Wiesenthal Center Endorses UN Report on North Korea

February 17, 2014

"When will the world finally act against Kim Jong Un and his regime whose crimes against humanity evoke the Soviet and Nazi eras?" asks Center official

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a leading Jewish human rights organization with NGO status at the United Nations, endorsed a 400-page UN report released earlier today which documents North Korean policies that include ongoing crimes against humanity.

The report, by the UN's Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, found that, "The gravity, scale and nature of these violations reveal a State that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world."

"We endorse the shocking findings of this UN report, including the call for the international community to accept its responsibility to protect the North Korean people from crimes against humanity," said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Wiesenthal Center. "Having personally debriefed North Koreans who ran gas chambers in the gulag as well as having hosted numerous North Korean escapees, I have heard about such horrors from both perpetrators and victims that are outlined in this historic report," he added.

"The key question remains, however, when will the world powers led by the United States and China take practical measures to stop a regime whose serial inhumane treatment of innocent people conjures up the Soviet Gulag and the Nazi regime of the 1930's?" Rabbi Cooper asked, adding, "It's time for the civilized world to respond to the silent cries of the North Korean people."

Rabbi Cooper also urged private firms, including banks and travel agencies, to choose to stop doing business with the North Korean regime even when such activities are not technically illegal.

Rabbi Cooper is Vice-Chair of the North Korea Freedom Coalition and a member of the US Committee on North Korea and Human Rights.

For more information, please contact the Center's Public Relations Department, 310-553-9036, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter page or mobile device.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).