UN rights chief says sex abuse rampant in North Korea detention centres

The United Nations’ human rights chief Michelle Bachelet on Tuesday warned of major human rights violations in North Korean detention centres, including sexual violence against women and girls.
Bachelet said the “apparently systematic” abuses were based on her office’s improved monitoring of the country, and could amount to crimes against humanity.
She added that the crimes seem to have been under the “direct authority of two ministries”, and that her office was trying to identify those responsible.
“They may amount to crimes against humanity, which could engage the individual criminal responsibility of DPRK officials”, Bachelet told the Human Rights Council. She did not specify what the UN would do to address the alleged abuses.
North Korea, who has repeatedly rejected accusations of human rights violations, has previously warned the UN that it would consider discussions of its human rights situation a “serious provocation”.
A 2014 UN report concluded that North Korean officials, possibly including the leader Kim Jong Un, should face justice for overseeing a state-controlled system of “Nazi-style atrocities”. A November 2014 resolution also asked the Security Council to refer the country’s leadership to the International Criminal Court for possible charges of “crimes agaisnt humanity”.