The General Assembly of the UN adopted Thursday by a large majority a resolution calling for referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity committed by the North Korean regime.

This non-binding text was adopted by 116 votes in favor, 20 against and 53 abstentions on the 193 members of the assembly.

The resolution, co-sponsored by 62 countries, also asked the Council to consider targeted sanctions against the North Korean leadership for the repression in the country.

This vote in plenary meeting confirms a decision by November 18 the Committee on Human Rights of the meeting.

It was based on a damning report of a UN commission of inquiry that accused North Korea to commit atrocities unparalleled in the contemporary world.

It is up to the Security Council to refer the ICC jurisdiction over war crimes and crimes against humanity. But according to diplomats, China, which protects the North Korean regime, certainly would veto a referral.

The Security Council should take its first meeting Monday specifically on the situation of human rights in North Korea without taking a decision.

Ten of the 15 Council members demanded that meeting, Moscow and Beijing opposed to what the Council to take up this issue.

At the meeting, the North Korean representative blasted “a report ( UN) fabricated from the testimony of a handful of people who defected.

We will not allow the issue of human rights to be used as a way to reverse our social system,

There the Council has again claimed should instead address the torture by the CIA and denounced in a recent report by the US Senate.

The representatives of Iran, Cuba, the Algeria and Sri Lanka have provided support in Pyongyang, denouncing a dangerous precedent that undermines the sovereignty of states. Tehran and Damascus are regularly denounced by the assembly for their violations of human rights.

The committee vote in November had collected 111 votes or 5 less. This is a strong call for the international community to improve respect for human rights in North Korea, said in a statement the European Union, which had developed the text with Japan.

A Human Rights Watch spokesman Param-Preet Singh, this vote sends a strong message that the world is very concerned about the horrific abuses in North Korea, which are linked to policies decided at the highest level of the state.