http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/19/world/asia/north-korea-united-nations-icc-human-rights-abuses.html 2014-11-18 22:08:25 Key U.N. Committee Urges Prosecution of North Korea Over Human Rights Abuses The vote by a General Assembly committee came nine months after a panel of inquiry said North Korean leaders could be held criminally responsible. === United Nations The resolution, voted on at a packed session of the General Assembly committee that oversees human rights issues, was the strongest action ever taken by a United Nations body to address abuses in North Korea, one of the world’s most isolated and opaque countries. The approval — 111 in favor and 19 opposed, with 55 abstentions — brushed aside protests by North Korea and a handful of sympathizers, including Cuba, Iran, Venezuela and Belarus, who contended that the resolution was part of a politically motivated agenda orchestrated by North Korea’s enemies, notably the United States. The vote came nine months after a United Nations investigative panel concluded that North Korea’s leaders could be held responsible for egregious crimes, including systematic killing, starvation and torture in a penal system that has incarcerated tens of thousands. The panel’s 400-page report recommended that the Security Council refer North Korea to the International Criminal Court at The Hague, where top North Korean officials, including Kim Jong-un, its 31-year-old leader, could be prosecuted for crimes against humanity. Approval of the resolution came after committee members defeated an amendment presented by Cuba seeking to delete paragraphs in the provision that could lead to prosecution of North Korea at the International Criminal Court. Cuba’s delegation said that such a provision had been concocted by North Korea’s adversaries, that it would set a dangerous precedent, and that it was a “tool to sanction and condemn developing countries.”