Cuba wants to weaken UN resolution on North Korea by cutting language on ICC referral

UNITED NATIONS – Cuba is challenging a resolution in the U.N. General Assembly on human rights in North Korea, seeking to cut key language about a referral to the International Criminal Court that has Pyongyang nervous.

The draft amendment obtained by The Associated Press warns that such language sets "a dangerous precedent that could be applied in the future against any developing country."

North Korea has been shaken this year by a groundbreaking U.N. report that detailed widespread human rights abuses in the impoverished but nuclear-armed country and warned that leader Kim Jong Un could be held accountable.

The General Assembly resolution drafted by the European Union and Japan has more than 50 co-sponsors, but Cuba's proposal is aimed at gaining the support of developing countries in Africa and elsewhere.