Transitional Justice: Response to Human Rights Violations by International Institutions

Abstract

A recent United Nations report on North Korea reports of widespread human rights violations inside North Korea.1 The right to life, liberty, freedom of religion, freedom of association, and assembly are regularly violated by the government and its agents.2 Over the years, many people have been subjected to detention, torture, and forced labor in government-operated detention camps in North Korea. Oppressive rule is always associated with gross violations of human rights. One of the challenges that a unified democratic Korea would have to face is how to deal with human rights violations perpetrated in the past. In transitional justice literature relating to societies transitioning from oppressive and authoritarian rule or conflict to democratic governance, one of the major points of discussion is always what to do with perpetrators of past human rights violations when conflicts or oppressive regimes have ended. The United Nations has a long history of assisting societies devastated by conflict or emerging from repressive rule to reestablish the rule of law and develop mechanisms to deal with large-scale human rights violations. For the United Nations, transitional justice is the full range of processes and mechanisms associated with a society’s attempt to come to terms with a legacy of large-scale human rights abuses, in order to ensure accountability for the abuses, serve justice, and achieve reconciliation and the transformation of society to establish a democratic society that is underpinned by human rights values.3