N. Korea says citizens 'happy' with rights

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NEW YORK, March 22 (UPI) -- North Korea scorns a planned inquiry into its alleged human rights abuses and its people are "happy" with how their rights are protected, an official said.

The reaction by the country's delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Council came after it voted to set up a commission to investigate claims of "grave, widespread and systematic" violations of human rights committed by North Korea, CNN reported Friday.

A report was recently submitted to the council by an independent expert who said he found instances of torture, enslavement, enforced disappearances and murder.

So Se Pyong, the North Korean delegate, slammed the draft resolution for an inquiry as "no more than an instrument that serves the political purposes of the hostile forces in their attempt to discredit the image [of North Korea.]"

He said North Koreans were "happy with pride and honor that they have one of the best systems for promotion and protection of human rights in the world."

The delegate warned of "serious consequences" if the inquiry were to proceed.

Marzuki Darusman, the Indonesian lawyer who wrote the report, found nine patterns of human rights violations, including arbitrary detentions, depriving people of food, heavy restrictions on freedom of expression and abduction of foreign citizens.