United Nations report: North Korea regime 'like the Nazis'

A study released by the UN revealed human rights abuses in North Korea described as "strikingly similar" to Nazi-era atrocities.

15:18 18 February 2014

The United Nations have slammed North Korea for its alleged crimes against humanity. Its unprecedented study into human rights abuses in North Korea revealed that police and security forces “systematically employ violence and punishments that amount to gross human rights violations.”

Michael Kirby, the man who chaired the inquiry, noted that the violations were "strikingly similar" to atrocities committed in the Nazi era under Adolf Hitler's command.

Kirby said: "At the end of the Second World War, so many people said: If only we had known ... Now the international community does know. There will be no excusing of failure of action because we didn't know."

The study was conducted following a year-long investigation involving public testimony by defectors, including former prison camp guards, at hearings in South Korea, Japan, Britain, and the United States.

On the other hand, North Korea’s government has denied the findings saying that the report was based on material faked by hostile forces backed by the United States, the European Union, and Japan.

However, it seems that UN commissioners aren’t convinced. In a letter they sent to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, they said that the court could "render accountable all those, including possibly yourself, who may be responsible for the crimes against humanity referred to in this letter and in the commission's report."

It added: "Systemic, widespread and gross human rights violations have been and are being committed by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, its institutions and officials."