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I come from Serbia and I come from the region
scarred by war atrocities and grave human rights violations not long
ago. I have witnessed disintegration of a country and barbarization
of its population for ten years, till 2000. The entire region I come
from has been trying to recover and civilize itself ever since. But
all it has accomplished it has accomplished at a snail’s pace and
along a thorny road. Although the war crimes had been processed
before the ICTY, and although the international community assisted
its stabilization and recovery. Also, EU decided to integrate the
bregion in its entirety. Armed conflicts and destruction were put to
and end. But psychological, political, economic and social recovery
still has a long way to go.
My engagement in COI gave me an insight into the
consequences of a decades-long state terror against an entire
population. The refugees and defectors I’ve talked to were all brave
people indeed: they risked their necks when meeting with us and
telling us about their sufferings and the hardship of their
countrymen. But they were also full of hope, looking up for the
Commission’s report to trigger off changes for the better. I would
say that what truly inspired the Commission’s untypical and
straightforward report was those people’s desperate courage and
desperate cry for help.
Their moving accounts have definitely blown the
lid off the true nature of the society they had lived in. We got an
insight into a longstanding process of dehumanization and moral
insensibility practically killing an entire nation – the nation
living a hand-to-mouth life. Mass human rights violations to which
this nation has been exposed, including crimes against humanity, are
beyond the limits of tolerance. Even once – and if - the political
situation changed it would take decades for the country to recover
itself. And it is hard to predict when or how these changes could
take place. Various experts have come up with their scenarios, each
subject to chance. All we could hope for is not to witness again
Libyan, Iraqi or Syrian scenarios.
The report the Commission brought forward
worldwide should give impetus to a new strategy for North Korea. It
should incite the international community - the UN and international
organizations - to take a synchronized and responsible action for
unconditional renewal of the six-party talks on North Korea that
would take into consideration its recommendations. As a longstanding
human rights defender I am aware how crucial it is that human
dimension imbues all the activities in and about North Korea. The
report is quite explicit about it in its section 94. It is
imperative that not only the UN but also all other international
forums “implement a common “Rights up Front” strategy to ensure that
all engagement with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
effectively takes into account, and addresses, human rights
concerns, including those collected in the report”. Our findings
indicate that the agenda of six-party talks should focus on the
human dimension of this pressing problem along with security and
economic issues.
Let me draw your attention to another major aspect
of our recommendations: the international assistance to North Korea
in preparing the terrain for the implementation of transitional
justice, including the approach to no impunity for the crimes
committed. This aspect is referred to in the section 89 of the
Report. To ensure success to this process we must start searching
for the solutions that would tone down any rage it might trigger
off. This is why we need to have an institutional frame for genuine
coping with the past established.
I am referring to this process in the context of
imperative changes in that country. It goes without saying that
these changes will be neither smooth nor speedy. We are still in the
dark about a possible dissident movement in North Korea. The
defectors who have pictured the criminal nature of its regime are
angry and embittered with good reason. We also realized that the
regime lived on the fear it has been spreading on daily basis. The
fear that weights on both sides – the regime and citizens - only
increases the potential for violence. The North Korean society
should be seriously prepared for fundamental changes rather than for
the change of regime only.
In this context, the nation needs to be gradually
unburdened of its hand-to-mouth existence. On the other hand, the
regime needs a helping hand to open to change, no matter how
reluctant to help or resistant to any change it is. Though many
might disapprove my stance, I must say I strongly believe that the
present ruling elites should be approached and involved in the
process of change. In saying this, I posit that the incumbent regime
would do anything to survive and remain in power. We could avoid
revenge, retaliation and violence only if we ensure the political
elites’ participation. The Commission’s report has alerted them as
well, there is no doubt about it. And this is why a new and
comprehensive strategy for North Korea should be built on it and its
recommendations.
Unfortunately, the international theater is in
turmoil. The policy of interventionalism - I have referred to in the
case of several countries – failed: obviously, the international
community has badly coped with a number of challenges. And mostly
because it knew little about the nature of the societies it stepped
in. We need to draw proper lessons from these failures: the changes
we are hoping for can take place only if societies themselves had
been prepared to embrace them. And the report clearly charts this
course.
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