Amnesty International Report 1998 - Korea (Republic of)
- Document source:
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Date:
1 January 1998
(This report covers the period January-December 1997) More than 650 people were arrested under the National Security Law, including prisoners of conscience. Dozens of political prisoners convicted in previous years remained in prison throughout the year, of whom at least 20 were imprisoned during the 1970s and 1980s after unfair trials. There were reports of ill-treatment of detainees during arrest and interrogation. Twenty-three people were executed and 36 others remained under sentence of death at the end of the year. Throughout the year the government of President Kim Young-sam was weakened by the arrest and conviction of senior officials and businessmen on charges of corruption. Twenty-three businessmen convicted of corruption in previous years were released in a special amnesty in September. Former Presidents Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo were released in December (see Amnesty International Report 1997). Kim Dae-Jung was elected President in December. After the election he said he would release political prisoners when he took office in February 1998 In early January thousands of trade unionists, led by the Minju Nochong, Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, took strike action to protest against new labour legislation adopted by the National Assembly in December 1996 (see Amnesty International Report 1997). The authorities responded by issuing arrest warrants for 20 trade union leaders on charges of organizing "illegal" strike action. Following mass public protest rallies throughout the country, the arrest warrants were withdrawn. In March the National Assembly amended labour legislation to permit legal recognition of unauthorized trade union federations and to delay proposed mass lay-offs of workers. However several provisions continued to violate international standards, including a prohibition on the rights of teachers and thousands of public employees to form and join trade unions The defection to the Republic of Korea (South Korea) in April of a high-ranking official from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) increased tensions between the two countries. In July the Agency for National Security Planning announced an investigation into an unspecified number of alleged North Korean sympathizers, on the basis of information from the defector. Government opponents feared this information would be used to investigate people for their peaceful political activities. In July the Constitutional Court ruled that an amendment to the Law on the Agency for National Security Planning, adopted in December 1996 (see Amnesty International Report 1997), was constitutional but declared that the railroading of the new law through the National Assembly had infringed the rights of lawmakers to review and vote on new laws. More than 650 people, including prisoners of conscience, were arrested under the National Security Law which prohibits activities deemed to be pro-North Korean. Most were held under Article 7 on charges of "praising" and "benefiting" North Korea. After trial, most were sentenced to a short prison term or given a suspended sentence and released. They included 20 members of Saminchong, Union of Socialist Youth, arrested in March and April for holding study sessions and distributing information considered by the authorities to support North Korea's political ideas; they were prisoners of conscience. Others detained under provisions of the National Security Law included five members of Pomminnyon, Pan-National Alliance for the Reunification of Korea, arrested in July for using unofficial channels to send famine relief money to North Korea, and Yang Hyon-chu, a university student arrested in August after attempting to make an unauthorized visit to North Korea. Arrests under the National Security Law peaked in June and July when 249 people were detained. The arrests took place in the context of student protests which escalated in late May when violent clashes resulted in the deaths of three men, two of whom were reportedly killed by students. Hundreds of students belonging to Hanchongnyon, National Association of University Student Councils, were arrested for participating in violent demonstrations and many were also charged under the National Security Law with belonging to an "enemy benefiting" (pro-North Korean) organization. Amnesty International did not condone student violence but was concerned that the confrontation with Hanchongnyon had led to a more general crack-down in which students and others were arrested for peaceful activities, unrelated to the demonstrations. In November human rights activist Suh Jun-sik was arrested for alleged pro-North Korean activities, including the organization of a film festival by Sarangbang, a human rights organization. He was a prisoner of conscience. Five other festival organizers were arrested in Seoul, the capital, and Inchon as police attempted to obstruct the event; they were later released without charge. Sarangbang had refused to allow government censorship of 24 human rights films from 13 countries. In February Kim Ha-ki was sentenced to three and a half years' imprisonment for making an unauthorized visit to North Korea and passing on "state secrets" (see Amnesty International Report 1997). In a written response to Amnesty International in May, the South Korean Government defended the sentence, saying Kim Ha-ki had visited North Korea out of admiration for the country. It also claimed that "concerning the inevitable restriction of civil rights and freedoms, the National Security Law has its legal basis in the [Universal] Declaration of Human Rights". Kim Ha-ki was a prisoner of conscience. In September Seoul High Court sentenced Buddhist human rights activist Jin Kwan to three and a half years' imprisonment under the National Security Law (see Amnesty International Report 1997). Yun Sok-jin, a student arrested in 1996 for posting a "dangerous" opinion on a computer bulletin board (see Amnesty International Report 1997), was acquitted in April. Dozens of political prisoners arrested in previous years remained in prison. They included prisoner of conscience Park Chang-hee, a university professor, sentenced to three and a half years' imprisonment under the National Security Law in February 1996 for allegedly leaking "state secrets" to North Korean sympathizers in Japan. He had been beaten, deprived of sleep and threatened by investigators from the Agency for National Security Planning after his arrest in April 1995. Another prisoner of conscience, 77-year-old Reverend Kang Hee-nam was serving a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence for alleged pro-North Korean activities. He was believed to be in poor health. At least 20 political prisoners sentenced to long prison terms on charges of "espionage" during the 1970s and 1980s remained in prison. There was strong evidence that they had been convicted after unfair trials, largely on the basis of confessions obtained under torture. They included Kang Hui-chol, sentenced to life imprisonment in 1986 and held in Taejon Prison. He was reported to be suffering from psychological problems resulting from the effects of torture and long-term imprisonment in virtual isolation. Cho Sang-nok, also held in Taejon Prison, was believed to be in poor physical and mental health after 19 years in prison. There were further reports that students and others were ill-treated by the police and the Agency for National Security Planning during arrest and interrogation. In February Choi Young-jun of Kyonggi University in Seoul claimed that he and other students were kicked and repeatedly hit by some 20 police officers wielding batons as they were arrested and transported to a police station, where the beatings continued. In May Kim Hye-jun of Hanyang University said she was hit in the face by police officers after she refused to show her identification to police officers who stopped her in the street close to the University. In June Kim Sun-il, a law student at Yonsei University, said he was gagged and beaten as he was arrested by three police officers. It was not known if investigations were initiated into these allegations. Twenty-three people were executed in December the first executions to be carried out in South Korea since November 1995. No advance warning of the ex-ecutions was given to relatives. At the end of the year, 36 prisoners remained under sentence of death. They included Chon Jae-chon, a Chinese seaman of Korean descent, who had been sentenced to death in December 1996 for the murder of 11 other seamen on a Korean fishing vessel. Five other men who had also been sentenced to death in this case had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment after a high court ruling in April. Throughout the year Amnesty International called for the release of prisoners of conscience and for the National Security Law and labour legislation to be amended in accordance with international standards. The organization called for a review of the cases of long-term political prisoners who had been convicted after unfair trials under past governments; for an end to torture and ill-treatment; and for the abolition of the death penalty. In May Amnesty International published a report, South Korea: Hidden victims the long-term political prisoners. In October Amnesty International published an open letter, A human rights agenda for the presidential election: open letter to all candidates, in which it called on all candidates to commit themselves to taking specific steps to protect and promote human rights
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