(This report covers the period January-December 1996)

KOREA

(REPUBLIC OF)

Over 450 people, including prisoners of conscience, were arrested under the National Security Law and at least 150 other political prisoners convicted in previous years remained held. Trade union leaders continued to face arrest under legislation restricting their rights to freedom of expression and association. There were reports of ill-treatment by police. Conditions in some prisons amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Some 50 prisoners remained under sentence of death at the end of year. No executions were reported.

A Commission on Industrial Relations Reform, established by President Kim Young-sam in May, made recommendations for the revision of labour legislation.

Labour and security legislation adopted in December by the National Assembly, without the knowledge of opposition legislators, led to mass protests and strike action at the end of the year. The labour legislation did not include expected key reforms relating to freedom of expression and association, including the immediate recognition of independent trade unions; the complete removal of the ban on "third party intervention" in labour disputes; and recognition of the right of teachers and public employees to form trade unions. An amendment to the Agency for National Security Planning (ANSP) Act strengthened the powers of the ANSP by restoring its right to investigate people detained under Articles 7 and 10 of the National Security Law.

After a violent confrontation between students and riot police in August, and the alleged "infiltration" of military personnel from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) into the Republic of Korea (South Korea) in September, the authorities announced a new offensive against "leftist" and "pro-North Korean" activities.

In August, former Presidents Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo were sentenced to death and to 22 and a half years' imprisonment, respectively, on charges relating to a military coup in 1979 and the killings of civilians in Kwangju in May 1980 (see previous Amnesty International Reports). At an appeal in December, these sentences were reduced to life imprisonment and 17 years' imprisonment.

In November, the Constitutional Court ruled the death penalty to be constitutional. The Court's ruling was on a petition by Chong Sok-bom whose 1994 death sentence for murder had been commuted to life imprisonment.

Over 450 people, including political activists, teachers, students, singers, businessmen, members of religious groups and workers, were arrested under the National Security Law for alleged pro-North Korean activities. Many were prisoners of conscience. Most were arrested under Article 7 of the Law which provides for up to seven years' imprisonment for those who "praise" and support an "anti-state" organization. The Law specifies the Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea as an "anti-state" organization.

Prisoners of conscience arrested under Article 7 of the National Security Law included singer Lee Eun-jin and publisher Won Yong-ho who were arrested in February for producing and distributing a songbook alleged to "praise" and "benefit" North Korea. They were given suspended prison sentences and released in April. Other prisoners of conscience included six students belonging to the student organization 21st Century Group who were arrested in July for alleged pro-North Korean activities. The Group, comprising some 300 student members, had campaigned on a variety of issues including corruption, the environment and reunification of North Korea and South Korea, and had not used or advocated violence. The six prisoners were given suspended prison sentences and released in November.

Another prisoner of conscience, Lee Eun-soon, was arrested in July for printing the name of a North Korean university on T-shirts which she distributed to fellow students. She was given a suspended sentence and released in September. In October, Yun Sok-jin, a student, was arrested for posting a "dangerous" opinion on a computer bulletin board about the grounding of a North Korean submarine in South Korean waters. His trial, which opened in December, was continuing at the end of the year.

Those arrested under other provisions of the National Security Law included novelist Kim Ha-ki, who had made an unauthorized entry into North Korea in July while on a study trip to Yanji in the Chinese province of Jilin. He claimed that he had crossed the Tumen river while under the influence of alcohol and was held by the North Korean authorities for two weeks. Upon his return to South Korea in August, he was arrested and charged under the National Security Law for making an unauthorized visit to North Korea and leaking "state secrets". His trial had not concluded by the end of the year.

Buddhist human rights activist Jin Kwan was arrested in October under the National Security Law on charges relating to his religious and human rights activities. He was accused of having unauthorized contacts with North Korean Buddhists he had met in Canada and China, and of joining the Pomminnyon, Pan-National Alliance for Reunification of Korea. Nine other members of Pomminnyon were sentenced to up to one and a half years' imprisonment in May, including 74-year-old prisoner of conscience Chun Chang-il.

