A United Nation’s panel says there is abundant evidence that crimes against humanity have been committed in North Korea and recommended the case be referred to the International Criminal Court.

The UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea issued a final report last Monday at the UN Office in Geneva saying that "systematic, widespread and gross human-rights violations have been and are being committed by North Korea, its institutions and officials."

The report said in many instances, the violations constitute crimes against humanity and cited violation of human rights perpetrated against political and labor camp detainees, anti-government and religious figures and those who attempted to escape the country.

The report pointed out that public famine and kidnapping of foreigners were also planned in a systematic fashion for the political aim to retain the regime and protect leadership.

It also said North Korean leaders employ murder, torture, slavery, sexual violence, mass starvation and other abuses as tools to prop up the state and terrorize the population into submission.

The commission raised the responsibility of the global community and called on the UN Security Council to punish those responsible for the human rights violations.

It also called for holding North Korean state agencies and individuals criminally accountable saying that fundamental changes are necessary to improve the rights situation in the communist country.

The commission proposed a stronger network within the UN charged with North Korean human rights including a new body tasked with follow-up measures to the report.

It called on Pyongyang to shut down its political camps, abolish capital punishment and revise its criminal code, among other requests.

Neighboring countries including China are urged to abide by the ban on repatriating North Korean defectors back to the North and instead protect the escapees.

R2P or Responsibility to Protect was adopted as a norm at the UN World Summit in 2005 and refers to the obligation of states toward their own populations, and toward all populations at risk of genocide and other mass atrocities.

Under this principle, should a nation fail to protect its citizens, it is the international community's responsibility to protect those affected.

R2P was applied for the first time in the Libyan crisis of 2011 against its dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

The panel report is the outcome of a year-long extensive investigation conducted since a resolution on North Korean human rights passed the UN Human Rights Council in March last year.

It's considered the most authoritative report of all reports on North Korean human rights compiled so far.

The commission also advised that the North's leaders including Kim Jong-un be referred to the International Criminal Court.

The feasibility of such recommendations is in doubt as China will object an ICC referral.

But the report holds major significance in pressuring Pyongyang and enabling the international community to intervene in the North's rights situation under the R2P doctrine.