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Trainee soldiers
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Two that refused mandatory military service should be given compensation, rights body says
The U.N. Human Rights Committee recommended the South Korean government on December 4 to provide compensation to two conscientious objectors who refused to complete their mandatory military service and served one-and-a-half years in prison. The committee said that Seoul violated freedoms of conscience and religion in the case.
While the rights committee's recommendation is not binding, U.N. recommendations carry with them a great deal of clout in the international community.
The U.N. body asked the South Korean government reveal what measures it plans to take in response to their recommendation; Seoul has been given a deadline of 90 days from December 4 to do so. The committee urged the South Korean government to take measures to prevent a repeat of such an incident, saying that to punish such citizens violated freedom of conscience and religion guaranteed by Article 18 of the U.N.’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The committee said that it admits that freedom of conscience and religion can be limited by laws if necessary to protect public safety, health, morals, and basic rights of other individuals, but that even in such cases the essence of the original rights should not be violated.
The committee advised the South Korean government to introduce an alternative system to its strictly mandatory military draft, noting that while Seoul maintains that it is inevitable to punish those conscientious objectors that refuse mandatory military service, citing national security, the South Korean government has not sufficiently proven how such objectors undermine the current system of military service. In response, an official with the Department of Defense said, “there was no discussion of the U.N. Human Rights Committee's recommendation in the department, as a committee aimed at researching an alternative system to the current mandatory military service system was already launched in April this year. This committee is known to be planning a research trip to Taiwan and Germany, where conscientious objection is approved, and then reach a final decision on the alternative system," he added. The two conscientious objectors presented a petition to the committee on October 18, 2004 saying that they served a prison sentence for refusing mandatory military service according to their religious conscience. Currently, all adult male South Koreans must serve the state in some capacity for 24 to 27 months. Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]
