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GOVERNMENT OF JAPANMINISTRY FOR THE ABDUCTION ISSUETOKYO, JAPAN9 MAY 2017
A REFLECTION ON ABDUCTION & NORTHKOREA 2017

The Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG
On whom has been conferred this day the Japanese Order of theRising Sun, Gold and Silver StarGOVERNMENT OF JAPANMINISTRY FOR THE ABDUCTION ISSUETOKYO, JAPAN9 MAY 2017
A REFLECTION ON ABDUCTION & NORTH KOREA 2017

The Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG *On whom has been conferred this day the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun,
Gold and Silver StarRESPECTS AND UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS

I begin with an expression of respect for the Government and people ofJapan who have this day honoured me with admission to the Order of theRising Sun, Gold and Silver Star: a great civil honour, established by theEmperor Meiji.
∗ I honour His Majesty, the Emperor. He commands admiration, inJapan and beyond, for his lifelong concern for the suffering of all,especially all the victims of wars. I was greatly privileged today tobe received by His Majesty at the Imperial Palace.

The honour I

have received is not only for me or for my colleague and friend,Marzuki Darusman of Indonesia. (We were members of the UN
Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea). It is for all*Former Chair of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights Violations in the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea (DPRK) (2013-2014). Text of an address given at a Reception hosted by Hon Katsunobu
Kato, Minister for the Abduction Issue.

1who worked on the United Nations report. 1 Including our greatly
valued colleague Sonja Biserko, and our hard working secretariat;
brave witnesses and tireless civil society supporters.
∗ I also express respects for the ongoing determination of themembers of the United Nations to address the human rights
violations of DPRK (North Korea). Those violations were the subjectof our report;∗ I express respects for the Government of Japan and its officers,
including in the Ministry of the Abduction Issue. Acting always withprofessionalism and respecting the independence of the COI, theGovernment of Japan has been forthright and unwavering in its
commitment to the abductees. This commitment (supported fromall sections of political opinion in the Japanese nation) has been
symbolised by the presence at the Office of the Prime Minister (MrShinzo Abe) and by this reception hosted by the Minister for theAbduction Issue (Mr Katsunobu Kato). It was evidenced throughout
the work of the COI, symbolised by the service of the Mission ofJapan in Geneva (including former Ambassador Takashi Okada).
His integrity was impeccable. His devotion to all the issues ofhuman rights in DPRK was fearless.

He is joined by manycolleagues, whom I thank with sincerity;∗ I also acknowledge the families of the Japanese nationals abductedfrom Japan to North Korea and the persistent civil society
organisations that continue with their commitment to their families.
1United Nations, Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights Violations in the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea (February 2014): A/HRC/25/CRP.1.

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They will never surrender their hopes and prayers for thereunification of the families or, at the very least, a full and proper
satisfaction in relation to the disappearance of their loved ones. I
witnessed their vigilance during their repeated testimony to the COI;in conferences: and in hearings before the Diet committee sessions
in Tokyo and at events in Geneva. Like the COI itself, they will neverrelinquish the demand for full and complete satisfaction to bring thisunhealed wound to healing. Their testimony often moved me totears. But tears are not enough. Voices must be raised. Action
must be sustained. Results must be achieved; and∗ Because human rights are universal, global and constantly in needof vigilance, I am grateful that the Minister has invited to thisreception some of my many Japanese friends and colleagues who
have worked tirelessly over the years to secure human rights
worldwide. I refer to:∗ Professor Masao Horibe who worked with me on privacy protection
as long ago as the 1980s, and is now Chairman of the Personal
Information Protection Commission in Japan;∗ Mr Yasushi Higashizawa, Chair of the LawAsia Committee on
Human Rights and my recent colleague in the Human Rights
Institute of the International Bar Association;∗ My new colleague in that body Ms Mikiko Otani (member of the UN
Committee on the Rights of the Child);3∗ Other new friends in Japan, Mr Hiroki Inaba (Goldman Sachs); andMr Alexander Dmitrenko and Mr Taro Tanaka (Freshfields); and the
Honourable Keiji Furuya, Commissioner of the Special Mission
Committee of the Liberal Democratic Party on Sexual Orientation
and Gender Identity Issues. We must not “cherry pick” issues ofuniversal human rights, confining ourselves to popular ones. We
must fight against violence, discrimination and injustice, wherever
they exist. The victims of the abductions would insist on this. They
would demand that we be principled. Human rights is rarely an easy
or a popular issue. None of us should rest content whilst there arevictims of human rights abuses anywhere on our planet. From thesufferings of Japan over the abductions must grow a national
example of rationality, leadership and courage on all the issues ofhuman rights. The abductions issue teaches us that lesson.

