North Korea to Head UN Disarmament Forum, 30 NGOs Urge Walk-out

[Nevilledog]

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Hillel Neuer
@HillelNeuer
·
May 30, 2022
BREAKING: 🇰🇵 North Korea has just taken over as chair of the Conference on Disarmament here at the United Nations in Geneva. This is not a joke.

When they preside at tomorrow's meeting, our coalition of 40 UN-accredited NGOs is calling on all democracies to walk out.

Hillel Neuer
@HillelNeuer
Having the North Korean regime of Kim Jong-un preside over global nuclear weapons disarmament will be like putting a serial rapist in charge of a women’s shelter.

Our appeal for countries to walk out, signed by 40 civil society groups worldwide: https://unwatch.org/north-korea-to-head-un-disarmament-forum-30-ngos-urge-walk-out/… /2

unwatch.org
North Korea to Head UN Disarmament Forum, 30 NGOs Urge Walk-out - UN Watch
GENEVA, May 26, 2022 — North Korea on Monday will take over as chair of the world disarmament forum which negotiated the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, sparking an appeal (see text below) by 30...
3:48 AM · May 30, 2022 from Geneva, Switzerland

https://unwatch.org/north-korea-to-head-un-disarmament-forum-30-ngos-urge-walk-out/

GENEVA, May 26, 2022 — North Korea on Monday will take over as chair of the world disarmament forum which negotiated the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, sparking an appeal (see text below) by over 40 UN-accredited non-governmental organizations for UN chief Antonio Guterres, the U.S., Canada, UK, EU states and other democracies to strongly protest, and for their ambassadors to walk out of the conference during the four weeks of the North Korean presidency, starting on May 30, 2022.

The 65-nation Conference on Disarmament, based in Geneva, is considered the cornerstone of nuclear disarmament efforts. The UN-backed body calls itself “the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community.”

“Having the North Korean regime of Kim Jong-un preside over global nuclear weapons disarmament will be like putting a serial rapist in charge of a women’s shelter,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, a Geneva-based non-governmental organization that monitors the United Nations, and which spearheaded the joint protest.

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

Under UN rules, the North Korean ambassador to the forum, Mr. Han Tae Song, will help organize the work of the conference and assist in setting the agenda.

*snip*

[Martin68]

1. I couldn't seem to find an explanation for why North Korea was given the position. Did I miss

something?

PK, I looked it up, and it turns out N.Korea is one of four countries that will chair the body for four weeks each this year. It's a rotational position, and N. Korea just came up this year. We can probably survive 4 weeks without attending the meeting.