Latest news with #Heenan
Daily Maverick
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Rights abuses continue in North Korea a decade after probe, says UN investigator
A decade after a landmark U.N. report concluded North Korea committed crimes against humanity, a U.N. official investigating rights in the isolated state told Reuters many abuses continue, exacerbated by COVID-era controls that have yet to be lifted. James Heenan, who represents the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights in Seoul, said he is still surprised by the continued prevalence of executions, forced labour and reports of starvation in the authoritarian country. Later this year Heenan's team will release a follow-up report to the 2014 findings by the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which said the government had committed 'systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations' that constituted crimes against humanity. DPRK is North Korea's official name. While the conclusions of this year's report are still being finalised, Heenan told Reuters in an interview that the last 10 years have seen mixed results, with North Korea's government engaging more with some international institutions, but doubling down on control at home. 'The post-COVID period for DPRK means a period of much greater government control over people's lives and restrictions on their freedoms,' he said in the interview. North Korea's embassy in London did not answer phone calls seeking comment. The government has in the past denied abuses and accused the U.N. and foreign countries of trying to use human rights as a political weapon to attack North Korea. A Reuters investigation in 2023 found leader Kim Jong Un had spent much of the COVID pandemic building a massive string of walls and fences along the previously porous border with China, and later built fences around the capital of Pyongyang. A report this week by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies said the COVID pandemic raged in North Korea for more than two years before the regime admitted in May 2022 that the virus had permeated its borders, and that the regime bungled the response in a way that violated freedoms and left most citizens to fend for themselves. On Wednesday SI Analytics, a Seoul-based satellite imagery firm, released a report noting North Korea is renovating a key prison camp near the border with China, possibly in response to international criticism, while simultaneously strengthening physical control over prisoners under the pretence of facility improvement. Heenan said his team has talked to more than 300 North Koreans who fled their country in recent years, and many expressed despair. 'Sometimes we hear people saying they sort of hope a war breaks out, because that might change things,' he said. A number of those interviewees will speak publicly for the first time next week as part of an effort to put a human face on the U.N. findings. 'It's a rare opportunity to hear from people publicly what they want to say about what's happening in the DPRK,' Heenan said. He expressed concern about funding cuts for international aid and U.N. programmes around the world, which is pressuring human rights work and threatening support for North Korean refugees. While human rights has traditionally been a politically volatile subject not only for Pyongyang but for foreign governments trying to engage with the nuclear-armed North, Heenan said the issues like prison camps need to be part of any engagement on a political settlement. 'There's no point self-censoring on human rights, because… no one's fooled,' he said.
Otago Daily Times
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Rights abuses continue in North Korea: investigator
A decade after a landmark U.N. report concluded North Korea committed crimes against humanity, a U.N. official investigating rights in the isolated state says many abuses continue, exacerbated by COVID-era controls that have yet to be lifted. James Heenan, who represents the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights in Seoul, said he is still surprised by the continued prevalence of executions, forced labour and reports of starvation in the authoritarian country. Later this year Heenan's team will release a follow-up report to the 2014 findings by the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which said the government had committed "systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations" that constituted crimes against humanity. DPRK is North Korea's official name. While the conclusions of this year's report are still being finalised, Heenan told Reuters in an interview that the last 10 years have seen mixed results, with North Korea's government engaging more with some international institutions, but doubling down on control at home. "The post-COVID period for DPRK means a period of much greater government control over people's lives and restrictions on their freedoms," he said in the interview. North Korea's embassy in London did not answer phone calls seeking comment. The government has in the past denied abuses and accused the U.N. and foreign countries of trying to use human rights as a political weapon to attack North Korea. A Reuters investigation in 2023 found leader Kim Jong Un had spent much of the COVID pandemic building a massive string of walls and fences along the previously porous border with China, and later built fences around the capital of Pyongyang. A report this week by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies said the COVID pandemic raged in North Korea for more than two years before the regime admitted in May 2022 that the virus had permeated its borders, and that the regime bungled the response in a way that violated freedoms and left most citizens to fend for themselves. On Wednesday SI Analytics, a Seoul-based satellite imagery firm, released a report noting North Korea is renovating a key prison camp near the border with China, possibly in response to international criticism, while simultaneously strengthening physical control over prisoners under the pretence of facility improvement. Heenan said his team has talked to more than 300 North Koreans who fled their country in recent years, and many expressed despair. "Sometimes we hear people saying they sort of hope a war breaks out, because that might change things," he said. A number of those interviewees will speak publicly for the first time next week as part of an effort to put a human face on the U.N. findings. "It's a rare opportunity to hear from people publicly what they want to say about what's happening in the DPRK," Heenan said. He expressed concern about funding cuts for international aid and U.N. programmes around the world, which is pressuring human rights work and threatening support for North Korean refugees. While human rights has traditionally been a politically volatile subject not only for Pyongyang but for foreign governments trying to engage with the nuclear-armed North, Heenan said the issues like prison camps need to be part of any engagement on a political settlement. "There's no point self-censoring on human rights, because... no one's fooled," he said.