HUMAN RIGHTS – THE OTHER FACE OF SECURITY DANGERS

The fundamental motivation for the pursuit of human rights is love. Lovefor one another. Love because we realise the pain that human rights
abuses cause. Love because we share the human journey with one
another. Love because we can comprehend the outrage and anguish of
the families who are the victims of abduction. Just as we can share thehorror of the starvation, mass detention, arbitrary conduct, publicexecutions and other grievous wrongs that have afflicted the people ofNorth Korea these past 70 years and are set out in the COI report.

The mandate of the COI on North Korea has concluded.

Yet so“systematic, widespread and gross” were the violations revealed; so4

shocking the “gravity, scale and nature” of them, that they demand aresponse. 2 No one of sensibility could have been confronted with thehuman rights abuses described in the COI report, and just forget them orpush them to one side. No one could just return to the hum drum affairsof everyday life. It is the duty of all who know about the human rights
abuses in North Korea to raise the alarm; and demand global action.

That action will include the immediate cessation of the crimes against
humanity; the provision of accountability for the wrongs done by theleadership of North Korea; and the provision of full transparencies for thevictims and their families in Japan. The great majority of the victims ofabductions come, as we know, from Korea itself. Under international law
the decent opinion of mankind cries out for redress. The crimes must bestopped. Those that have occurred must be answered for.

It has been disturbing to me to witness the way in which the recent focus
of concern for the security situation caused by North Korea’s nuclear andother weapons tests have all but extinguished the attention of the worldcommunity to the revelations in the COI report. It is shameful to turn awayfrom the abductions, detentions, starvation and other great crimes.
Unremarkably, this has not happened in Japan where the abductions arenever forgotten.

All of the wrongs disclosed by the COI in its report are evidence of acountry that is now becoming a powder keg. 3 It is a danger to itself andto its own people. It is a danger to its neighbours, to the region and indeed
2
3

COI report, above n.1, p.365 [1211].
See “Handle with Extreme Care”, leader item, The Economist, 28 April 2017, (Vol. 423, No. 9037) 7.

5to the entire planet. We must not forget the human rights concerns
revealed by the COI. They are an integral part of the essential problemof North Korea.

The human rights abuses are amongst the chief explanations for thespecial dangers to global peace and security. Specifically, a country that
can act so callously as to abduct so many peaceful victims is a danger topeace. The victims have been:∗ The Japanese victims of abduction and the nationals of other foreigncountries seized by agents of North Korea, without respect forinternational law and human dignity;∗ Thousands of young Korean men abducted from South Korea andretained in DPRK in the last stages of the Korean War, contrary topromises in the armistice;∗ The hijacking of civilian aircraft and retention of their passengers inNorth Korea;∗ The unhappy victims of the trickery of Japanese residents ofKorean descent who went to DPRK on the promise of a better life;and∗ The repeated seizure and imprisonment of tourists who were sounwise as to visit North Korea, some as recently as late April 2017.

