HRC52 – Item 4: Interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Geneva, 20 March 2023
 
National statement
delivered by
 
H.E. Ms. Ravesa Lleshi
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Albania in Geneva
 
 
Mr. President,
 
Albania welcomes the Special Rapporteur, Prof. Elizabeth Salmón, to the Council. We thank her for her first report on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), and for identifying women and girls as the first priority of her work.
 
Nearly ten years ago, the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the DPRK found that the gravity, scale and nature of human rights violations revealed a repressive State with no parallel in the contemporary world. The deepened isolation and repression in the DPRK have pushed an already vulnerable population to the brink, with women and girls disproportionately affected. We commend the Special Rapporteur for acknowledging the courage of female escapees in sharing their accounts about human rights violations in the DPRK, and for amplifying their voices. We also share the Special Rapporteur’s concern about States that violate the principle of non-refoulement with regard to escapees from North Korea.
 
The regime’s continued human rights violations and abuses are well documented. The systemic, widespread, and gross human rights violations amount to crimes against humanity. There is no statute of limitations for these crimes, but the victims of grave human rights violations in and by the DPRK deserve justice. We commend the work of the Special Rapporteur and the OHCHR office in Seoul for their essential role in strengthening accountability efforts, and fully support the extension of the respective mandates.
 
I thank you.