[imText1]The Investigative Commission on Crimes against Humanity was founded on Friday at the Press Center in Seoul.
Recognizing the unacceptable scale of the atrocities committed by the North Korean regime, the commission vowed to “take specific steps towards prosecuting Kim Jong Il in the International Criminal Court” according to Doh Hee Yun, the commission’s administrator.
Its plan of action includes investigating the human rights abuses and other inhumane crimes of the regime, conducting scholarly seminars, creating a petition and simulating a court case against Kim in order to raise awareness of the issue, while in the mean time making preparations to prosecute Kim Jong Il in the ICC by December of this year.
In its statement, the committee declared that placing Kim Jong Il in court would be a “historic event in pursuit of justice, peace and security on the Korean peninsula, giving freedom to the North Korean people” and further added that “our activities will be very effective in stopping the oppressive regime.”
The statement also pointed out, “We remember the unconditional aid that was given to the regime by the left leaning, pro-North Korea administrations of the past” and suggested that those who stand by the rhetoric of the North must be treated as complicit in its crimes.
The co-chairs of the Commission are Kang Cheol Hwan (Committee for Democratization of North Korea), Lee Mee Il (Korean War Abductees’ Family Union), Han Chang Kwon (Association of North Korean Defector Organizations) and other four more representatives of NGOs based in Seoul.
The commission works in cooperation with around 50 North Korea related organizations including Network for North Korean Democracy, Free North Korea Radio, Korean War Abductees’ Family Union and the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights.
