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Amnesty International’s The State of the World’s Human Rights report for 2016/17

Amnesty International has released The State of the World’s Human Rights report for 2016/17, the organization’s South Korea chapter announced on Feb. 22. The report summarizes human right conditions for 159 countries around the world, including South and North Korea.

In its report, Amnesty International cited restrictions on freedoms of assembly and expression as the main issue with the human rights situation in South Korea.

“The delay in investigating [deceased farmer] Baek Nam-ki’s injuries contrasted sharply to the conviction of Han Sang-gyun, president of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, and co-organizer of several demonstrations, including union participation in the People’s Rally,” the report noted.

The report also criticized the Navy’s decision to file a civil lawsuit demanding 340 million won (US$298,000) in damages from 116 individuals and five groups that demonstrated against construction of a base on Jeju Island. Other instances of infringements of freedom of expression cited in the report included the National Assembly’s passage of anti-terror legislation, evidence of increasingly heavy administration interference in reporting by television broadcasters and other news outlets, and the arrest of members of the Corean Alliance for an Independent Reunification and Democracy on suspected violations of the National Security Law.

In terms of corporate accountability the report noted the government’s delay in adopting follow-up measures after at least 95 people died and hundreds to thousands more suffered side effects from the use of humidifier disinfectant. It also criticized corporations hiring legal experts and private security firms for union-busting activities without sanctions from the government.

Also mentioned as an example of a state action in violation of human rights was the detention of over 100 refugees and asylum-seekers under inhumane conditions in an Incheon International Airport repatriation waiting area, as well as the four-month-long detention of North Korean restaurant workers in a facility managed by the National Intelligence Service. The incarceration of over 400 conscientious objectors to mandatory military service was characterized as “arbitrary detention” according to international law.

“The South Korean government has forsaken its duty to guarantee human rights and used high-handed authority to silence and control peaceful voices opposing it,” said Amnesty International Korea director Kim Hee-jin.

“With a presidential election coming up, South Korean society faces a crossroads as to whether it will resolve its various human rights issues and move forward or regress into politics of division,” Kim added.

By Ahn Young-choon, staff reporter

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