UN rights expert: North Korean leader should be prosecuted

GENEVA – A U.N. expert on human rights in North Korea says Supreme leader Kim Jong Un and other leaders should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity.

Marzuki Darusman said he wants three experts to look into the legal aspects of criminal accountability.

Addressing the Human Rights Council, Darusman said international criminal law holds military and civilian leaders responsible for failing to prevent or repress crimes against humanity by those under their authority. He said that offers a "plausible theory" to hold Kim and other leaders "individually culpable."

North Korean diplomats did not attend Monday's speech by Darusman, who is finishing his six-year tenure in the post.

Darusman cited political prison camps, reports of torture and abductions by state operatives, religious persecution and "slave-like organizing of the labor force" in North Korea.