A United Nations General Assembly committee Tuesday voted in favor of a draft resolution referring North Korea to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity as well as `` targeted sanctions '' for rampant human rights abuses . The 111-19 vote , with 55 abstentions , is merely a recommendation . The General Assembly does not have the power to refer the regime or its leader Kim Jong Un to the ICC . The non-binding measure will come up for a vote by the General Assembly in December . The authority to refer a country to the ICC lies only with the U.N. Security Council , a 15-member body charged with maintaining global security . The five permanent members at the core of the Security Council , including China and Russia , wield veto powers . Opponents of the resolution -- including China , Russia and Cuba -- said the measure was politically manipulated and would set a precedent for other nations to be targeted in the future . A North Korea representative told the U.N. gathering Tuesday that the resolution `` provoked confrontation '' and `` failed to reflect the reality on the ground . '' China is likely to use its veto as its officials have repeatedly said efforts to send North Korea 's leadership to the ICC `` wo n't help improve a country 's human rights condition . '' North Korea 's longtime ally has never wavered in its support for Pyongyang . North Korea 's leaders have been accused of employing murder , torture , slavery , sexual violence and mass starvation to prop up the isolated regime and exercise total control over its citizens . North Korea has repeatedly denied the existence of political camps or human rights abuses in the country . North Korea : 'We were forced to eat grass and soil ' The country has accused the United States and its allies of seeking to discredit and overthrow the leadership in North Korea . In May , Russia and China vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution that would have asked the International Criminal Court to investigate war crimes in Syria . They were the only two of 15 countries to vote against the resolution . The U.S. backs the resolution to sanction and refer North Korea to the ICC . Opinion : Stop romancing North Korea . North Korea last week released the last remaining Americans -- Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller -- detained in the country , but the gesture has not altered the United State 's stance on the country 's human rights record . In February , the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea published a 400-page report documenting widespread torture and abuse , and called for urgent action , including the referral of its findings to the ICC for possible prosecution . Kim Jong Il 's former bodyguard tells of beatings , starvation in prison camp . The almost yearlong investigation by the commission involved more than 320 witnesses in public hearings and private interviews . It listed a litany of abuses including a new mother being forced to drown her newborn , corpses being eaten by dogs and rampant beatings . North Korea 's ambassador to the United Nations , So Se Pyong , said the United States and `` other hostile forces '' had fabricated the report in an attempt to `` defame the dignified image of the Democratic People 's Republic of Korea and eventually eliminate its social system . '' Before Tuesday 's vote , an amendment proposed by Cuba to delete the language about an ICC referral was rejected 77-40 , with 50 abstentions . Cuban Ambassador Rodolfo Reyes Rodriguez said U.N. resolutions targeting North Korea or any other single country were a `` tool to attack others . '' Opinion : Moment of truth for North Korea over human rights .
U.N. committee favors draft resolution referring North Korea to U.N. . The vote is merely recommendation . The authority to refer a country to the the U.N. Security Council lies only with U.N. . N. Korea has repeatedly denied the existence of political camps or human rights abuses .