Editing Michael Kirby (judge) (section)

==UN Report into North Korean Human Rights Abuses==
{{main|Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea}}
{{further|Human rights in North Korea}}
[[File:Michael Kirby, Chairman of the UN Commission of Inquiry on the DPRK.jpg|thumb|The commission of inquiry presided over by Kirby recommended that North Korean leadership be prosecuted for human rights violations.]]
In May 2013, the [[United Nations Human Rights Council]] appointed Kirby to lead a [[United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea|commission of inquiry]] into human rights abuses in [[North Korea]], with [[Sonja Biserko]] and [[Marzuki Darusman]].<ref>[http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=13301&LangID=E Council President appoints Members of Commission of Inquiry on the Democratic People’s Republic in Korea] Retrieved 8 May 2013</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.smh.com.au/national/un-appoints-kirby-to-head-inquiry-into-rights-abuses-in-north-korea-20130508-2j82r.html
|title=UN appoints Kirby to head inquiry into human rights abuses in North Korea |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=9 May 2013 |access-date=9 May 2013}}</ref> The report is dated 7 February 2014.  It identifies "[s]ystematic, widespread and gross human rights violations" by a "totalitarian state", including "unspeakable atrocities" in the political prison camps.  It makes many recommendations for internal reform and international action, including prosecution of the North Korean leadership in the [[International Criminal Court]] or before an ad hoc international tribunal.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/CoIDPRK/Pages/ReportoftheCommissionofInquiryDPRK.aspx |title=Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea |publisher=United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights |date=7 February 2014 |access-date=20 February 2014}}</ref> North Korea refused all co-operation with the inquiry and, just before the report was launched, issued a statement claiming that it was based upon "faked" material.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/world/north-korea-says-un-report-based-on-faked-material-20140217-hvcrs.html|title=North Korea says UN report based on 'faked' material|date=18 February 2014|work=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=20 February 2014}}</ref>

As the report was being finalised, on 20 January 2014 Kirby wrote to North Korea's Supreme Leader, [[Kim Jong-un]], informing him that he would be advising the [[United Nations]] to formally refer the situation in North Korea to the [[International Criminal Court]], where Kim could be tried for his personal culpability as head of state and leader of the military, but proposing that the commission come to [[Pyongyang]] to discuss the issues with the North Korean government.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/17/north-korea-human-rights-abuses-united-nations |title=UN panel accuses North Korea of human rights abuses resembling Nazis |first=Peter |last=Walker |date=18 February 2014 |work=The Guardian |access-date=18 February 2014 }}  The letter is appended to the report; there was no reply.</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2014/feb/17/united-nations-letter-north-korea-human-rights UN inquiry chairman's letter to Kim Jong-un on North Korean rights abuses]</ref>
At a press conference to launch the report, on 17 February 2014, Kirby said that there were "many parallels" between the evidence he had heard and crimes committed by the Nazis and their allies in the Second World War.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/world/north-korea-crimes-evoke-nazi-era-un-inquiry-finds-20140218-hvcsm.html|title=North Korea crimes evoke Nazi era, UN inquiry finds|first=Stephanie |last=Nebehay |date=18 February 2014|work=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=18 February 2014}}</ref> On 22 April 2014 the official news agency of North Korea, [[Korean Central News Agency|KCNA]], claimed that the "fabrications" are meant to "undermine the ideology and social system of the [[North Korea|DPRK]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2014/201404/news22/20140422-02ee.html |title=KCNA Commentary Slams Artifice by Political Swindlers |publisher=Korean Central News Agency |date=22 April 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729025304/http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2014/201404/news22/20140422-02ee.html |archive-date=29 July 2014 }}</ref> The KCNA also criticised Kirby for being gay: "it is ridiculous for such gay {{sic}} to sponsor dealing with others' human rights issue".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/04/22/north-korean-state-media-slams-u-n-human-rights-report-because-it-was-led-by-a-gay-man/|first=Adam|last=Taylor|title=North Korea slams U.N. human rights report because it was led by gay man|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=2014-04-22|access-date=2014-04-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2014/201404/news22/20140422-02ee.html|website=kcna.co.jp|publisher=the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)|access-date=17 August 2015|date=22 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729025304/http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2014/201404/news22/20140422-02ee.html|archive-date=29 July 2014|title=KCNA Commentary Slams Artifice by Political Swindlers}}</ref>

