that political or security concerns should not
prevent the provision of life-saving humanitarian aid.
C.
Engagement of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea with United
Nations human rights mechanisms
17.
The Special Rapporteur has been encouraged by increasing engagement of the
Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea with United Nations human
rights mechanisms. In line with commitments made during the second cycle of the
universal periodic review, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea submitted national
reports to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the
Committee on the Rights of the Child in April and May 2016, respectively. The Committee
on the Rights of the Child will review the report in September 2017 and the Committee on
the Elimination of Discrimination against Women will do so in October. Both occasions
will provide an important opportunity to move the human rights agenda forward with the
Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. These processes also provide a
significant opportunity for civil society organizations to push for effective progress on the
ground.
18.
On 6 December 2016, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea ratified the
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Special Rapporteur welcomed
the ratification as a useful step forward towards implementing accepted recommendations
emanating from the 2014 universal periodic review. 29 The Special Rapporteur on the rights
of persons with disabilities similarly congratulated the country on the ratification,
25
26
27
28
29
Korea Institute for National Unification, White Paper on Human Rights in North Korea: 2016 (Seoul,
2016), p. 105. The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, a non-governmental organization
based in Washington, D.C., reported that, on the basis of satellite images, prison camp No. 12 was
affected by the flood, which cut off the roads to the camp and destroyed crops. Joseph S. Bermudez
Jr. and Greg Scarlatoiu, North Korea: Flooding at Kyo-wa-so No. 12, Jongo-ri, 16 September 2016
(Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, 2016), available from
www.hrnk.org/publications/hrnk-publications.php.
Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., Andy Dinville and Mike Eley, North Korea: Camp No. 25-Update 2, 29
November 2016 (Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, 2016), available from
www.hrnk.org/publications/hrnk-publications.php.
Humanitarian dashboard.
See www.ifrc.org/en/news-and-media/press-releases/asia-pacific/korea-democratic-peoples-republicof/ifrc-president-konoe-highlights-continued-humanitarian-needs-of-flood-survivors-following-dprkvisit-/.
See www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=21051&LangID=E.
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