COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
\nSixty-second session
\nItem 11(g) of the provisional agenda<\/p>\n
CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING THE QUESTION OF:
\nCONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION TO MILITARY SERVICE<\/p>\n
\u00a0CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS IN THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA
\n1. Even though 13 years have passed since it was confirmed in 1993 by the General Comment
\n(General Comment No. 22) of the Human Rights Committee, a monitoring body of the
\nInternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) that the right to refuse to perform
\nmilitary service (conscientious objection) is from freedom of expression enshrined in Article 18
\nof the Covenant and the UN Commission on Human Rights has made a number of resolutions
\n[E\/CN.4\/RES\/2004\/35, E\/CN.4\/ RES\/2002\/45, E\/CN.4\/RES\/2000\/34, E\/CN.4\/RES\/1988\/77],
\nRepublic of Korea is one of deep concerned countries which deny the right to conscientious
\nobjection to military service. As outlined in our previous written statements to the Commission
\n[E\/CN.4\/2005\/NGO\/303, E\/CN.4\/2003\/NGO\/25, E\/CN.4\/2002\/NGO\/126], it is estimated that
\nabout 700 young people eligible for a military draft are still imprisoned for their convictions not
\nto bear arms in every year. Most of conscientious objectors are Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses while the
\nnumber of conscientious objectors with non-religious motives is increasing. In 2005, Ui-min
\nJeong, , Sang-hyun Moon, Dong-ju Ko, Jeong-rok O, Tae-hoon Kim, Young-jin Kim, Yong-suk
\nLee, Do-hyung Kim, Se-yun Park, and Jae-young Choi declared their conscientious objection on
\naccount of their antiwar conviction and pacifism.
\n2. As of 15 January 2006, total 1005 conscientious objectors are imprisoned and the number of
\nconscientious objectors in prison even rose to 1086, counted in 15 September 2005, making a
\nhighest number of records. In its statement before the 60th session of the Commission under
\nagenda item 11, the government of the Republic of Korea stated that it would continue to make
\nefforts to explore various possible ways to address the issue of conscientious objection to
\nmilitary service. The relevant authorities, however, have hardly improved.
\n3. In 26 December 2005, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in the Republic of
\nKorea recommended to the Speaker of the National Assembly and the Minister of National
\nDefense that it recognized the right of conscientious objection and a system of alternative
\nmilitary service be made for harmonious coexistence of the right of conscientious objection and
\nalternative military service. The Minister of National Defense made his position that the decision
\non alternative military service would be considered after a research of policy community which
\nconsists of NGOs and officials of government and the Ministry of National Defense. We urge the
\nSpeaker of the National Assembly and the Minister of National Defense to respect the
\nrecommendation according to article 25 (2) of the NHRC Act, which states that the heads of
\nrelated authorities receiving any recommendation shall respect and endeavor to implement the
\nsaid recommendation. In spite of the recommendation on the issue of conscientious objection,
\nconscientious objectors are still interrogated in custody after warrant issue by courts.
\n4. A revised bill of the Military Service Act for the purpose of introducing an alternative for
\nconscientious objectors that twenty-two members of the National Assembly proposed in
\nNovember 2004, and the related bill ten members of Democratic Labor Party also suggested,
\nhowever, have been stalled for two years without any further constructive discussion.
\n5. We would like to recall that the Commission in its resolution 2004\/35 called upon States that
\nhave not yet done so to review their current laws and practices in relation to conscientious
\nobjection to military service in the light of Commission resolution 1998\/77. We also note with
\nconcern that the government of the Republic of Korea, even as a member of the Commission,
\nhas not provided any related information to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human
\nRights (OHCHR) with regard to making a concerted efforts to address the issue by analyzing the
\nexisting practices.
\n6. It is clear that more and more young people will become victims of violations of human rights
\ndue to their conviction. In light of this, we strongly urge the Government of the Republic of
\nKorea, which is a member of the Commission and also a party to the ICCPR, to:
\n(a) Respect and endeavor to implement recommendation by NHRC and immediately stop
\nconducting interrogation in custody and criminalizing conscientious objectors by providing
\nvarious forms of alternative services;
\n(b) Take further active initiatives in raising awareness among Korean society on the right to
\nconscientious objection, not sitting and waiting as a bystander for a social consensus to be
\nreached;
\n(c) Fully and substantively cooperate with the OHCHR and submit relevant materials on the
\ncurrent laws and practices in relation to the recognition and implementation of the right to
\nconscientious objection to military service;
\n(d) Invite the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief in order for him to
\ninvestigate the violations of human rights on conscientious objection in the Republic of
\nKorea, and extend a standing invitation to all thematic special procedures of the
\nCommission.
\n7. Furthermore, we call on the Commission to:
\n(a) Pay sincere attention to the human rights violations committed in the countries which have
\nnot yet recognized the right to conscientious objection to military service;
\n(b) Continuously work on the possible monitoring mechanisms, further to the preparation of
\nthe compilation and analytic report of best practices, to make sure the effective
\nimplementation of the right to conscientious objection to military service.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS Sixty-second session Item 11(g) of the provisional agenda CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING THE QUESTION OF: CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION TO MILITARY SERVICE \u00a0CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS IN THE REPUBLIC […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2162],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-un-reports-on-republic-of-korea"],"yoast_head":"\n