Geneva--Japan and the European Union are lobbying to bring up North Korea's human rights violations at the U.N. Security Council meeting in light of  a draft resolution condemning the country for its record in this area and calls for its leaders to face international justice, according to the Asahi Shimbun.

The draft resolution from the Human Rights Council calls on the Security Council to consider imposing sanctions and places responsibility on the leader of North Korea for crimes against humanity.

A U.N. official described the draft resolution as "the most effective and firm resolution to emerge from the Human Rights Council.

Since many Human Rights Council members agree that the most effective way to end atrocities in North Korea is for the Security Council to vote that the leaders of North Korea should face prosecution by the International Criminal Court, based on the findings of the U.N. report, the resolution is almost certain to be adopted with a majority of votes by the 47-member Human Rights Council.

However, China remains a barrier to the Security Council to adopting the measures called for in the draft resolution since it holds veto power in the council.

SOURCE: THE ASAHI SHIMBUN