UN PANEL SLAMS HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN NORTH KOREA

a panel of the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution expressing "serious concern" at reports of "systemic, widespread and grave violations of human rights" in North Korea. The vote in the 192-member assembly's third committee dealing with human rights issues was 91-21, with 60 abstentions.
The resolution says abuses include "torture, public executions, extrajudicial and arbitrary detention, the absence of due process and the rule of law, the imposition of the death penalty for political reasons, the existence of a large number of prison camps and the extensive use of forced labour." It asks the UN secretary general to submit a comprehensive report on the human rights situation in North Korea.
It highlights "all-pervasive and severe restrictions on freedoms of thought, conscience, religion and expression" and "continuing violation of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women".