UN to Investigate Human Rights Abuses in North Korea

Looking into torture and prison camps

The United Nations launched an investigation on Thursday into what it said were widespread and systematic human rights violations in North Korea, some of which "may amount to crimes against humanity".

The U.N. Human Rights Council unanimously passed a resolution brought by the European Union and Japan, and backed by the United States, condemning alleged North Korean torture, food deprivation and labour camps for political prisoners.

The 47-member forum set up a three-member commission of inquiry for one year and called on Pyongyang to cooperate with the team of experts, including Marzuki Darusman, its special rapporteur on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).