South Korea Archives

On Thursday, November 30th, 2023, UpRights’ Co-Director, Valérie Gabard, joined the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB) for the release of their latest report ‘Behind Closed Doors: Mapping the System of Command in the Ministry of State Security & Social Security’. This collaborative effort aims to unravel the intricate web of human rights violations in North Korea, underscoring how the discourse on the North Korean human rights issues has progressively shifted from exposing the gravity of North Korean human rights violations to finding ways to hold perpetrators accountable.

The Report’s Focus: Responsibility and Accountability

Through the employment of its database comprising over 140,000 cases of human rights violations, NKDB was able to produce a report that delves into the organizational structure and systems of command within the North Korean Ministries of State Security and Social Security. The primary goal of the report is to shed light on the systematic and widespread human rights violations occurring within North Korea, emphasizing the need to identify the responsible individuals and organizations, as well as all those actors turning blind eye to the systematic and widespread violations happening in the country.

Valérie’s Insights: Exploring Superior Responsibility

In her contribution Valérie underlined how the type of work done by NKDB could assist in pursuing accountability because of its information-seeking character, indeed, according to the UpRights’ Co-Director, a better understanding the structure and organization of the Ministries could assist judges and prosecutors understand their power structures.

Drawing from her experience from working within the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, Valérie emphasized the challenges of prosecuting individuals and specifically discussed the concept of ‘superior responsibility’ in the context of international law. While ‘superior responsibility’ is a well-established concept in international criminal law, its application becomes more nuanced in the Korean context, where no individuals have been prosecuted yet. For this exact reason, the report aims to go beyond merely identifying individuals and organizations but also to demonstrate effective control, a crucial aspect in establishing ‘superior responsibility.’

UpRights’ Contribution: Training and Collaboration

Between December 2022 and June 2023, UpRights has been providing investigative and legal advise in the context of collecting evidence and witness reports to better understand the structure and chain of command of the North Korean’s Regime. Furthermore, in January 2023, UpRights also provided the NKDB with trainings workshops aimed at strengthening their legal capacity in documentation and accountability-seeking efforts for crimes committed in North Korea

Looking back at last week’s event, UpRights expresses its pride in the long-term partnership with NKDB and extends gratitude to the entire team for their collaboration in this significant conference. The collective effort aims to bring justice to the victims of human rights violations in North Korea and holds the promise of a brighter future for those affected.

UpRights co-founders Asa Solway and Valerie Gabard conducted a two-day training for civil society organisations in South Korea on pursuing accountability in different forums for crimes in North Korea.

The training outlined accountability mechanisms with a particular emphasis on submissions before the International Criminal Court. It set out jurisdictional challenges and provided guidance on building effective and persuasive Article 15 communications. The impact and likelihood of different pathways were outlined including recent developments concerning universal jurisdiction, the jurispurdence of the International Court and the benefits and drawbacks of utilizing international criminal law and human rights law. UpRights trainers’ further set out relevant modes of liability and related issues of international criminal law.

The training also focused on best practices related to gathering and analysing evidence in the specific context of civil society in South Korea. International standards and the importance of effective evidence collection was discussed in detail as a foundation to pursue multiple paths to ensuring accountability for victims.

The training built on UpRights recent experience submitting a successful Article 15 Communication to the International Criminal Court concerning crimes against migrants in Libya and its ongoing work to develop the capacity of national actors to effectively leverage domestic and international law to pursue accountability for victims of serious human rights violations.