UN Report on North Korea Creates a Crisis of Conscience For The Rest of Us

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” ?

By Burmesedays (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)],
via Wikimedia Commons

The recently released United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea report describes a hellish environment for the unlucky inhabitants of that secretive country. Authors, former Australian Judge Micheal Kirby, Serbian human rights campaigner, Sonja Biserko and Marzuki Darusman, of Indonesia, liken the 21^st century Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (aka North Korea's) governance to 20^th century Nazism. In fact, they say there is no modern-day “parallel” to the sub-human atrocities being committed by Kim Jong Crazy’s regime. They put Kim Jong Un on notice for possible crimes against humanity charges and issue a stern warning to China that they could be guilty of aiding and abetting in these crimes if they continue to force the repatriation of those North Koreans who have managed to flee the madness into their country. Kirby calls on the international community to act. And soon.

For over six decades, through three generations, the Kim Dynasty has exacted a brutal order on their citizens. With intimidation, fear and monstrous savagery they have maintained control in North Korea...at a terrible cost. Like the victims of the fictional character Saw in the horror movie franchise of the same name, the gruesome details documented through hundreds of eyewitness and first-hand testimony show a people dehumanized by the relentless horrors inflicted upon them. They are numb to their own – and others - suffering. They have lost the ability to feel. It is what it is, when survival becomes the only goal.

One thing that is obvious after reading these narratives: we can't un-read them. What we were once able to - albeit a little nervously – push aside as rumor – has been confirmed – many times over. This report creates a crisis of conscience we all have to face. This isn't the laughable spectacle of a drunken, once-relevant basketball player trying to get noticed. Nor is it the “maybe debate” about an unstable government's nuclear capabilities. This is what is happening right now to 'too many to count' fellow human beings. The report estimates 120,000 people are being held in four prison camps across the country – a number that would certainly be higher had not so many inmates already died prior to the panels investigation.

We cannot say we don’t know. We do. Now what?