NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #30/NN_1992_30.iso/spool/misc/activism/progress/9283

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From: Hilary Naylor <[e-mail]>
Subject: SOUTH KOREA: letter to candidates
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/* Written 10:22 pm  Dec 13, 1992 by [e-mail] in igc:ai.general */
/* ---------- "SOUTH KOREA: letter to candidates" ---------- */
Amnesty International
International Secretariat
1 Easton Street
London WC1X 8DJ
United Kingdom

DATE: 3 DECEMBER 1992

Following is an open letter which has been sent to all candidates in the
presidential election in South Korea, scheduled for 18 December. It is not
embargoed, but the IS will be sending it to Asia-interest radio services on 15
December.

SOUTH KOREA:  OPEN LETTER TO ALL PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

December 1992
AI Index :ASA 25/33/92

Amnesty International is sending this open letter to all the candidates in the
presidential election in South Korea scheduled for 18 December 1992.  It asks
them to make public their commitment to the protection of basic human rights
and identifies ten issues which it believes require their attention.

Dear Candidate,

    I am writing to urge you to make public your commitment to the
protection of basic human rights in South Korea.  In recent years basic human
rights have been enhanced in some respects, but a number of serious problems
remain to be addressed and urgently acted upon.  In this letter I wish to
highlight ten issues which Amnesty International believes should receive your
attention and support. I hope that you will adopt Amnesty International's
recommendations and, if elected President, implement them at the earliest
opportunity.

     Amnesty International is a worldwide voluntary movement which seeks to
prevent some of the gravest violations by governments of fundamental human
rights.  The main focus of our campaign is to free all prisoners of conscience
(these are people detained anywhere for their beliefs or because of their
ethnic origin, sex, colour or language -- who have not used or advocated
violence); ensure fair and prompt trials for political prisoners; abolish the
death penalty and end torture and other cruel treatment of prisoners; and stop
extrajudicial executions and "disappearances".  Amnesty International is
impartial. It is independent of any government, political persuasion or
religious creed.  It does not support or oppose any government or political
system, nor does it support or oppose the views of the victims whose rights it
seeks to protect.

     Freedom of expression is now broader in South Korea than in previous
decades but restrictions on the expression of certain political views, mainly
about Korean reunification, socialism or communism, continue to be punished
with imprisonment, thus, in Amnesty International's view, violating the
essence of the freedom.   Reports of torture and ill-treatment, such as
beatings, sleep deprivation, threats and forced strenuous physical exercises,
are still received by Amnesty International.  They underline the inadequacy of
current interrogation and detention procedures and the urgency for the
authorities concerned to take concrete measures to prevent such abuses.  In
recent years the courts have in several important cases upheld complaints
about illegalities in the detention of political prisoners, but recourse to
judicial remedies is not a substitute to preventing human rights violations
from occurring in the first place. We welcome the progress that has been made
in restricting the use of the death penalty: no executions have been carried
out so far this year and legislative proposals are under consideration to
reduce the number of capital offences.

     Amnesty International believes the following ten steps should be urgently
acted upon; we urge you to give them your serious consideration and support:

1. Release all prisoners of conscience

All people imprisoned solely for the non-violent exercise of their rights of
freedom of expression and association, regardless of their political views,
should be immediately and unconditionally released.

     In addition, the administrative provisions under which "leftist"
prisoners who have not "converted" or recanted their political views are not
entitled to early release on parole should cease to be applied to prisoners
held for the non-violent expression of their political views.

2. Review the convictions of political prisoners said to be based on
confessions obtained by torture

The cases of the political prisoners convicted in previous decades under the
National Security Law or the Anti-Communist Law on the basis of confessions
they say were extracted from them under torture should be reviewed.

     Amnesty International believes that a confession made by a suspect
against his will, during illegal or incommunicado detention, and which
constitutes the only or main incriminating evidence, should not be accepted as
a basis for conviction and that the prisoner should not have the onus of
proving that his confession was false.

3. Revise the National Security Law

The National Security Law should be revised so as to remove from its scope
provisions which punish non-violent political activities with imprisonment or
the death sentence.

