Parliament panel opposes fast-track passage of N.K. rights bill
2015/01/20 14:42
SEOUL, Jan. 20 (Yonhap) -- Leaders of a parliamentary committee on Tuesday voiced their objections to the ruling party's proposal to fast-track long-pending bills on North Korea's human rights.
Discussions at the National Assembly have been under way over the bills on Pyongyang's dire human rights situation since November when they were simultaneously brought to the floor of the parliament's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee.
With little progress being made due to partisan discords over details of the two versions -- one presented by the ruling Saenuri Party and the other by the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), the ruling party leadership last week suggested the bills be handled under the so-called fast-track process.
"Above all, the issue is not one that the committee can manage, I believe," Rep. Yoo Ki-june of the Saenuri Party who leads the committee said. "It seems necessary to set up a consultative group involving parties and the government or for the rival parties to have direct negotiations to split their differences."
Under the National Assembly Law, a bill can be designated for a fast-track process when more than three-fifths of lawmakers agree upon it, which automatically advances the stalled legislation to the next stage after a certain examination period and ultimately to the plenary session for approval.
Parties are divided over whether to fund North Korean human rights activists in the South with public money, among others.
"Even under the fast-track mechanism, it would take at least 11 months for the final version to be passed," he said, noting that the term of the current 19th National Assembly ends in May 2016.
NPAD lawmaker Sim Jae-kwon, who represents the committee's opposition members, also criticized the ruling party's push to deal with the matter "hurriedly," claiming that the Saenuri's version of the bill is "riddled with poisonous clauses that aim to simply choke North Korea."
"In-depth examination and discussions are needed to draw a reasonable alternative to achieve the bill's goal of practically improving the rights to freedom and life of the people in North Korea," he added.
North Korea is accused of serious human rights abuses, ranging from holding hundreds of thousands of political prisoners in concentration camps to committing torture and carrying out public executions, though Pyongyang has flatly denied the accusations as a U.S.-led attempt to topple its regime.
In November, the United Nation's third committee adopted a resolution urging its Security Council to refer the North's top leaders to the International Criminal Court over the country's human rights conditions.
Civil activists hold a campaign calling on the National Assembly to pass the legislation on North Korea's human rights situation in front of the National Assembly building on Nov. 21, 2014. (Yonhap file photo)
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