This page summarizes cases raised with South Korea (the Republic of Korea) by the Special Rapporteur between May 1, 2011, (when the Special Rapporteur took up his functions) and February 28, 2017 (the date of the last public release of communications). Communications are released to the public once per year. This page also contains observations on these communications and on responses received from South Korea.
Communications and observations are divided into sections based upon which observation report they originally appeared.
Each communication is referenced as urgent appeal (UA), allegation letter (AL), joint urgent appeal (JUA) and joint allegation letter (JAL) – the hyperlinks lead to these documents. This is followed by the date the communication was issued, as well as the case number and the State reply (also hyperlinked if available).
Summaries and communications are published only in the language of submission (in the case of South Korea, English).
None
Observations
The Special Rapporteur thanks the Government of the Republic of Korea for its response.
The Special Rapporteur urges the authorities to ensure that no individual is criminalised for the exercise of his or her legitimate fundamental freedoms. He also urges the authorities to take all relevant measures to ensure that any individual and legal entity, including political parties, can peacefully exercise their rights of freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. He recommends that the Government put in place an enabling and safe environment allowing individuals to exercise their legitimate freedoms without undue hindrances. A thorough and independent investigation into any allegations of any human rights violations, including acts of intimidations or harassments, committed against those exercising their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, should be conducted; those responsible should be held accountable; and victims should be provided with full redress.
The Special Rapporteur refers to Human Rights Council resolution 21/16, and in particular operative paragraph 1 that “[r]eminds States of their obligation to respect and fully protect the rights of all individuals to assemble peacefully and associate freely, online as well as offline, including in the context of elections, and including persons espousing minority or dissenting views or beliefs, human rights defenders, trade unionists and others, including migrants, seeking to exercise or to promote these rights, and to take all necessary measures to ensure that any restrictions on the free exercise of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association are in accordance with their obligations under international human rights law”.
Observations
The Special Rapporteur thanks the Government of the Republic of Korea for its responses.
The Special Rapporteur wishes to echo the findings of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders who visited the Republic of Korea from 29 May to 7 June 2013. According to her, “significant challenges originate in connection with the existing legal framework governing the exercise of basic freedoms, such as the rights to freedoms of opinion and expression, of peaceful assembly and of association” (A/HRC/25/55/Add.1, para. 101). With regard to trade unions, she found that “there are important limitations to the exercise of labour rights in the Republic of Korea whereby the right to collective bargaining and to strike as legitimate means to claim economic and social rights are seriously curtailed… [and] strikes are often declared illegal by a court of law due to a restrictive interpretation of such rights” (para. 69-70). She called on the Government to “[e]nsure that labour rights, including collective bargaining and the right to strike, can be exercised without undue restrictions or intimidation, establishing adequate mediation mechanisms between management and labour unions and by protecting unions and workers from harassment by private firms and corporations” (para. 107(j)).
The Special Rapporteur urges the authorities to ensure that no individual is criminalised for the exercise of his or her legitimate fundamental freedoms. He also urges the authorities to take all relevant measures to ensure that any individual and legal entity can peacefully exercise their rights of freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. He recommends that the Government put in place an enabling and safe environment allowing individuals to exercise their legitimate freedoms without undue hindrances.
The Special Rapporteur refers to Human Rights Council resolution 24/5, and in particular operative paragraph 1 that “[r]eminds States of their obligation to respect and fully protect the rights of all individuals to assemble peacefully and associate freely, online as well as offline, including in the context of elections, and including persons espousing minority or dissenting views or beliefs, human rights defenders, trade unionists and others, including migrants, seeking to exercise or to promote these rights, and to take all necessary measures to ensure that any restrictions on the free exercise of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association are in accordance with their obligations under international human rights law”.
Observations
Responses to communications
The Special Rapporteur expresses his thanks to the Government of the Republic of Korea for its replies to the communications sent during the period under consideration. In this connection, he is grateful for the cooperation extended to the mandate, in compliance with Human Rights Council resolutions 24/5 (2013), 21/16 (2012) and 15/21 (2010).
Environment in which these rights are exercised
The Special Rapporteur acknowledges the measures taken by the police to secure the area around the construction site of Miryang power transmission tower and settlement made to establish a memorial altar by the same area. He is pleased to learn that the National Human Rights Commission of Korea dispatched a human rights monitoring group to the site. The Special Rapporteur recalls that the State committed to protect and promote rights set forth in international law and standards, and in that regard, looks forward to receiving further information on the outcome of the proceedings and investigations related to the cases mentioned in his communication dated 18 august 2014 (KOR 3/2014), which include alleged assault on residents and excessive use of force by the police. He reiterates that a resolute positive environment promoting the rights of all people to freely associate and assemble is essential in the context of exploitation of natural resources to ensure a fair, transparent and accountable process that benefits all the parties involved (A/HRC/29/25, paragraph 67).
Regarding the reported 391 teachers accused of engaging in protests since the sinking of the Sewol Ferry in April 2014, the Special Rapporteur takes note of the Republic of Korea’s National Constitution that provides for the political impartiality of education. However, he articulates that there should be a presumption in favour of holding peaceful assemblies and that States cannot refer to additional grounds to restrict this right other than the limited ones contained in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and cannot loosely interpret international obligations to restrict the right to freedom of association (A/HRC/23/39, paragraph 30). With this in mind, he encourages the Government to overturn any legislation that unduly curtails the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly.
Country visit
The Special Rapporteur thanks the Government for its invitation to carry out a visit to the country during the first half of 2016. He hopes to respond to the authorities in the near future with a proposal for dates for this visit, within the framework of his other mandated activities for 2016, and reiterates his appreciation to the Government for its collaboration with the mandate.
Observations
Responses to communications
The Special Rapporteur thanks the Government of the Republic of Korea for its response to his communications.
He refers to his report on his visit to the Republic of Korea undertaken from 20 to 29 January 2016 (A/HRC/32/36/Add.2) for an assessment of the situation of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in the country.
Observations
Responses to communications
The Special Rapporteur thanks the Government of the Republic of Korea for its response to his communication sent during the reporting period.
He notes the information provided refuting the allegations that the five-year sentence brought against Mr. Sang-gyun Han, was for the legitimate exercise of his rights to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly. He also acknowledges that “the prosecution against Mr. Han was not simply ‘organising illegal assembly’ but included ‘special obstruction of public duty’, ‘special obstruction of public goods’, ‘general obstruction of traffic’ and violations of the Assembly and Demonstration Act.”
Nevertheless, the Special Rapporteur reaffirms the concerns stated in his country report of June 2016 that “charging assembly participants with certain criminal offenses, such as the general obstruction of traffic, de facto criminalises the right to peaceful assembly.”
For the full reports, containing communications, replies and observations for all countries, see the following links:
Report A/HRC/20/27/Add.3: May 1, 2011 to March 15, 2012
Report A/HRC/23/39/Add.2: March 16, 2012 to February 28, 2013
Report A/HRC/26/29/Add.1: March 1, 2013 to February 28, 2014
Report A/HRC/29/25/Add.3: March 1, 2014 to February 28, 2015
Report A/HRC/32/36/Add.3: March 1, 2015 to February 28, 2016
Report A/HRC/35/28/Add.4: March 1, 2016 to February 28, 2017
