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date: September 16 , 2008
document id: ALRC-COS-09-02-2008
HRC section: Item 3, General Debate
An Oral Statement to the 9th Session of the UN Human Rights Council by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organization with general consultative status
SOUTH KOREA: Assaults on freedoms of expression, assembly and conscience
Thank you Mr. President,
The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) is deeply concerned about the lack of protection and promotion of human rights in Asia. In particular, the freedoms of assembly, expression and conscience are currently facing significant attacks in many countries in Asia, including the Republic of Korea. This risks undermining one of Asia's rare examples of democratic progress and growing respect for human rights. The ALRC calls on the Council to urge the South Korean government to address these concerns and halt the degradation of hard-earned rights.
The ALRC's sister-organisation, Asian Human Rights Commission, and FORUM-ASIA conducted a joint fact-finding mission in Seoul, South Korea, from July 21 to 24, 2008, in response to a violent crackdown on peaceful demonstrators protesting against the government's lifting of U.S. beef import restrictions. They found that over 1,500 persons had been arrested and over 2,500 had been injured, mainly by riot police, as of August 22. Thorough investigations are required without delay.
The organisers of peaceful demonstrations have been charged under the Act on Assembly and Demonstration, a law passed in 1962 under the notorious military government of President Park Chung-hee. This prohibits assemblies at night and includes extremely strict police permit requirements. The actions by the authorities to restrict the freedom of assembly and expression are unconstitutional and are being accompanied by the excessive use of force. Crowd control equipment, such as water cannons or police shields, have been turned into offensive weapons, causing numerous injuries.
The policy of conscripting young, inexperienced men between the ages of 19 and 23 into the riot police, to fulfil their 24-month military service, is evidently exacerbating the violent nature of the repression and must be abandoned.
Furthermore, the government is also unduly limiting the freedoms of opinion and expression in the media and the internet, notably through the use of defamation laws. The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, for example, has lodged criminal and civil defamation cases and a complaint before the Press Arbitration Commission against four producers of MBC TV's PD Notebook programme, over a report it aired on April 29, 2008, concerning U.S. beef and mad cow disease. MBC TV has also been ordered to make a public apology. The proposal by the Ministry of Justice to extend the coverage of criminal defamation laws to the internet is further cause for concern.
Separately, the new government is currently backtracking on promises made, notably in voluntary pledges to this Council and following Human Rights Committee recommendations and rulings, to establish alternate service methods for conscientious objectors. An estimated 500 to 800 objectors are reportedly being sent to prison every year due to a lack of alternatives, but the new South Korean government is stalling on much needed reforms suggested by a Research Committee to correct this problem.
Online Webcast:
http://webcast.un.org/ramgen/ondemand/conferences/unhrc/ninth/hrc080916am-eng.rm?start=01:06:43&end=01:09:34
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About the ALRC: The Asian Legal Resource Centre is an independent regional non-governmental organisation holding general consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. It is the sister organisation of the Asian Human Rights Commission. The Hong Kong-based group seeks to strengthen and encourage positive action on legal and human rights issues at the local and national levels throughout Asia.
Posted on 2008-09-18
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