hankyoreh

Maina Kiai

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association is paying an official visit to South Korea on Jan. 20.

This marks the first such visit to the country since the position was created in the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2001. The current Special Rapporteur is Maina Kiai of Kenya.

People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) and other civic groups held a press conference on Jan. 11 to praise Kiai’s decision to visit.

“This visit by the Special Rapporteur to examine the situation in South Korea in light of international standards is highly meaningful at a time when assemblies are being suppressed and various freedoms of association for labor unions and NGOs are regressing,” the groups said.

They went on to say they plan to report to Kiai on the local situation, including “the operation of a de facto permit system for assemblies and the excessive investigating by the police, witnessed with the memorial to the Sewol ferry sinking and popular indignation rallies.”

By Bang Jun-ho, staff reporter

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