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Human Rights Watch: Kim Jong Un must stand trial for abuses

The NGO said the North Korean leader has strengthened a rule of terror that was formed during his grandfather’s time.

By Elizabeth Shim
A Chinese news magazine featuring a front-page story on Kim Jong Un is sold at a news stand in Beijing Dec. 27, 2011. Human rights violations against the North Korean people have been committed for three generations under the dynastic Kim regime, according to Human Rights Watch. File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI
A Chinese news magazine featuring a front-page story on Kim Jong Un is sold at a news stand in Beijing Dec. 27, 2011. Human rights violations against the North Korean people have been committed for three generations under the dynastic Kim regime, according to Human Rights Watch. File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

SEOUL, July 7 (UPI) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un must stand trial before an international tribunal for his crimes against humanity, a deputy director at Human Rights Watch said Wednesday.

Phil Robertson made the statement on the same day North Korea commemorates the 21st death anniversary of North Korea founder Kim Il Sung, Yonhap reported.

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Robertson told Radio Free Asia that human rights violations against the North Korean people have been committed for three generations under the dynastic Kim regime and the present-day leader must stand trial for ongoing abuses.

According to Human Rights Watch, North Koreans continue to be arbitrarily detained, tortured and purged. Those who fall out of favor with the regime must endure hard labor and other forms of human rights violations, Voice of America reported.

Robertson said that while the late Kim Il Sung died without paying for his crimes, the living Kim Jong Un, who has committed the same crimes against humanity, must be taken to trial.

The Human Rights Watch deputy director said Kim Jong Un has strengthened a rule of terror that was formed during his grandfather's time. Secret police, concentration camps, unquestioned worship of the leader and public executions designed to instill fear are just some of the tools the North Korean leader employs to keep his position of power.

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South Korea recently issued a report that states North Korea executed 1,382 people between 2000 and 2014 for a broad array of crimes that ranged from anti-state activities to viewing South Korean pornographic material.

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