[imText1]The “Investigative Commission on Crime Against Humanity (ICCH),” an organization advocating the investigation of crimes against humanity by North Korea, started gathering signatures at the entrance to Jongmyo Shrine in Seoul on the 26th as a part of a nationwide movement to bring a lawsuit against Kim Jong Il and his followers in the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the crimes of genocide, abduction, and the use of political prisons.
The ICCH issued a statement at the campaign commencement ceremony, “We all have a duty as the embodiments of conscience to protect our North Korean brethren from inhumane crimes and to help bring their freedom forward, if only by a day.”
Representative Doh Hee Yun of the Citizen’s Coalition for Human Rights of Abductees and North Korean Refugees revealed, “The signature campaign will not stop after this event, but will be taken round the nation’s universities after classes begin (in September).”
He added, “The goal of the campaign is not just to generate a petition, but also to spread information about bringing Kim Jong Il to trial in the ICC.”
At Jongmyo Shrine, more than 80 members of the ICCH and approximately 300 college students affiliated with the Human Rights Protection Policy Committee put on a show before the launch of the signature campaign. Students recited a public statement and a message of support for the North Korean people, as well as putting on a photo exhibition and reenacting the human rights situation in North Korea for the watching spectators.
Statements from Suzanne Scholte, the President of the Defense Forum Foundation, Representative Araki Kazhiro of the Investigation Commission on Missing Japanese, and President Yu Heung Joo of the U.S.-South Korea Liberal Democracy Alliance/League were delivered by junior Sogang University student and Human Rights Protection Policy Committee member Yang Chung Yeol, earning warm applause from the audience.
The Human Rights Protection Policy Committee, a union of university students in the Seoul area, has 400 members from 15 schools.
The ICCH is planning to hold a mock ICC trial by university students in September, an international seminar in October and a project to publish materials in November with which it proposes to officially petition the ICC in December.
The ICC has already issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for perpetrating the Darfur genocide, while Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga is currently on trial for inflicting atrocities on abducted child soldiers, sex crimes and other brutal acts.
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