UPDATE (SOUTH KOREA): Family members of victims of suspicious deaths stage sit-down strike for 27 days

“Even though my son who was dead mysteriously, cannot come back to life, I never want these tragedies to happen again in which young people are unjustly accused of suicide.”

“If we can reveal the truth about suspicious deaths, freezing weather will not be an obstacle to our struggle.”

The above statements were made by the family members of the victims of suspicious deaths who have been staging a sit-down strike in Seoul for the last 27 days on the street in front of the office of the Grand National Party, the majority party in South Korea’s National Assembly. Through their sit-in that began on Oct. 10, they hope to persuade the National Assembly to amend the Special Act to Find the Truth on Suspicious Deaths.

According to the statute of limitations of this legislation, on Sept. 16, 2002, the mandate of the Presidential Truth Commission on Suspicious Deaths (PTCSD) ended. However, many cases of alleged suspicious deaths that have been brought before the PTCSD have not been investigated. During the two-year period in which the PTCSD has sought to reveal the truth about suspicious deaths that occurred during the country’s previous authoritarian regimes, the PTCSD has received 83 petitions of alleged suspicious deaths. However, in only 19 cases has the PTCSD stated that the victims were killed by the State. In addition, the PTCSD has concluded that 30 cases are impossible to determine due to various limitations, and it has rejected 33 cases.

In fact, from the beginning, the victims’ family members and human rights organisations have been concerned about the PTCSD’s limited powers, short mandate to investigate cases and lack of ability to charge the perpetrators. Therefore, even though various progressive groups in South Korea and in the international community have urged the Korean government to amend the Special Act to Find the Truth on Suspicious Deaths in order to extend the mandate of the PTCSD and to strengthen its power to investigate the accused national institutions, the Korean National Assembly has not indicated any willingness to do so. At the present time, South Korea’s politicians are only interested in the presidential election that will be held at the end of this year.

Therefore, 134 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in South Korea held a press conference on Nov. 4 in front of the office of the Grand National Party to urge the National Assembly to amend this legislation so as to extend the mandate of the PTCSD and to strengthen the body’s power to investigate these suspicious deaths through the appointment of special prosecutors. Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of South Korea and Korean Bar Association have also supported these demands.

In order to create international pressure to amend the Special Act to Find the Truth on Suspicious Deaths, we are again urging you to send your appeal to the president and national assemblymen of South Korea. Presently, the amended legislation is now languishing in the Legislative and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly.

If you need more information on this issue, please read our previous urgent appeal at <http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2002/298/>.

SUGGESTED ACTION

Please send your appeal to the president of South Korea, to representatives of the ruling and opposition parties and to members of the Legislative and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly to urge them to amend the Special Act to Find the Truth on Suspicious Deaths as soon as possible.

 

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER