North Korea is celebrating the birth anniversary of its late founder, Kim Il Sung, while rights groups are urging his grandson, current leader Kim Jong Un, to use the occasion to end rampant abuses.

Kim Jong Un, joined by senior military officials, made a midnight visit to a Pyongyang mausoleum that holds the embalmed body of his grandfather, who would have turned 103 on Wednesday.

“He, together with the visitors, paid homage to Kim Il Sung in the humblest reverence,” reported the Korean Central News Agency. Kim also visited the preserved body of his father, ex-leader Kim Jong Il, the report said.

Bunches of the so-called Kimilsungia flower, a hybrid purple orchid named after the founding leader, were displayed at extravagant memorials in prominent locations across Pyongyang.

Kim Il Sung’s birthday, known as the Day of the Sun, is a major national holiday in North Korea, where the government has tried to create a cult of personality around the Kim dynasty.

Human Rights Watch is using the anniversary to remind the world of the “truly horrific human rights legacy” of the authoritarian government created by Kim Il Sung.

In a statement, the group highlighted the labor camps, reeducation centers, prohibitions on expression that were used by North Korea’s founder.

“Kim Il Sung based his rule on ruthless rights abuses, repression of independent voices, and economic and social controls that led to deprivation and ultimately widespread starvation,” said Human Rights Watch Deputy Asia Director Phil Robertson.

He said Kim has continued his grandfather’s policies and should be referred to the International Criminal Court.

Human Rights Watch cited a report last year from the U.N.’s commission of inquiry on North Korea that urged the Security Council to call for ICC action.  It found that “systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations have been and are being committed” by North Korea.

“The commission finds that there is an almost complete denial of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, as well as of the rights of freedom of opinion, expression, information and association,” the report said.  It said Kim’s rule is guided by an ideology that references his grandfather as well as his father, Kim Jong Il.
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