Debevoise & Plimpton LLP lawyers will be participating in a hearing in connection with an inquiry on crimes against humanity in North Korean detention centers, led by the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea and the International Bar Association.

The hearing, which will be held on March 4, will feature in-person testimony from survivors of North Korean detention centers and expert testimony on the geographic location of secret detention centers and the command and control structure through which the Kim regime maintains the detention system. Debevoise lawyers took a leading role in developing the evidence and legal arguments that will be presented at the hearing, and will examine witnesses during the hearing.

A central goal of the hearing is to determine the culpability for alleged crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute, for actors ranging from the highest level of the Kim regime to low-level guards who carry out many of the worst human rights abuses. Four renowned international jurists, who have presided over some of the most consequential international criminal tribunals since the Nuremberg trials – Navi Pillay, Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi, Wolfgang Schomburg and Dame Silvia Cartwright – will be presiding over the March 4th hearing.

The Debevoise team is led by litigation partner Natalie Reid and associates Nawi Ukabiala, Moeun Cha and Sarah Lee.