Ref.: TG ASA 25/2004.01
Acting President Goh Kun
The Blue House
1 Sejong-no
Jongno-gu
Seoul
Republic of Korea (South Korea)
1 April 2004
Open letter to Acting President Goh Kun - Continued use of the
draconian National Security Law: Amnesty International¡¯s
concerns about Professor Song Du-yul¡¯s case.
Dear President Goh,
Amnesty International has actively campaigned for human rights
in South Korea for many years. We have witnessed positive
developments that have enhanced human rights for South Korean
citizens. I acknowledge that one of the first acts of your
cabinet in April 2003 was to release some long term prisoners
of conscience under an official amnesty. However, my concern
is that in some areas of human rights, the situation remains
unchanged. For example, the continued and arbitrary use of the
National Security Law (NSL) has led to an erosion of human
rights.
Amnesty International acknowledges that every government has a
right to take measures to ensure the security of its citizens.
We also appreciate that South Korea has special security
concerns with regard to North Korea. However, security
concerns should never be used as an excuse to deny people the
right to express different political views and to exercise
fundamental human rights including the right to freedom of
expression as established in international standards including
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR) to which South Korea is a state party.
Amnesty International is concerned that in South Korea the NSL
- which has been in force since 1948 - has been used
throughout the years to imprison people for non violent
political activities. The law provides for long sentences or
the death penalty for "anti state" and "espionage" activities,
terms that are not clearly defined and have often been used
arbitrarily against people peacefully exercising their basic
rights to freedom of expression and association. For instance,
Article 3 of the NSL provides for ¡°capital punishment or
imprisonment for life¡± for ¡°a person who is engaged in the
function of a ringleader¡± or ¡°a leading member¡± of an
¡°anti-government organization¡±. According to Article 7 of
the law, (under which most arrests are made today) anyone
found guilty of "praising" and "benefiting" the enemy
(generally meaning North Korea) will receive sentences of up
to seven years¡¯ imprisonment.
The Human Rights Committee (the expert body established under
the ICCPR to monitor states¡¯ compliance with the Covenant) in
October 1999 considered that ¡°the scope of activities that
may be regarded as encouraging ¡®anti-state organizations¡¯
under article 7 of the National Security Law is unreasonably
wide.¡± The Committee concluded ¡°that the restrictions placed
on freedom of expression do not meet the requirements of
article 19, paragraph 3 of the Covenant, as they cannot be
regarded as necessary to protect national security.¡±
On 30 March 2004, Professor Song Du-yul, a philosophy
professor at Muenster University in Germany, was sentenced to
seven years under the NSL by the Seoul District Court. Amnesty
International is concerned to find in the case of Professor
Song that yet again the NSL has been used
to target someone who has exercised his right to freedom of
expression in a non-violent manner. Professor Song (59) a
naturalised German citizen since 1993, has acted on his
beliefs in a non-violent way, as such, Amnesty International
considers him to be a prisoner of conscience. The South Korean
law under which he is currently indicted fails to meet
international human rights standards which require that all
criminal offences are defined precisely or clearly so that
people understand what conduct is prohibited. Its vaguely
worded clauses have been used arbitrarily to criminalize the
exercise of freedom of expression.
Under the alias Kim chul-su, Professor Song is accused inter
alia; of being a member of North Korea¡¯s Korean Workers¡¯
Party and its Politburo since meeting with the late North
Korean leader Kim Il-sung in 1991; spreading North Korean
ideology abroad and visiting North Korea on more than 20
occasions since 1973 on ¡°orders from Pyongyang¡±. The
accusation that he was a member of North Korea¡¯s Politburo
was made by Hwang Jang-yop, (a former Korean Workers¡¯ Party
secretary who defected to South Korea in 1997) in a book he
wrote in 1998. Professor Song always denied this allegation
and took Hwang Jang-yop to court. A South Korean court ruled
in 2001 that there was no evidence for such an allegation.
Professor Song visited South Korea on 22 September 2003 after
37 years of exile in Germany. He was reportedly invited to
South Korea by the Korea Democracy Foundation. Amnesty
International has received reports that on the day of
Professor Song¡¯s arrival, when he passed immigration control
at the airport, a high-ranking official of the National
Intelligence Service (NIS) approached Professor Song and told
him that he had placed 40 agents around the airport and that
Professor Song could either follow him directly to the NIS or
go there the following morning. He reportedly stated that if
Professor Song failed to report to the NIS he would be
arrested.
The day after he arrived in South Korea, Professor Song went
to the NIS where he was reportedly interrogated by up to ten
agents for 13-15 hours a day for four days though he was not
detained. After almost three weeks the NIS handed over his
case to the prosecution – even though there was
reportedly no new evidence for his alleged Politburo
membership. On 22 October 2003, Professor Song was taken into
custody apparently because of the possibility he might flee or
destroy evidence. During the first few weeks he was
interrogated for eight-ten hours a day, he was reportedly
handcuffed and his upper arms were tied together with a rope.
