The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has decided to issue a recommendation to the Speaker of the National Assembly and the Prime Minister to legislate a special act addressing the need for the government to conduct fact-finding to uncover the truth about alleged human rights violations of families of the 486 persons formally acknowledged by the South Korean government to have been abducted by North Korea, and to restore honor to those families as well as pay compensation.
After receiving a petition in November 2002 on the human rights infringements faced by families of abducted persons, the Commission engaged in an extensive investigation, and on 19 December 2003, held a public hearing on “Human Rights Issues relating to North Korea Abductees and Directions toward Resolution.” The NHRC paid a great deal of attention to the human rights issues of persons abducted to North Korea and sought the positions of experts in the field, the related governmental ministries as well as interviewed the abductees and their families directly.
Through the petition, the “Families of North Korea Abductees” group (headed by CHOI, Seong-yong, 53) argued that they were subject to restrictions in all areas relating to their personal livelihood and personal affairs in that: (1) the whole family underwent great pain when a family member was abducted; (2) even though they were supposed to have been placed under protection by former government administrations, instead their everyday lives were put under surveillance such that the family’s right to privacy were infringed; (3) because of the guilt-by-association system, they could not even think of applying for state examinations or military academies owing to widespread social sentiment; (4) they were restricted from getting issued a seaman’s ledger; (5) there were restricted from leaving the country; and (6) when family members performed compulsory military service, they were restricted from placement in bases near the demilitarized zone.
Further, at the “Human Rights Issues relating to North Korea Abductees and Directions toward Resolution” public hearing, members of the “Families of North Korea Abductees” testified to experiences that closely resemble human rights violations, including deprivation from the right to movement, privacy infringements and injury from torture, as well as the claim of one abductee who had been able to return to South Korea that the government’s official list of abductees did not reflect the actual numbers.
The NHRC investigation concluded that the abductees’ families cases: (1) spanned over a long period of time from the incident (1960s and ‘70s); (2) although there are some difficulties in getting objective proof because the families were not systematically assembled, it behooves the state to extend efforts toward undertaking a survey of the actual injuries suffered by North Korea abductees’ families and restoring their honor.
Thus, the Commission issued a recommendation to legislate a special act with the following points in the framework: (1) the government undertake a survey to clearly grasp the facts and uncover the truth as to the allegations of abductee families being placed under surveillance and subject to all kinds of restriction on their person; (2) the government restore honor and compensate abductee family members in cases where there are clear human rights violations; (3) the state give separate compensation for not having afforded appropriate protection to abductees who have returned to South Korea.
