Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity in North Korean Detention Centers

This Inquiry is a follow-on to the IBA’s 2017 Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity in North Korean Political Prisons and the United Nations’ Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), which issued an exhaustive report in 2014. This Inquiry led by the IBA’s War Crimes Committee and The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK) and was chaired by Navanethem ‘Navi’ Pillay (South Africa) alongside fellow judges Silvia Fernandez (Argentina), Dame Silvia Cartwright (New Zealand), and Wolfgang Schomburg (Germany).

The judges heard in-person testimony from North Korean escapees and experts about crimes that rise to the level of crimes against humanity under the Rome Statue, such as the relentless persecution of Christians, summary executions, and rampant rape, forced abortions and infanticide. Those potentially liable for crimes against humanity chronicled in the Report include Kim Jong-un at the apex of the North Korean regime, as well as low-level guards. The full list of crimes under the Rome Statute of the ICC that the judges concluded likely have been committed on a massive scale in North Korean detention centers are as follows: (1) murder, (2) extermination, (3) enslavement, (4) forcible transfer, (5) imprisonment or severe deprivation of physical liberty, (6) torture, (7) sexual violence, (8) persecution, (9) enforced disappearance, and (10) other inhumane acts. Further, the judges have called for urgent action, including: (1) the launching of an investigation by the ICC or a special international tribunal, (2) the exercise of universal jurisdiction by national courts, and (3) targeted sanctions against North Korean officials by the UN Security Council.

Debevoise & Plimpton, a preeminent international law firm that, during the course of the Inquiry, made the single largest pro bono contribution to the IBA in its 75-year history.