UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – North Korea yesterday asked the United Nations Security Council to add the issue of torture by the US Central Intelligence Agency to its agenda as the council prepares to hold a meeting next week on alleged human rights abuses by the Asian state.
The council is due to meet on December 22 or 23 on human rights in North Korea after two-thirds of the 15-members pushed for the issue to be added to the body’s agenda. A UN report in February detailed abuses in North Korea that it said were comparable to Nazi-era atrocities.
Once an issue is on the Security Council agenda, it can be discussed at any time. Majority support is needed to add an item to the agenda and cannot be blocked by the five veto-wielding powers – China, Russia, the United States, France and Britain.
Diplomats said it was not likely that enough countries would support a council meeting on torture by the CIA.
“The so-called ‘human rights issue’ in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) is politically fabricated and, therefore, it is not at all relevant to the regional or international peace and security,” North Korean UN Ambassador Ja Song Nam wrote in a letter to the council.
