hankyoreh

who has a speech disorder as a result of harsh Yushin era conversion tactics used on him and other left-wing prisoners

South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRCK), headed by Chairperson Ahn Byung-ook, announced Wednesday that it had completed its investigations on the truth about human rights infringements in connection with conversion tactics used on left-wing prisoners during the Yushin era of the 1970s. TRCK released a statement saying, “Conversion tactics applied under the ideological conversion system constituted state violence and fundamentally violated the Constitutionally-guaranteed freedom of conscience.” TRCK’s investigation also confirms that acts of brutality, such as torture and beatings, were used to convert left-wing prisoners. 　

TRCK’s recommendations include a state apology to the victims, further investigation and measures of restitution for the left-wing prisoners targeted for conversion tactics. Lee Myeong-chun, director of the TRCK’s Bureau of Investigation on Human Rights Abuses under Authoritarian Regimes said, “Many individuals felt insulted as human beings or even committed suicide as a result of the conversion system, which was carried out systematically at the state level.” Lee added, “Regardless of the individual’s ideology, the state should apologize at the minimum for using torture and beatings and infringing upon human rights.”

The “ideological conversion system” was put in place for left-wing prisoners designated as having Communist or socialistic ideologies, and where they were forced to draft and announce “statements of conversion” indicating that they were renouncing their beliefs. This system was especially enforced at the time of the Yushin system out of concern that the release of unconverted left-wing prisoners might lead to anti-government instability in society. Beginning in 1973, “conversion maneuver squads” and “conversion maneuver plans” were created. Once an individual was targeted for conversion, that person was subjected to residence restrictions, protective custody and protective observation even after finishing his or her sentence. These measures were stipulated by the Social Security Act enacted in 1975.

For example, the conversion tactics used on Ahn Hak-seop, age 79, who served over 40 years in prisons in Daejeon, Jeonju and Gwangju after being sentenced to a life term for violating the National Guards Act in 1953, were applied systematically according to a project that had been kept on attempts to convert Ahn. Attempts were made consistently between Sept. 1973 and Nov. 1995. An entry made in 1974 includes references to “the falsehood of Communism and the superiority of democracy” and “a plan for conversion using family and acquaintances.” When Ahn refused to convert, more severe tactics were drafted in 1978, and notes were discovered that included, “Family visit attempts are more successful than assailing theory. Possibility of taking advantage of deteriorating health.”

According to TRCK’s report, the government permitted Ahn Hak-seop to see his older brother for the first time in two decades. During the first visit, the brother had asked, “Do you recognize me?” Although Ahn was unable to see his brother’s face clearly because of the lack of light, he still answered, “How could I not recognize my older brother, no matter how long it has been?” Then the brother asked, “Do you want to live in prison when there is a beautiful world outside.” Ahn answered, “I hate this kind of society.” The director of the education division spoke up and said, “Put him back in.”

Ahn’s chance to meet his older brother, even after the brother had previously been refused a meeting to inform Ahn of their father’s death, was made possible because the Gwangju Prison had summoned him to visit in order to convert Ahn. After the older brother left, Ahn’s middle school-aged nephew sent a letter some seven pages long that said, “I do not know what conversion is, but please just convert and grant my Father’s wish.” The suffering continued even after Ahn was moved to Jeonju Prison. Jeonju Prison later switched tactics and took an audio recorder to the house where Ahn and his brother had lived in Ganghwa region and recorded the sounds of the door opening and closing, the clattering of a pot lid, and the voice of Ahn’s younger sisters.

The TRCK report also cites instances where violence was used in an attempt to convert Ahn and other left-wing prisoners. Some time around 1973, people referred as the Ddeokbongi, prisoners with a background in gang violence, carried around a key to Ahn and other left-wing prisoners’ cells and administered beatings. Ahn lost consciousness while being submitted to water torture, and ice water had been poured over his naked body in the middle of the winter in his isolation cell.

The ideological conversion system was substituted with the “Pledge to Obey the Law” system in July 1998, on the grounds that it violated the Constitutionally-guaranteed freedom of conscience, only to also be done away with in July 2003. The Social Security Act was substituted in 1989 with the Security Surveillance Act, following criticism that the former had allowed the indefinite deprivation of basic Constitutional rights. The Security Surveillance Act survives to this day.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]