A visitor looks at a foetus that died before it was born during "Bodies: The Exhibition", an international exhibition, by Gunther Von Hagens in Lima June 24, 2009.
In Photo: A visitor looks at a foetus that died before it was born during "Bodies: The Exhibition", an international exhibition, by Gunther Von Hagens in Lima June 24, 2009. REUTERS/Pilar Olivares
A visitor looks at a foetus that died before it was born during "Bodies: The Exhibition", an international exhibition, by Gunther Von Hagens in Lima June 24, 2009. REUTERS/Pilar Olivares (PERU SOCIETY IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Kim Hye-Sook, a defector from North Korea, recounted to the UN the sufferings she and other prisoners suffered in the hands of their captors, including years of starvation, hard labour and torture. To indicate how bad food shortage is, Kim revealed that some women detainees had to eat babies to alleviate their hunger.

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Upon hearing the harrowing experience of the North Korean detainees, Michael Kirbey, chairman of the UN Commission of Inquiry Report, which held a hearing at the UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday, recommended for the Security Council to bring the North Korean government to the International Criminal Court and face charges of crime against humanity.

Kim was 13 when she was incarcerated in a prison camp together with her family. But over the years, her parents, brother, husband and children died of starvation or were involved in accidents.

She shared that a family of 7 was allocated 7.5 kilogrammes of corn monthly, which when dried shrunk to 4.5 kilogrammes. Most of the time they ate only once a day, forcing them to eat mountain grass. Upon reaching the age of 16, prisoners are sent to work in coal mines where Kim spent 14 years.

"I was starving so much so I said, 'If you feed me well, I would confess my crime.' As a result, I confessed and had a great meal because I was starving. And then I said I wasn't [guilty] because I wasn't. After my denial, they beat me up so much," Rappler quoted Jung Kwang-Il, another defector.

However, Kim Song, counselor of North Korea's Mission to the UN, and who attended the panel discussion organised by Australia, Botswana, Panama and other human rights groups, belied the testimony of the two defectors.

Kim Song claimed, "These confrontational events have nothing to do with genuine human rights. Rather, it's a product of political conspiracy of the US and hostile forces in their attempt to overthrow our political and social system."

In a response to a question from the North Korean representative if the chairman had read the country's "rosy" report on its human rights record and provisions of its constitution, Kirby replied that in some nations where great crimes are often committed against its people, the charter is not as important as officials' action who defy the constitution, often considered a mere dead document.

Kirby said, quoted by CNN, "The question that is before the United Nations now is when we face such a moment of truth, will the United Nations back away because of the steps belatedly taken by North Korea in recent week?"

He stressed, "We stand for the principles of the United Nations and we expect accountability for great crimes before justice. And that is the right of people of North Korea."

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