[USFK Forums] EU parliament to hold hearing on N.K. human rights next month [Yonhap]

[C. Y. Lee]

Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Monday, February 20, 2006

EU parliament to hold hearing on N.K. human rights next month

WASHINGTON, Feb. 19 (Yonhap) -- The European Union (EU) parliament will hold a hearing next month on the human rights situation in North Korea, and a U.S. group will hold its serial conference to coincide with the hearing, sources here said Sunday.

The hearing is slated for March 23, led by nongovernmental organizations that will bring North Korean refugees to testify.

The U.S.-based human rights group Freedom House has moved up the date for its conference on North Korea to coincide with the hearing, sources said.

Freedom House, with money allocated by the U.S. Congress under the North Korea Human Rights Act of 2004, has hosted two previous conferences in Washington and Seoul.

The closely guarded Pyongyang regime is accused of running gulags and prison camps to quell dissent. North Korea's treatment of its people has been decried for years in human rights reports, which criticize its denial of basic freedoms.

The U.S. State Department's own report calls North Korea one of the most oppressed nations in the world. This year's report is due next month.

The U.N. special rapporteur on human rights, Vivit Muntarbhorn, is expected to release his report in April.

ldm@yna.co.kr
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