A small number of people were acquitted of charges under the National Security Law, including Ho In-hoe, a former politician, who was acquitted in November of failing to report a meeting with an alleged "spy" from North Korea.

At least 150 people, including prisoners of conscience, who had been convicted of national security offences in previous years, remained held. One was prisoner of conscience Kim Nak-jung, a 65-year-old political writer and activist, who was arrested in 1992 and sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of "espionage". He had met North Korean officials but there was no evidence that he had passed on "state secrets". Two other prisoners of conscience were Park Noh-hae and Baik Tae-ung, sentenced in the early 1990s to life and 12 years' imprisonment respectively for their activities as leaders of the Sanomaeng, Socialist Workers' League.

Trade unionists continued to face arrest under legislation which bans "third party intervention" in labour disputes. This legislation has been used to prevent trade union leaders who belong to the unrecognized trade union confederation Minju Nochong, Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), from giving advice to member unions. KCTU President Kwon Young-kil, who was arrested in November 1995 and was a prisoner of conscience (see Amnesty International Report 1996), was released on bail in March. At least four other trade union leaders were arrested for "third party intervention" during the year, including KCTU First Vice-President Yang Kyu-hun, also a prisoner of conscience, who was arrested in February and later released on bail. Ten others were under investigation and faced possible arrest.

At least 20 political prisoners sentenced to long prison terms for national security offences during the 1970s and 1980s after trials which were believed to have fallen short of international fair trial standards were among those who remained in prison throughout the year. They were reported to have been held incommunicado for long periods, tortured and convicted largely on the basis of coerced confessions. For example, Yu Chong-sik, sentenced to life imprisonment for espionage, was held incommunicado for one month after his arrest in March 1975 and tortured. He was a prisoner of conscience.

Most political suspects were reported to have been deprived of sleep and threatened during interrogation. Police were responsible for widespread ill-treatment in August when more than 5,800 students were arrested at a violent demonstration at Yonsei University in Seoul, the capital. Some students who had no connection with the demonstration were detained and beaten in areas around the campus. Female students said that police had grabbed their breasts and shouted sexual insults. At Seoul police stations, detained students were forced to sit or kneel in the same position for hours. Some were reportedly beaten during interrogation and forced to write a "confession". Some injured students received no medical attention.

The conditions in which some political prisoners were held amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. For example, 16 long-term political prisoners held in Block 15 of Taejon Prison were reportedly denied contacts with other prisoners and held in small, unheated cells despite freezing temperatures. Most were reported to be suffering from ill health but received little medical attention. They were among dozens of political prisoners under pressure to "convert" (to sign a statement renouncing communism). Prisoners who refuse to "convert" are subject to harsher regimes than other prisoners and are denied the possibility of release on parole.

Medical provision in prisons continued to be poor and some sick prisoners experienced difficulty in obtaining permission to visit a doctor outside the prison. They included Koh Ae-soon, who was in her 28th week of pregnancy when she was arrested on 4 December 1995 under the National Security Law. In spite of repeated requests, she was not examined by an obstetrician until 29 January 1996. She lost her baby through medical complications.

Some 50 prisoners convicted of murder remained under sentence of death throughout the year. No executions were reported.

Amnesty International called for the release of prisoners of conscience and for a review of the cases of political prisoners who had been unfairly tried. The organization urged the amendment of the National Security Law and labour legislation in accordance with international standards.

In October, Amnesty International submitted a report to the UN Committee against Torture entitled Republic of Korea (South Korea): Summary of concerns on torture and ill-treatment. The report's recommendations included calls for an independent inquiry into the ill-treatment of students in August and for a review of police training. The organization also called for a full and impartial investigation into human rights violations committed under past military governments.

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