Prosecutor General apologizes for human rights abuses at Brothers Home 29 years later

Prosecutor General Moon Moo-il cries as he listens to the testimonies of victims of the Brothers Home internment camp in Seoul’s Irum Center on Nov. 27. (Shin So-young, staff photographer)

Moon Moo-il acknowledges prosecutors’ failure to properly investigate

“The past administration established a Ministry of Home Affairs directive without any basis in the law [. . .].”

Prosecutor General Moon Moo-il appeared to struggle as he read out the statement of apology he had prepared. After a long pause, he managed to complete the first sentence.

“[. . .] mobilizing state authority under the pretext of ‘production’ to intern citizens in the Brothers Home.”

Moon removed his glasses to wipe away his tears, then placed them back on his nose. Referring to the investigation by prosecutors that was stymied by external pressure, he declared. “This sort of process cannot be called ‘democracy.’”

“I apologize sincerely,” he continued.

Prosecutor General Moon Moo-il apologizes to victims of human rights abuses at the Brothers Home internment camp on Nov. 27 in Seoul. (Shin So-young, staff photographer)

At 3 pm on Nov. 27, Moon stood in a second-floor classroom at the Irum Center in Seoul’s Yeouido neighborhood with the National Assembly visible in the background, bowing his head in a personal apology to victims of human rights abuses at the Brothers Home.

In his statement, Moon acknowledged prosecutors’ error in owing to outside pressure and failing to investigate the situation properly over three decades ago.

“If the prosecutors had brought the truth to light at the time, the facts of the human rights violations would have become known and follow-up measures would have been taken,” he said.

With his head lowered, Moon individually asked each of the more than 20 victims of the Brothers Home, an internment camp, for permission to shake their hands. Afterwards, five of the victims, including 57-year-old Kim Dae-woo, shared accounts of how their experiences at the Brothers Home ruined their own lives and the lives of their family members. Kim, who was a third-year elementary school student at the time, said he was taken to the home by force three times.

Prosecutor General Moon Moo-il apologizes for covering up human rights abuses at the Brothers Home internment camp on Nov. 27 in Seoul. (Shin So-young, staff photographer)

“I’m angry that I never got to learn anything [because of internment at a young age],” he said. “I have no friends.”

Fellow victim Park Sun-i said, “While the police were in error, the prosecutors also bear responsibility for killing us for 29 years. If they had investigated things properly, there would be no need for an occasion like this.”

Another victim, Ahn Gi-soon, said, “The damages would not have been so profound if the prosecutors had shown even a bit more care in intervening at the time.”

Moon’s lips remained clenched and tears showed in his eyes as he listened to the accounts.

The victims also pleaded with Moon for “younger prosecutors to take responsibility for the faults of their predecessors.”

Han Jong-seon, representative of a committee for the investigation of the Brothers Home incident, called on the prosecutors to “come out strongly in favor of enacting a special law for the investigation.”

“Rather than condemning citizens who should be protected by pressure at the higher levels to a second death, they should be true prosecutors who remain steadfast with regard to all cases of human rights infringements,” Han said.

Moon also had another 50-minute closed-door meeting with the survivors. Sources reported that he was in tears during that meeting as well. An investigation committee source who was present reported that Moon “asked for help in preparing a strong documentary case for the emergency appeal before the Supreme Court” to uphold a guilty ruling against the Brothers Home director.

Prosecutor General Moon Moo-il listens to the testimonies of victims of the Brothers Home internment camp in Seoul’s Irum Center on Nov. 27. (Shin So-young, staff photographer)

By Choi Woo-ri, staff reporter

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