Radio Free Asia reported that the United Nations has formally asked the Chinese government to explain its repatriation of North Korean defectors. 
 
Citing a document disclosed by the UN Secretariat late last month, the U.S. broadcaster said that the UN Committee Against Torture requested that China provide identification information for 29 North Korean escapees that Beijing forcibly repatriated to their homeland last August. 
 
The committee also requested information on whether China did, in fact, return the defectors home and their whereabouts in North Korea following the repatriation. 
 
China is a signatory to the UN Convention against Torture. Following China’s submission of its fifth periodic review report to the Committee Against Torture, the committee confirmed the report and conveyed additional questions for China to respond.