     Amnesty International is concerned that the prohibition of "anti- state"
activities and activities "endangering national security and the basic liberal
democratic order", in the National Security Law (as amended in May 1991),
could still lead to the imprisonment of people for their non-violent political
views or activities.

4. Revise other laws that restrict freedom of expression

The provision in the Labour Dispute Mediation Law prohibiting third party
intervention in a labour dispute (that is the intervention of somebody who has
no immediate connection with a workplace where a dispute is taking place)
should be revised to stop the imprisonment of trade unionists for giving
advice about peaceful and legitimate trade union activities.

     Restrictions on the freedom of expression of members of the public under
election laws should be lifted to prevent the detention of prisoners of
conscience.

5. Suspend and review the Agency for National Security Planning's powers of
arrest and interrogation.

In view of continuing reports of illegal arrests, illegal restrictions on
suspects' access to lawyers and relatives, and reports of ill- treatment by
the Agency for National Security Planning, the agency's powers to arrest and
detain suspects should be suspended until measures to effectively protect the
basic rights of detainees have been introduced.

6. Examine and strengthen the role of the prosecution authorities in the
protection of human rights.

In view of the apparent failure of the prosecution authorities to initiate
investigations and prosecutions into reported instances of illegalities in the
detention and interrogation of political prisoners, an impartial examination
should be made to identify the factors that have adversely affected the role
of the prosecution authorities in this area, and possible steps to strengthen
its ability to ensure that law enforcement agencies comply with laws to
protect human rights.

     An impartial examination should also be made into the prosecution
authorities' handling of individual complaints of human rights abuses filed by
political prisoners.  Investigation of the complaints appear to suffer long
delays and this raises doubts about the effectiveness of this procedure.

7. Ratify the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment.

To show commitment to eradicate torture and ill-treatment the government
should, without delay, ratify and implement the Convention against Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.  In preparation for
ratification the authorities should also consult non-governmental
organizations, including the legal profession and human rights groups, about
changes to current arrangements for custody and interrogation of suspects and
other measures to strengthen safeguards against torture.

8. Restrict the application of the death penalty.

In view of current legislative proposals to restrict the application of the
death penalty, prosecution authorities should not request death sentences
against prisoners tried for the offences which it is proposed should no longer
be punishable by death in the revised Penal Code.

9. Declare a moratorium on executions

A moratorium should be imposed on all executions pending the decision of the
Constitutional Court on a petition challenging the constitutionality of the
death penalty and pending a thorough study into whether the death penalty has
a real deterrent effect on crime.

10. Consider the appointment of a Human Rights Ombudsman

Basic human rights are guaranteed by South Korean law, either by explicit
mention in the country's Constitution or by virtue of the country's accession
to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its (first)
Optional Protocol.  Yet basic rights continue to be violated in many
instances.  Remedies are available, but these are no substitute to preventing
human rights violations in the first place.  Often judicial remedies cannot
immediately stop human rights abuses in individual cases: the courts cannot
help a prisoner held incommunicado who it is believed may be ill-treated.  If
later the prisoner files a complaint for ill-treatment he may find, as others
have, inertia on the part of the prosecution authorities or that he cannot
collect the evidence required by law to secure a criminal conviction.

     Amnesty International believes the government should consider the
possibility of creating a Human Rights Ombudsman as a means of addressing
these problems.  The Ombudsman's role would be to defend prisoners against
human rights violations by officials. In order to be effective, the
independence of this office should be guaranteed. It should be empowered to
act on its own initiative as well as on the basis of complaints by alleged
victims and on the basis of reports from any source. The Ombudsman should not
be bound by any formalities and should be able to adopt any reasonable
procedure he/she considers appropriate.  When deemed necessary, the Ombudsman
should be able to publicize his/her views.  Officials should have a legal duty
to cooperate with his/her investigations. In addition to investigating
individual situations the Ombudsman should be empowered to make
recommendations about legislation and administrative arrangements. This office
should publicize its role and means of action and the ways people can have
recourse to it.

     Amnesty International urges all candidates for the Presidency to give
high priority to policies to protect and promote human rights.  We will be
most interested to receive your response to the ten points we have proposed.

Yours sincerely,
Derek G. Evans
Head of Asia and Pacific Region,
Research Department