UpdateUN inquiry told of prison camp 'atrocities' in North Korea

A UN-mandated investigator has spotlighted "unspeakable atrocities" in North Korea's political prison camps, citing survivors who saw babies drowned, had relatives killed before their eyes, and lived on vermin.

Michael Kirby said on Tuesday he aimed to draw up a list of violators within the regime after hearing testimony from North Koreans who had escaped Pyongyang's clutches.

Video: A UN-mandated investigator spotlighted "unspeakable atrocities" inflicted on political camp prisoners in North Korea

"Testimony heard thus far points to widespread and serious violations in all areas," said Kirby, who steers a landmark commission of inquiry on North Korea set up in March by the UN Human Rights Council.

"The commission listened to political prison camp survivors who suffered through childhoods of starvation and unspeakable atrocities as a product of the 'guilt by association' practice, punishing other generations for a family member's perceived political views or affiliation," he told the council.

Kirby, a judge on Australia's High Court from 1996 to 2009 and former UN Cambodia envoy, said he was reminded of the dark days of the second world war when he heard the victims' testimony. "An image flashed across my mind of the Allied soldiers, Russian, American, British, at the end of the second world war, and the discovery of prison camps in the countries that had been occupied by Nazi forces," Kirby told reporters.