Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to take a moment to thank Mr. Lee, the president of the Council for Human Rights in North Korea and a representative of the larger Korean community, particularly in the Toronto area, who facilitated bringing our witnesses here today. I think it's important for us to hear the direct stories, and our sympathies go to Madam Kim.
One of the things in your testimony that struck me, and it may seem a little odd, was that in North Korea you don't have even a sense of human rights. This would probably leave you with the feeling that you're tremendously alone in this world.
I want to touch on some things that Canada has already done and that you may not even be aware of. Are you aware of the UN's universal periodic review of national human rights records? I'll let you answer that when I finish.
In the review of China, Canada recommended that China take immediate measures to implement the recommendations from the November 2008 committee against torture, particularly with regard to the repatriation of North Koreans. The universal periodic review recommends implementation of an obligation under the UN human rights instruments to cease the use of arbitrary detention, labour camps, and collective punishment; to cooperate with the UN Human Rights Council; and to accept the request of the special rapporteur to go into North Korea, to look at the situation, and to report back.
In your testimony you spoke about the executions. I would recommend that everybody see the movie The Crossing, which demonstrates how people are treated within China and North Korea, and what happens when they escape from North Korea into China. There's a particularly poignant scene of an execution. One of the things Canada recommended was the ceasing of public executions, torture, and cruel or degrading punishment. Your testimony covered some of the same ground.
My purpose in telling you this is to say that the effort you're making in coming to committees such as this helps to support the views that Canada already holds. We are aware of many of the things that have happened in North Korea, but we certainly are not aware of them at the personal level experienced by you and your family.
I wanted to make that point. I'm sure I've used up a good part of my time to do it, but I think it's significant that the work you're doing balances with the work that the United Nations is doing in the universal periodic review. This committee looked at the universal periodic review of Canada's own human rights record recently too.
I want to reassure you that the attention of Canada is on the situation there. If you'd like to comment further, that's fine, but I don't have a particular question for you.