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 The report, published in February, accused the reclusive country
of killings and torture comparable to Nazi-era atrocities and said
officials, possibly even Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un himself, should
face the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Chen Chuandong, a counselor at China's mission in Geneva, told the
U.N. Human Rights Council that the independent commission of inquiry
had made unfounded accusations and made recommendations that were
"divorced from reality".
"The inability of the commission to get support and cooperation from
the country concerned makes it impossible for the commission to
carry out its mandate in an impartial, objective and effective
manner," Chen said.
China, as a member of the U.N. Security Council, would have the
power to veto any move to refer North Korea to the Hague-based ICC.
Diplomats had already warned China was likely to object to the
report, which also criticized Beijing for its treatment of North
Korean defectors.
The chief author of the report, retired Australian judge Michael
Kirby, had opened the debate by challenging the United Nations to
act to stop crimes against humanity that ranked among the worst in
modern history.
"Contending with the scourges of Nazism, apartheid, the Khmer Rouge
and other affronts required courage by great nations and ordinary
human beings alike," Kirby said.
"It is now your solemn duty to address the scourge of human rights
violations and crimes against humanity in the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea."
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Kirby said the team's findings, based on testimony from hundreds of
victims, defectors and witnesses, were unequivocal, and demanded
closure of political prison camps believed to hold up to 120,000
people.
But Chen said the report was based on information and interviews
collected outside the country, without first hand information, he
said. "The question then arises can such an inquiry be truly
credible?"
North Korean Ambassador, So Se Pyong, reiterated Pyongyang's
rejection of the report, rubbishing it as a ridiculous provocation
and a fabrication instigated by the United States and other "hostile
forces", who he said should be investigated for their own human
rights records.
(Reporting by Tom Miles; editing by Andrew Heavens)
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