Summary
Nationwide
campaigns protesting against the National Security Law (NSL)
reached a climax with the 25-day hunger strike carried
out by dozens of priest in September. [Hotline issued an
urgent appeal UA991004(17) in support of their efforts
and called for the abolition of the NSL] The protest
movement continues and has led local people to
participate in signature campaigns, rallies, petitions,
sit-down strikes, shaving-hair sit-ins and other hunger
strikes. On 4 December, a Pan-National Culture Festival
for abolishing the NSL was organised.
On 19 November 1999, the National Congress of New
Politics (NCNP), the party of President Kim Dae-jung,
held the second meeting of the NSL Amendment and
Reviewing Committee regarding a draft NSL Amendment which
was announced on 24 October. Although partial changes
have been proposed in the draft, the National Congress
decided to retain paragraph 3 of Article 7, which relates
to "anti-state organisation". The Korean
Government delegation said that, given the situation of
the country, as a divided nation, they could not simply
do away with the NSL. The NSL was born in the cold war
era and it has been used unreasonably to limit the
freedom of expression of local people instead of
protecting national security. Many Korean people, with
the support of the international community have been
calling for the total abolition of the NSL. On 1 November
1999, in their 67th session, the United Nations Human
Rights Committee considered the periodic human rights
report submitted by the Korean Government and urged the
Korean Government to "phase out the National
Security Law".
Continued international solidarity for the Korean
people's call for the abolition of the NSL is requested.
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| Action Requested Please write polite letters to the Korean
Government, expressing your deep concern about human
rights violations under the NSL and urging for practical
steps to be taken to abolish the NSL.
SEND LETTERS OR FAXES TO :
1. Mr. Kim Dae-jung
President of the Republic of Korea
the Blue House, 1 Sejong-no, Chongno-gu, Seoul, Republic
of KOREA
Fax: 82 - 2 - 770 0253
Email: webmaster@cwd.go.kr
Website: www.bluehouse.go.kr
2. National Congress of the Republic of Korea
Fax: 82 - 2 - 784 6070
Email: ncnp@ncnp.or.kr
Website: www.new97.or.kr
c.c: Diplomatic representatives of Korea in your country.
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Background
In the past few
years, Korean people have organized and participated in
various campaigns and activities to protest against the
National Security Law (NSL). In 1999, the protest
movement calling for the abolition of the NSL became
stronger and more nationwide. Signature campaigns,
rallies, petitions, sit-down strikes, shaving-hair sit-ins,
hunger strikes and public hearings were held by human
rights groups, students, religious people, professors,
lawyers and local citizen in different cities around
Korea. There was also a great deal of international
solidarity for this campaign.
National Campaigns:
* 12 July
- the Catholic Coalition to Repeal the NSL collected a
100,000 signatures,
* 7 Sept
- hunger strike held by more than 30 priests up to 2
October
- 7 Buddhist organisations had a meeting and agreed to
establish the Buddhist Coalition against the NSL
* 9 Sept
- Christians started holding a Thursday prayer meeting
* 20 Sept
- the National Coalition against the NSL was established
with over 100 organizations
* 2 Oct
- the Catholic Coalition started prayer meetings in each
parish to be held on every Monday
* early Oct
- Justice and Peace Committee of Chungjoo Catholics and
other religious orgainzations based in Chungbuk held a
press conference to announce their activities against the
NSL
* 4 Dec
- a Pan-National Culture Festival for the abolition of
the NSL was held
International Solidarity Support:
* 30 Sept
- a joint statement adopted by the Robert F. Kennedy
Memorial Center for Human Rights and other human rights
NGOs based in North America and Australia was issued in
support of the priests who were one hunger strike
* 6 Oct
- the American Coalition for Self-defiance, Democracy and
Unification and another 6 organisation based in America
announced that they would join the anti-NSL activities
On 24 October 1999, the National Congress of the New
Politics (NCNP), the ruling party of Korean Government,
announced a draft NSL Amendment. Local people criticised
the amendment which they consider are partial changes
which "cannot make sure the protection of human
rights from arbitrary application of the NSL at the
satisfactory level". As to the draft to the proposed
amendment, paragraph 3 of Article 7 of the NSL will be
retained. Since the 1980s, 92% of indictments were
charged with violating Article 7 of the NSL and 72 % of
them were indicted under paragraph 3. [Article 7,
paragraph 3 states that "any person who, with the
knowledge that such action threatens the nation's
existence and security and the order of liberal
democracy, organizes or joins an organisation whose aim
is to advertise or advocates activities of an Anti-state
Organization or its member or persons receiving orders
from such Organization shall be punishable by
imprisonment for a term of not exceeding 5 years.]
Comparatively, the proposed amendment had some positive
suggestions such as reducing the pre-trial detention of
NSL offenders from 50 to 20 days.
On 1 November 1999, in their 67th session the United
Nations of Human Rights Committee considered the periodic
human rights report (CCPR/C/114/Add.1) submitted by the
Korean Government and released their Concluding
Observations (CCPR/C/79/Add.114). The Committee again
urged the Korean Government to "phase out the
National Security Law". The Committee considered
that due to its unreasonable and wide use regarding the
scope of activities considered as encouraging "anti-state
organisations", Article 7 of the NSL was
incompatible with the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights.
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