After protests from the German embassy this ill-treatment did
stop. However, contrary to normal practice in South Korea, the
prosecution did not allow a lawyer to be present during
interrogation.
During the entire interrogation Professor Song¡¯s lawyer was
not permitted to be present. Even though the Seoul District
Court on 31 October ordered that prosecutors allow lawyers to
accompany Professor Song during questioning, a decision upheld
by the Supreme Court on 1 November 2003 following an appeal by
the prosecution.
Amnesty International considers the manner in which Professor
Song was interrogated, for long periods by the NIS and the
police constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment and a violation of Article 7 of the ICCPR. Under
Article 16 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment – to which
South Korea acceded to in January 1995, the government is also
obliged to prevent such treatment. Furthermore, the refusal of
the prosecution to allow Professor Song¡¯s lawyer to be
present during interrogations fails to comply with
international fair trial standards. According to Principle 1
of the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers and Principle
17 (1) of the Body of Principles for the Protection of all
Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, everyone
arrested or detained (whether or not on a
criminal charge) and everyone facing a criminal charge has the
right to the assistance of a lawyer to protect their rights at
all stages of criminal proceedings, including interrogations.
Professor Song was indicted on 19 November 2003 for violating
Articles 3, 5 and 8 of the NSL namely for ¡°joining an
anti-state organisation¡± and siding with an ¡°enemy
benefiting organisation.¡± As mentioned above, Article 3
provides punishment including the death penalty for
constituting or joining an ¡°anti-state organization.¡±
Article 5 of the NSL stipulates punishment including the death
penalty for anyone who provides voluntary assistance with
¡°the intention of assisting an anti-government
organization,¡± while Article 8 stipulates punishment for
anyone ¡°who makes contact with a member of an anti-government
organization or a person who has received an order from it¡±.
Prosecutors are reportedly calling for a 15 year prison
sentence for Professor Song.
Amnesty International is also concerned at reports that
prosecutors allegedly decided to indict Professor Song because
he showed few sign of regret over his past actions. The
prosecution had reportedly indicated that they would take
lenient measures against him if he apologized for his
¡°pro-Pyongyang activities¡± and made a formal pledge of
loyalty to South Korea. This leads to questions of whether
Professor Song was being forced to convert his ideology.
Professor Song has reportedly admitted to joining the ruling
Korean Workers¡¯ Party but has continuously denied acting as a
Politburo member. He has publicly stated that he would
relinquish his membership of the Korean Workers' Party and
abide by South Korean law. Amnesty International is concerned
that the reported stance of the prosecution indicates that the
¡°ideology conversion oath¡± which was abolished under South
Korean law in June 1998 still seems to exist in practice.
People such as Professor Song who are exercising their rights
to freedom of expression are punished for holding ideological
beliefs that run counter to those that the South Korean
government supports.
In Professor Song¡¯s case, his actions from the past as well
as academic articles and books have been raised in court. The
prosecution states that there is clear evidence that his books
are praising North Korea - an act which is punishable under
the NSL. Amnesty International is concerned that the NSL has
frequently been used as a form of censorship, to imprison
people for publishing and distributing material deemed to
"benefit" North Korea. This is all the more worrying as
Professor Song¡¯s work is reportedly publicly available all
over South Korea which suggests a level of hypocrisy on behalf
of the authorities. The NSL is applied in an arbitrary
fashion: while certain left wing political works are permitted
for academic study, possession of or reference to the same
works by students or activists with perceived "pro North
Korean" leanings often becomes a criminal offence. Such
restrictions on freedom of expression violate Article 19(2) of
the ICCPR.
The current use of the NSL also appears to contradict the
government's ¡°Peace and Prosperity Policy¡± of engagement
with North Korea. Under this policy the government encourages
closer relations with North Korea through initiatives such as
dialogue, trade and travel. Conversely, under the NSL people
continue to be arrested for merely discussing reunification,
publishing socialist or "pro North Korean" material or having
views considered similar to those of the North Korean
government.
Amnesty International calls on the government of South Korea
to:
- Immediately and unconditionally release Professor
Song Du-yul who is detained for having peacefully exercised
his right to freedom of expression and association;
- abolish the draconian National Security Law or
otherwise amend it to bring it into line with international
standards regarding clarity of criminal law, freedom of
expression and association;
- ensure prompt and full implementation of
international standards to which South Korea is a party which
call for the elimination of all cruel, inhuman and degrading
treatment or punishment.
I look forward to receiving your responses to these concerns.
Yours sincerely,
For Irene Khan, Secretary General
