GENEVA — A U.N. panel warned North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Monday that he may be held accountable for orchestrating widespread crimes against civilians in the secretive Asian nation, ranging from executing and torturing prisoners to systematic abductions and starving mass populations.
It is unusual for a U.N. report to directly implicate a nation's leader. But in a letter accompanying a year-long investigative report, the chairman of a three-member U.N. commission of inquiry, retired Australian judge Michael Kirby, directly warned Kim that that international prosecution is needed "to render accountable all those, including possibly yourself, who may be responsible for crimes against humanity."
"Even without being directly involved in crimes against humanity, a military commander may be held responsible for crimes against humanity committed by forces under the commander's effective command and control," Kirby wrote.
Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.