Straits Times
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Rights abuses continue in North Korea a decade after probe, says UN investigator
A North Korean flag flutters on top of a 160-metre tower in North Korea's propaganda village of Gijungdong in this picture taken from the Dora observatory near the demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas, in Paju, South Korea, April 24, 2018. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo SEOUL - A decade after a landmark U.N. report concluded North Korea committed crimes against humanity, a U.N. official investigating rights in the isolated state told Reuters many abuses continue, exacerbated by COVID-era controls that have yet to be lifted. James Heenan, who represents the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights in Seoul, said he is still surprised by the continued prevalence of executions, forced labour and reports of starvation in the authoritarian country. Later this year Heenan's team will release a follow-up report to the 2014 findings by the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which said the government had committed "systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations" that constituted crimes against humanity. DPRK is North Korea's official name. While the conclusions of this year's report are still being finalised, Heenan told Reuters in an interview that the last 10 years have seen mixed results, with North Korea's government engaging more with some international institutions, but doubling down on control at home. "The post-COVID period for DPRK means a period of much greater government control over people's lives and restrictions on their freedoms," he said in the interview. North Korea's embassy in London did not answer phone calls seeking comment. The government has in the past denied abuses and accused the U.N. and foreign countries of trying to use human rights as a political weapon to attack North Korea. A Reuters investigation in 2023 found leader Kim Jong Un had spent much of the COVID pandemic building a massive string of walls and fences along the previously porous border with China, and later built fences around the capital of Pyongyang. A report this week by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies said the COVID pandemic raged in North Korea for more than two years before the regime admitted in May 2022 that the virus had permeated its borders, and that the regime bungled the response in a way that violated freedoms and left most citizens to fend for themselves. On Wednesday SI Analytics, a Seoul-based satellite imagery firm, released a report noting North Korea is renovating a key prison camp near the border with China, possibly in response to international criticism, while simultaneously strengthening physical control over prisoners under the pretence of facility improvement. Heenan said his team has talked to more than 300 North Koreans who fled their country in recent years, and many expressed despair. "Sometimes we hear people saying they sort of hope a war breaks out, because that might change things," he said. A number of those interviewees will speak publicly for the first time next week as part of an effort to put a human face on the U.N. findings. "It's a rare opportunity to hear from people publicly what they want to say about what's happening in the DPRK," Heenan said. He expressed concern about funding cuts for international aid and U.N. programmes around the world, which is pressuring human rights work and threatening support for North Korean refugees. While human rights has traditionally been a politically volatile subject not only for Pyongyang but for foreign governments trying to engage with the nuclear-armed North, Heenan said the issues like prison camps need to be part of any engagement on a political settlement. "There's no point self-censoring on human rights, because... no one's fooled," he said. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Courier
7 days ago
- The Courier
Friday court round-up — 16 times coke limit and Legion assault
A drug-driver who switched seats with his passenger when he was pulled over by police in Perth has admitted a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice. was 16 times the permitted limit for cocaine while motoring through the city's Fairfield Avenue on March 21 2023. The 38-year-old, from Aberfeldy, appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and pled guilty to driving a Honda Jazz while uninsured and with excess cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine (800mics/ 50). He further admitted changing from being in the driver's seat to the passenger seat, while pretending to two police constables that he had not been behind the wheel. Sheriff William Gilchrist deferred sentence for a drug treatment assessment. A decorator battered a dog walker with a paint roller and