A group of U.N. human rights experts pressed North Korea on Wednesday to suspend the execution of a man accused of treason, saying he was tortured and sentenced to death without a trial.
The four special rapporteurs criticized North Korea's refusal to respond in "any meaningful way" to their appeal for Son Jong-nam, who is believed to be under persecution for his links to defectors.
His brother recently defected to South Korea, where the state human rights panel launched its own investigation into his case earlier this month.
According to the rapporteurs, Son was tortured and sentenced without the procedural safeguards required by international human rights law.
The rapporteurs had called on North Korea late last month to postpone the execution and review the conviction. But Pyongyang responded on May 5 by accusing them of "conspiracy" and spreading "fabricated information."
North Korea claimed the U.N. experts were acting in collaboration with "hostile forces to defame, disintegrate and overthrow the state and social system of the DPRK on the pretext of human rights."
DPRK, or the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is North Korea's official name.
The four rapporteurs are Vivit Muntarbhorn on North Korean human rights, Philip Alston on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Leila Zerrougui on arbitrary detention, and Manfred Nowak on torture.
Special rapporterus are unpaid experts serving in their personal capacity under the mandate of the now-defunct U.N.
Commission on Human Rights. They report to the newly established Human Rights Council.
WASHINGTON, May 31 (Yonhap)
U.N. experts press Pyongyang to suspend scheduled execution |
