Responsibility to protect and ‘peacetime atrocities’: the case of North Korea

Abstract

Responsibility to Protect (R2P) has become part of the world's diplomatic language. The Security Council of the United Nations has mentioned the concept numerous times in the last decade and several non-governmental organizations have been established since 2005 with the purpose of advocating for R2P. This article focuses on the so-called ‘peacetime' atrocities, defined as long-term situations that systematically destroy lives, communities and cultures without ‘exploding’ into armed conflicts. In particular, the author will use North Korea and the alleged genocide against Christians in the country, as a test case to analyse the effectiveness of R2P when dealing with ‘peacetime' atrocities.

Keywords:

• responsibility to protect (R2P)
• peacetime atrocities
• human rights
• North Korea

Note on contributor

Serena Timmoneri is a PhD candidate at Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Catania, Italy, researching on Responsibility to Protect. She graduated in Political Sciences (curriculum: International Relations and EU Politics) at the University of Messina, in 2009 with a thesis of Modern History, The Tudors. She also graduated in Global Politics and Euro-Mediterranean Relations (MA Degree) at the University of Catania in 2012 with a thesis on the UN Resolution ‘Combating Defamation of Religions’, titled Combating Defamation of Religions or Religious Minorities?

Notes

1 UN Secretary General, ‘Implementing the Responsibility to Protect’, report to the UN General Assembly 63rd session (12 January, 2009).

2 A list of the reports adopted can be found at Annex II to UNHRC, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, prepared by Marzuki Darusman (UN Doc A/HRC/22/57), 1 February 2013.

3 Lovell Hogan, “Crimes against humanity – an independent legal opinion on the findings of the Commission of Inquiry on human rights situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea”, a report commissioned by Human Liberty Center, Graduate School of International Studies – Yonsei University, May 2014.

4 UN Human Rights Council, Resolution on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, UN Doc. A/HRC/RES/22/13 (9 April 2013).

5 UN General Assembly, Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (7.02.2015). Available at: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/CoIDPRK/Pages/CommissionInquiryonHRinDPRK.aspx (accessed 14 June 2015).

6 Freedom House – Freedom in the World 2014, North Korea. Available at: <https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2014/north-korea#.VZDnp7cw9dg (accessed 10 June 2015).

7 Ibid.

8 Ibid.

9 Genocide Watch, Country Profile – North Korea. Available at: http://genocidewatch.net/2013/03/20/country-profile-north-korea-2/ (accessed 1 June 2015).

10 BBC News, North Korea Country Profile – Overview. Available at: <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-15256929 (accessed 12 June 2015).

11 Freedom House – Freedom in the World 2014, North Korea (no. 6), 5.

12 Ibid.

13 Lovell Hogan, ‘Crimes Against Humanity – An Independent Legal Opinion on the Findings of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights Situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea', (no. 3), 4.

14 Ibid.

15 Ibid.

16 Freedom House – Freedom in the World 2014, North Korea (no. 6), 5.

17 Ibid.

18 Ibid.

19 UNGA, Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the DPRK (no. 5), 5.

20 UNGA, Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the DPRK (no. 5), 5.

21 United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report, Korea (Democratic People's Rep. of). Available at: http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/PRK (accessed 29 June 2015).

22 Christian Solidarity Worldwide, ‘North Korea: A Case to Answer, a Call to Act' (2007). Available at: http://www.csw.org.uk/2007/06/20/report/35/article.htm (accessed 14 June 2015).

23 UNGA, Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the DPRK (no. 5), 5.

24 Ibid.

25 UN General Assembly, Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948). Available at: http://www.oas.org/dil/1948_Convention_on_the_Prevention_and_Punishment_of_the_Crime_of_Genocide.pdf (accessed 12 January 2015).

26 International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Prosecutor v. Jean-Paul Akayesu (Case No. ICTR-96-4-T), Judgment, 2 September 1998, para. 512–513

27 Christian Solidarity Worldwide, ‘North Korea: A Case to Answer, a Call to Act', (no. 23), 10.

28 Ibid.

29 Christian Solidarity Worldwide, ‘North Korea: A Case to Answer, a Call to Act' (no. 23), 10.

30 Ibid.

31 UNGA, Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the DPRK (no. 5), 5.

32 UNGA, Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the DPRK (no. 5), 5.

33 Christian Solidarity Worldwide, ‘North Korea: A Case to Answer, a Call to Act' (no. 23), 10.

34 ICTR, 95-5-T Prosecutor v Kayishema and Ruzindan, Trial Chamber Judgement (21 May 1999).