UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review – 47th Session

Universal Periodic Review of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

7 November 2024

Statement by Australia

Thank you, Vice President.

The DPRK delegate referring to people as “human scum” is abhorrent and falls far, far short of the dignified language required and expected in this body.

Australia is concerned by the appalling regression in the DPRK since the 2014 Commission of Inquiry, which identified crimes against humanity.

Australia recommends the DPRK:

1. Implement all Commission of Inquiry recommendations, including on torture, abductees, the death penalty and political prison camps.
2. Grant unrestricted access to UN special procedure mandate holders.
3. Prioritise human rights over military expenditure, including to ensure freedom from hunger for its people.
4. End impunity for sexual and gender-based violence.
5. Repeal elements of the Reactionary Thought and Culture Rejection Law; Youth Education Guarantee Law; and Pyongyang Cultural Language Protection Act.
6. Decriminalize the exercise of the right to freedom of opinion and expression.