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Recent media commentators expressed surprise at the assault andbizarre murder at Kuala Lumpur International Airport of Kim Jong-Nam,the half-brother of the Supreme Leader of North Korea. But to anyone
who knows about the human rights record of DPRK it was no real surpriseat all. A country that could brutally and suddenly execute Jang SongThaek, uncle of and effective second in command of the Supreme Leader,can easily act ruthlessly on whims and emotions. 4 A country that will
abduct a school child from Japan, Yokota Megumi returning home after
badminton practice,5 seemingly for trivial reasons, will be indifferent to thenorms of civilised life and respect for foreign sovereignty, whilst
demanding deference to its own. 6 A country that will repeatedly makeschool children and other citizens witness public executions is a land of
fearful brutality. 7 A country that institutes extra-judicial detention forseveral generations of alleged enemies of the state is not going to show
concern for due process or proportionality. It is not going to observe thegeneral rules of civilised conduct.

Where the country concerned fails to provide redress for crimes against
humanity, the international community has promised to assume thatburden. 8 The COI has pointed out that many of the wrongs on the part ofNorth Korea amount to crimes against humanity under international law. 9
Specifically, international abductions and enforced disappearances
constitute crimes against humanity. 10 Emphatically, the abduction ofJapanesenationalsandenforcing

4upon

COI report, 43[156]-[157].
COI report, 292 [916]] ff.
6
COI report, 298 [934]-[935].
7
COI report 262-266 [827]-[833]; and 234-235[757]-[760] (prison executions)
8
COI report 363 [1204].
9
COI report 320 [1026].
10COI report 347 [1147].
5

7them

unconsensualdisappearances amount to crimes against humanity.

So too is thedreadful suffering thereby inflicted on the families of the disappeared. 11

The exact number of Japanese abductees is not known with exact
certainty. But the existence of the practice was brazenly acknowledged
by Kim Jong-Il to Japan’s Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in 2002. 12
North Korea abducted nationals from other foreign countries including
China. Adding to these the huge numbers of South Korean nationals
abducted and retained in North Korea, cut off from their families, we cansee the cruelty of North Korea. The tears and pain remain. They will notend until North Korea gives full accountability. Until it opens itself toimpartial international scrutiny to put an end to the suffering. There will
never be peace and security for the Korean Peninsula (and its neighbours)
whilst the problems of human rights – including abductions - remain
unaddressed.

SHARPENED BY TEARS IN THE DARKNESSNo one can pretend that any of the choices for dealing with the present
security and human rights problems of North Korea are easy. Doingnothing is unacceptable. It is also contrary to the international legal
requirement of accountability for crimes against humanity. Warfare today(including with North Korea) risks still more human rights abuses anddisproportionate death and destruction for more innocent victims.

1112

COI report 313 [992].
COI report 297[931].

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Sanctions, engagement and increased pressure on North Korea areessential. By common consent, China is a key to the solution. With
China’s veto and special powers under the United Nations Charter comegreat responsibilities. The presidential election in ROK this day will also
be a significant development.

The human spirit and its quest for rational solutions to problems must beengaged. Truth must overcome the vestigial Iron Curtain that, by its
choice, still cuts North Korea off from the world. We must inform its peopleof what the world thinks and what it expects. After all, North Korea has
agreed to be a member of the United Nations. The people of the world
have the right to be heard beyond the DMZ. How we cope with the present
challenge inevitably affects the way our vulnerable planet will deal with
the next country that builds a nuclear arsenal and threatens its neighbours,
its region and the globe. Now is the moment of truth.

Out of the present dilemmas, I believe, will eventually come justice andaccountability for the victims of great wrongdoings – including in the caseof North Korea’s abductions. At least now the UN Commission on NorthKorea has sharpened the world’s awareness about the wrongs. No one
can say they do not know. Humanity’s awareness shines brightly in thegloom of North Korea. It is made sharper and clearer by the report of theUnited Nations Commission. By the nuclear and missile test. And by thetears of those who have suffered too long without redress.

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