Kirby remained involved in advocacy on issues of human rights in North Korea and the abduction of Japanese citizens, participating in symposia organised by the Japanese government in Geneva (September 2014) with a UN Human Rights Council Panel and in Tokyo (December 2015).<ref name = ORScitation /> In May 2017,<ref>{{cite journal|title = Reception in honour of the Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG|volume = 52|issue = 2|page = 3|date = October 2017|url = https://www.sydney.au.emb-japan.go.jp/document/english/japan_reports/JR52-2/JR%20Vol%2052-2%20p.3.pdf|journal = The Consulate-General of Japan in Sydney's Quarterly Newsletter}}</ref> he was awarded the [[Order of the Rising Sun]], Gold and Silver Star, "in recognition of his contribution to promoting understanding of the situation of Human Rights in North Korea in the international society including the issue of the abductions of Japanese nationals".<ref name = ORScitation>{{cite web|url = https://www.sydney.au.emb-japan.go.jp/document/english/annex.pdf|title = The Hon. Mr. Michael Kirby AC CMG &ndash; The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star|publisher = Consulate-General of Japan in Sydney}}</ref> The honour was presented by Japanese Prime Minister [[Shinzō Abe]] and Kirby received the additional honour of an audience with [[Akihito]], the [[Emperor of Japan]], at the [[Tokyo Imperial Palace|Imperial Palace in Tokyo]].<ref name = ORSawarded>{{cite journal|title = 2017 Spring Imperial Decorations: the Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG|url = https://www.sydney.au.emb-japan.go.jp/document/english/japan_reports/JR52-1/JReports%20Vol%2052-1%20p.2.pdf|volume = 52|issue = 1|date = July 2017|page = 2|journal = The Consulate-General of Japan in Sydney's Quarterly Newsletter|first = Michael|last = Kirby}}</ref> Kirby described the awarding of the honour to himself and former [[United Nations special rapporteur]] Marzuki Darusman<ref name = SMH-ORS>{{cite news|title = Finding Megumi: Michael Kirby calls for 'peaceful initiatives' on North Korea|first = Daniel|last = Hurst|date = 21 May 2017|access-date = 12 February 2017|newspaper = [[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|url = https://www.smh.com.au/world/michael-kirby-calls-for-peaceful-initiatives-on-north-korea-after-decoration-20170517-gw6sxr.html}}</ref> as "a clear signal that the Japanese Government has not abandoned its determination to pursue the [[crimes against humanity|crime against humanity]] involved in the abductions in the international community and other crimes revealed in our report."<ref name = ORSawarded />

In January 2015, one of the key witnesses to Kirby's inquiry, [[Shin Dong Hyuk]], admitted that he had given false testimony. Having sworn that he had spent his childhood entirely in the notorious Camp 14, he changed his story to say that he had been transferred at the age of six to the nearby Camp 18.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mundy |first=Simon |date=2015-01-19 |title=North Korea defector admits falsehoods in prison camp story |work=Financial Times|location=London |url=https://www.ft.com/content/00894c3e-9fc5-11e4-aa89-00144feab7de |access-date=2023-08-15}}</ref> He said that he had changed his story after seeing his father (whom he had thought to be dead) on television. Shin apologised but gave few details.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/19/north-korea-defector-change-story-shin-dong-hyuk|title=North Korean defector changes story after seeing father in video|agency=Reuters|date=2015-01-19|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-04-12|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>