Seoul, Dec 18 (IANS/EFE) North Korea Thursday criticised the alleged participation of European countries in torture carried out by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in a fresh attempt to discredit the UN resolution that denounces human rights violations by the Kim Jong-un regime.
"European countries have so far often found fault with other countries over their alleged human rights violations, behaving as if they were a 'model' in protecting human rights," a spokesman for North Korea's foreign ministry told the official news agency KCNA.
"But, this time, it has been disclosed that most EU member states have became servants of the US," he added, in reference to the recent and controversial report of the US Senate which said that the CIA had carried out more brutal interrogations of terror suspects than previously admitted after the 9/11 attacks.
Amnesty International and other human rights organisations have said that around 20 European Union (EU) member states helped the CIA in its controversial practices in one form or another.
The latest verbal offensive by North Korea comes on the same day that the UN General Assembly is scheduled to adopt a non-binding resolution submitted by the EU and Japan for North Korea's leaders to be called before the International Criminal Court to answer charges of crimes against humanity.
The debate on the resolution is scheduled to take place next week.
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In March, a UN commission of inquiry published a detailed report reporting evidence of "extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions and other sexual violence, persecution on political, religious, racial and gender grounds," among others, in North Korea.
--IANS/EFE
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