Q3:
Do you see parallels between the situations in the DPRK (N Korea) and Myanmar? (Burma)
OQ: Myanmar has been ruled by a military
regime for 40 years. During my mandate, starting in 2008 and ending in 2014,
throughout those years I could establish that there was at that time a pattern
of gross and systematic human rights abuses that entailed crimes against
humanity in Myanmar. Therefore, we can draw a parallel between Myanmar and the DPRK
since the latest reports, especially those coming from the Commission of
Inquiry on Human Rights in the DPRK (COI), also showed patterns of human rights
abuses in DPRK which were considered by the COI as crimes against humanity.
Let me speak
about another parallel: the fact that Myanmar was for many years also an
isolated country, isolated from the international community where human rights
rapporteurs were unable to visit the country. For a combination of factors,
this changed. I had a chance then to visit Myanmar many times; I visited at
least nine times. I traveled all over the country. I visited political
prisoners, and at the same time, I had the opportunity to meet with the
authorities, which is always very relevant when addressing a human rights
situation.
In fact, the
ideal of cooperation is central for Special Rapporteurs. Now this seems to be a
very critical difference between Myanmar and DPRK, since the authorities of
North Korea throughout the years haven’t shown a willingness to cooperate with
UN rapporteurs. This, of course, will be a challenge. You may know that when
the Human Rights Council of the United Nations appoints Special Rapporteurs, they
ask them not only to report to it, but to do this through the principle of cooperation,
which is a very important principle in the UN Charter. This has been a critical
difficulty in respect to the DPRK. This is a clear difference between Myanmar
and DPRK, since Myanmar nowadays has opened to the international community and
has even changed from a military regime to a civilian government.
Q4:
How are you planning to approach the particular challenges of the DPRK
mandate?
OQ: The very first element that a Special
Rapporteur has to show to the concerned parties, in this case the authorities
of the DPRK, is independence and impartiality. Of course, my predecessors and
members of the COI have been holding this important attitude. But I’m a new Rapporteur,
so the first step is to show independence and impartiality in respect to the
situation.
