Kerry calls on North Korea to shut prison camps

NEW YORK, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke at an event highlighting human rights abuses in North Korea on Tuesday in New York in conjunction with the 69th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Kerry denounced North Korea's "systematic repression, collective punishment, arbitrary execution, penal colonies, prison camps" as inhumane treatment that "should have no place in the 21st century."

Earlier this year, the U.N. released its Commission of Inquiry's report on North Korea, documenting over 400 pages of "unspeakable atrocities."

With that report, Kerry said Tuesday, "the veil has been truly lifted."

"North Korea's leadership may act as if it is impervious to our concern, as if nothing that we say can penetrate its self-imposed isolation. And yet on some level, North Korea's leaders do understand that their behavior brings shame upon their country in the eyes of the world.

"Why else would Pyongyang go to such extraordinary lengths to keep their prison camps secret? Why else would they refuse to allow access to the Red Cross, the UN, and the international NGOs, or dismiss out of hand horrific accounts provided by defectors as mere propaganda?"

Kerry took the opportunity to convey a message for those imprisoned in North Korean prisons: "You may be hidden, but we can see you. We know you're there. Your captors can silence your voice and assault your dignity, but they cannot deny your basic humanity."

He then called on North Korea to close the camps, urging officials to "shut this evil system down."