North Korea Human Rights Issues 'Fabricated,' UN Should Investigate 'CIA Torture Crimes': Ambassador Ja Song Nam

North Korea doesn’t have a human rights problem, and the U.N. should forgo its inquiry into the isolated country’s affairs and instead investigate the United States’ “torture crimes,” North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations wrote in a letter Monday to the U.N. Security Council. The letter was referring to the CIA torture report released last week by the U.S. Senate that condemned the spy agency’s treatment of terror suspects after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"The so-called 'human rights issue' in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is politically fabricated and, therefore, it is not at all relevant to the regional or international peace and security," wrote North Korea ambassador to the U.N. Ja Song Nam, according to the Associated Press. "On the contrary, the recently revealed CIA torture crimes committed by the United States, which has been conducted worldwide in the most brutal medieval forms, are the gravest human rights violations in the world.”

The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to debate North Korea’s human rights record on either Dec. 22 or Dec. 23, according to Chad’s ambassador, Mahamat Zene Charif. Chad holds the security council presidency. The debate could be followed by a referral to the International Criminal Court, but China, a permanent Security Council member, is expected to block that move, the AP reported.

There’s virtually no chance that North Korea’s request that the council conduct a “thorough probe” into the U.S. torture record will happen, since the U.S. has veto power on the council.

The harsh “enhanced interrogation techniques” conducted by the CIA on terror suspects shortly after Sept. 11 were slammed in a Senate report last week for being ineffective and brutal. Among the methods used by interrogators were rectal rehydration and rectal feeding, which has no medical purpose. U.S. President Barack Obama banned the practices when he took office and replaced George W. Bush.