SEOUL, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- A U.N. commission of inquiry on North Korea is committed to doing more than just issuing statements of condemnation, its chairman said.
"In the contemporary world, it is not good enough to produce just another U.N. report," Australian Michael Kirby said Monday in a statement from Seoul.
"Today, leaders and governments are accountable and the commission of inquiry has been created with that objective in mind. But equally, it is not good enough to respond with denunciation."
Kirby said the three-member commission tasked with investigating human rights violations in North Korea would wrap up its 10-day mission Tuesday.
The commission is investigating allegations of torture, arbitrary detentions, forced labor, enforced disappearances and other abuses.
Kirby said the commission members were "deeply moved" by testimony from some witnesses to abuses allegedly committed by the North Korean government.
More than 40 witnesses relayed their "painful experiences," he said.
Kirby said the international support for the mission equated to a mandate for swift action.
He said North Korea "has attacked the testimony we have heard and comments upon it as a 'slander' of the [government]."
