Activites

• 2010/07/08 Results of vote in Parliament
  • Results of vote in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
  • T7-0290/2010 summary

    The European Parliament adopted 64 to 0 with 1 abstention a resolution on North Korea. The resolution had been tabled by the EFD, ALDE, Greens/ALE, EPP, ECR and S&D groups. It calls on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to put an immediate end to the ongoing grave, widespread and systematic human rights violations perpetrated against its own people, which may amount to crimes against humanity and thus be subject to international criminal jurisdiction. It calls on the DPRK to stop public executions and abolish the death penalty in the DPRK, to put an end to extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, to stop the use of torture and forced labour, to release political prisoners and to allow its citizens freedom of travel. It also wants the DPRK authorities to ensure access to food and humanitarian assistance for all citizens on the basis of need, and to allow free expression and press freedom, as well as uncensored access to the internet for its citizens. In view of the gravity of the situation, Parliament calls on the EU to appoint an EU special representative on the DPRK to ensure persistent attention and coordination both within the European Union and with key partners such as the United States and the RoK. It also calls on the EU to support the establishment of a UN Commission of Inquiry to assess past and current human rights violations in the DPRK in order to determine to what extent such violations and impunity associated with the abuses may constitute crimes against humanity, and calls on EU Member States to sponsor a UN resolution at the General Assembly to that end. Members call on the Commission to do the following:raise the human rights situation in the DPRK and the issue of North Korean refugees in the PRC in all EU-China high-level talks and in the EU-China Dialogue on Human Rights;maintain existing humanitarian aid programmes and channels of communication with the DPRK, and to rigorously monitor the distribution of food aid and humanitarian assistance in North Korea to meet international standards of transparency and accountability;continue active dialogue and support for NGOs and civil-society actors working to establish contacts within the DPRK, with a view to encouraging changes leading to a better environment for human rights;include a clause on monitoring of the rights of workers working in the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the DPRK in the EU-Republic of Korea Free Trade Agreement;continue to support civil-society organisations helping North Korean refugees.Members go on to ask the Government of the DPRK to ensure a comprehensive investigation with a transparent and satisfactory outcome, to hand over finally and completely all information on the EU citizens and third-country nationals who are suspected to have been abducted by North Korean state agents during past decades, and to release immediately those abductees still being held in the country.Parliament notes that a significant number of North Koreans flee to the People's Republic of China (PRC), where many women are reportedly subjected to human trafficking and forced marriages. The PRC reportedly forcibly returns North Korean refugees to the DPRK in violation of international norms on the prohibition on refoulement and allegedly also prohibits DPRK citizens from accessing UNHCR asylum procedures, in violation of the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, to which the PRC has acceded. Parliament notes further that there are disturbing reports as to the fate of those citizens forcibly returned. It calls on the PRC to stop arresting and returning North Korean refugees to the DPRK, to fulfil its obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, to allow the UNHCR access to North Korean refugees to determine their status and assist their safe resettlement, and to grant North Korean women married to PRC citizens legal resident status. It calls on the PRC to use its close relations with the DPRK to promote economic and social reform in the country, with a view to improving the living conditions and social rights of the North Korean population.Lastly, Members urge EU Member States to continue granting North Korean refugees asylum and to adopt a more systematic approach to organising European and international protection for North Koreans fleeing the desperate situation at home.

Documents

• Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T7-0290/2010

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)