U.N. Official Demands Inquiry Into Kim Jong-nam’s Death

http://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/13/world/asia/kim-jong-nam-malaysia-north-korea.html

Version 0 of 1.

The United Nations investigator of human rights violations in North Korea inserted himself on Monday into the mystery over the assassination of the North Korean leader’s half brother, calling for an independent inquiry and possible protection of “other persons from targeted killings.”

The remarks by the investigator, Tomas Ojea Quintana, at a meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, essentially expanded the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the estranged older sibling of Kim Jong-un, into a human rights issue.

Mr. Quintana’s remarks also intensified the international pressure on North Korea, which has been accused by South Korea and the United States of orchestrating the assassination a month ago at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia. The Malaysian authorities have made clear that they believe that North Korea’s government may have been involved.

North Korea has denied responsibility, has described the assassination as a smear plot by Malaysia and North Korea’s enemies and has not even acknowledged the identity of the victim.

Kim Jong-nam, long alienated from his half brother, who has led their hermetic nation for five years, was killed on Feb. 13 by two women at the airport while awaiting a flight for Macau, his home in exile in China, according to the Malaysian authorities. The women rubbed his face with toxic liquid, which the Malaysian authorities identified in an autopsy as VX, a banned chemical weapon that North Korea is known to have stockpiled.

The women, who apparently thought they had been participating in a harmless gag, have been charged with murder, and the Malaysian police have suggested they were recruited by North Korean agents.

The police are seeking seven North Koreans, including a diplomat who has refused to leave North Korea’s embassy. The Malaysians have also rejected the North Korean government’s demands to hand over the body.

The assassination has escalated into a crisis between North Korea and Malaysia, which have expelled each other’s ambassadors and barred each other’s citizens from leaving.

Political analysts have suggested that Kim Jong-un may have ordered the assassination of his half brother over fear that China, which was protecting Kim Jong-nam, might try to install him as North Korea’s leader should the current government collapse.

Mr. Quintana said the intense interest in the assassination had obscured the “human rights implications” of Kim Jong-nam’s death, adding his voice to the suspicions that North Korean agents were involved.

“I urge all parties concerned to cooperate in carrying out a transparent, independent and impartial investigation into this killing, and to observe guidelines regarding witness protection,” he told the Human Rights Council during a periodic update on North Korea.

“Should the investigation confirm the involvement of state actors,” Mr. Quintana said, “Mr. Kim would be a victim of an extrajudicial killing and measures would need to be taken to assign responsibilities and protect other persons from targeted killings.”

As of Monday, no next of kin have come forward to claim the body, leading to speculation that the victim’s wife and children live in fear of assassination, as well.

North Korean officials have refused to meet with Mr. Quintana and boycotted his presentation at the Human Rights Council. North Korea has long contended that the United Nations investigation of human rights abuses is groundless and part of a malicious plot instigated by the United States and its allies.

At a news conference later at United Nations headquarters in New York, North Korea’s ambassador, Kim In-ryong, responded to a question about Mr. Quintana’s assertion by reiterating his country’s denial of responsibility for the assassination. He suggested North Korea’s enemies had been responsible, calling the assassination “the product of reckless moves” by the United States and South Korea.

The ambassador also dismissed as “the height of absurdity” Malaysia’s conclusion that VX had been used, arguing that its toxicity is so potent that the assassins and other bystanders would have died.