Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to implement Recommendation 1224 of the report from the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (A/HRC/ 25/ CRP.1), in light of paragraph 39 of the report of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (A/HRC/26/43).

Paragraph 1224 of the Commission of Inquiry’s report (A/HRC/25/CRP.1) recommends that states and others should provide more support for the work of civil society organisations to improve the human rights situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), including efforts to document violations and to broadcast accessible information into each country. In paragraph 39 of his June 2014 report (A/HRC/26/43) the Special Rapporteur notes that the Human Rights Council called on all parties concerned, including United Nations bodies, to consider implementation of the recommendations made by the Commission of Inquiry. The Rapporteur also says that he interprets “all parties concerned” as all-encompassing.

The UK does not disagree with this interpretation, but it is clear that different parties will have different roles with regard to individual recommendations.

The UK has previously funded projects related to the documentation of violations that have been implemented by civil society organisations based in South Korea and we remain open to funding similar projects in the future. We have also worked with international non-governmental organisations and the DPRK’s Korean Federation for the Protection of the Disabled (KFPD) for example to improve the treatment of disabled people in the DPRK. This complements wider international efforts, like those of the US who support broadcasts into the DPRK.