The chair of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea called this week on the country to allow them access to areas of North Korea that are said to contain prison camps.

Speaking at a news conference in New York on Tuesday, Michael Kirby said, “We have asked for the permission to go and visit North Korea, to engage with its people. We have pointed out that the best way to respond to the contention that the testimony which has been recorded in our public hearings is false, would be to open those parts of North Korea which are said to contain the detention and prison camps of which the witnesses before us gave copious evidence.”

Kirby was speaking after the commission wrapped up a series of multi-city hearings on human rights in the DPRK.

“Some of the testimony has been extremely distressing; testimony concerning the detention facilities, the lack of proper food in them, the fact that there are people in the detention facilities who have committed no offense, no crime, according to their testimony, but who are simply there because of the notion of intergenerational guilt, which is a feature of the system in North Korea,” he said.

Here’s some video of the news conference: