Thread by @HillelNeuer

North Korea, the world's foremost nuclear weapons proliferator, will soon chair the U.N. disarmament forum on nuclear weapons.

That's like putting a serial rapist in charge of a women's shelter.

US, UK, France, Germany & other democracies should walk out.unwatch.org/north-korea-to…

North Korea has launched six ballistic missiles in four weapons tests since January 5th — almost as many missiles​ in one month​ as it launched in all of last year. All in blatant violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions,
nytimes.com/2022/01/25/wor…

"North Korea's presidency of the Conference on Disarmament is going to cause diplomatic waves, given its repeated violations of UN resolutions prohibiting it from conducting nuclear weapons and ballistic missile tests." @JoongAngDaily
koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/01/26/nat…

This is a country that threatens other UN member states with missiles, and commits atrocities against its own people. Torture and starvation are routine in North Korean political prison camps where 100,000 people are held in one of the world’s most dire human-rights situations.

North Korea holding the gavel is liable to seriously undermine the image and credibility of the United Nations, and will send absolutely the worst message. At a time when China, Russia, Libya, Kazakhstan and Venezuela are sitting on the UN human rights council, this won’t help.

North Korea is the world’s foremost weapons proliferator. The regime builds its own nuclear weapons in contravention of its treaty commitments. Pyongyang sells missile and atomic know-how to other rogue regimes in blatant violation of U.N. sanctions.

If the U.N. seeks to be an institution with a moral compass, it cannot allows the likes of North Korea to direct arms control agencies, and to keep electing the world’s worst abusers to its top human rights body.

UN Watch urges the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Canada and all other democracies to refuse to send ambassadors to any meeting of this U.N. forum that is being chaired by North Korea.

The U.S. and Canada pulled out while Iran was chair in 2013, and should do so again.

A country that flagrantly violates U.N. Security Council resolutions explicitly prohibiting its ballistic missile launches should be barred from any formal positions in U.N. bodies dealing with such vital matters as nuclear weapons disarmament.

The United Nations Security Council has adopted at least nine major sanctions resolutions on North Korea in response to the country’s illicit nuclear and missile activities since 2006.

Each resolution condemns North Korea’s latest nuclear and ballistic missile activity and calls on North Korea to cease its illicit activity, which violates previous U.N. Security Council resolutions.

In addition to imposing sanctions, the resolutions give U.N. member states the authority to interdict and inspect North Korean cargo within their territory, and subsequently seize and dispose of illicit shipments.

The U.N. should instead hold North Korea accountable for its executions, prison camps, torture, high-profile assassinations & detainment of foreigners. 100,000 languish in political prison camps. Attempted defectors get torture, execution, or imprisonment of family members.