left him 'gushing with blood' on the street, a court has heard. whacked his victim with the telescopic tool in a busy Auchterarder street and told police it was because stones had been thrown at his van. A pair have been ordered to complete unpaid work after assaulting a woman at Forfar's Royal British Legion. , 32, and , 33, previously admitted amended charges relating to the incident on October 28 2023. Beattie, of Graham Crescent in Forfar, pled guilty to assaulting the woman by repeatedly punching her on the head and body, leaving her injured and permanently disfigured. Scott, of Auldbar Road in Letham, admitted assaulting the woman by repeatedly seizing her by the hair to her injury. The pair returned to Forfar Sheriff Court last week to be sentenced. Beattie was instructed to complete 180 hours of unpaid work, while Scott was ordered to complete 80 hours unpaid work. A drink-driver and his teenage passenger suffered serious injuries when their airborne car slammed into a tree on a remote Perthshire road. lost control of his Vauxhall Corsa when he attempted to overtake on a bend, into the path of oncoming traffic. , 51, badly injured a customer by throwing a glass during a Cowdenbeath bar disturbance. Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard Heenan became angry when somebody pulled away his seat, causing him to fall to the ground at the Beath Inn, High Street. He hurled his pint glass towards the pool table, striking an innocent onlooker. Heenan, of Church Street, Kingseat, admitted that on February 11 last year, he assaulted a man by throwing a glass at him, which struck him on the head to his severe injury and permanent disfigurement. Paramedics treated the victim for a two-to-three inch cut on his eyebrow. His other injuries included a fractured upper sinus, concussion, blurred vision and a two-to-three inch cut on his eyebrow which required ten stitches and caused permanent scarring. Defence solicitor Elaine Buist said: 'He feels absolutely dreadful about the injuries 'He deeply regrets the whole incident having occurred.' Sheriff Krista Johnston told Heenan, 'You're lucky not to get the jail for this offence.' Instead, she imposed a community payback order with 120 hours of unpaid work, two years of supervision and a seven-month restriction of liberty order. A holidaymaker was knocked to the ground, beaten and robbed as he walked back to his caravan while visiting a Perthshire town. The tourist was set upon by in a seemingly unprovoked attack after enjoying an evening of football in Pitlochry. A Dunfermline man's careless driving outside Dunfermline police station caught the attention of officers. was stopped, smelling of booze, said he was 'in a hurry' and refused a breath test. As a result, the 51-year-old, of Headwell Avenue, appeared in the dock at Dunfermline Sheriff Court to admit that on December 29 at Holyrood Place, he drove a car carelessly and refused to provide specimens of breath. Depute fiscal Matthew Knapp said at 8.20pm officers were leaving the station when saw Todd driving past at excessive speed, then going straight over a mini-roundabout. He went on to Townhill Road and overtook a car which was turning right, almost causing a collision. Blue lights were activated and Todd pulled over. When officers spoke to him, he was smelling of alcohol and said, 'I'm sorry. I know it was unacceptable but I'm in a hurry.' Defence solicitor Brian Black said his client 'had a panic attack' and now feels 'ashamed and embarrassed' about his actions. Sheriff Krista Johnston banned Todd from driving for a year and fined him £540.
BBC News
28-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Back row Heenan to leave Bristol at end of season
Long-serving forward Jake Heenan will leave Bristol Bears at the end of the campaign after seven seasons with the club. The New Zealand-born back-row has made more than 100 appearances for the club since arriving from Connacht in 2018. The 33-year-old has played in nine matches so far this campaign, starting five and said he wants to take the "opportunity to return home to finish my career".The former New Zealand under-20 captain is one of the Bears' current longest-serving players."Joining the club at the start of its journey back into the Premiership was a special moment and Bristol has become much more than just a place to play rugby," Heenan told the club website. "It's where I married my beautiful wife, Adele, raised our son, Max, and built a foundation for the future."Making 100 appearances for the club and lifting European silverware are among my proudest achievements in the game."A special thanks to Pat [Lam, Bristol director of rugby], who took a chance on me back in 2010. Your guidance and belief gave me the confidence to achieve incredible things on and off the field. I will always be grateful for your challenge, leadership and unwavering support."
