Open letter to the President on the moratorium on executions and the abolition of the death penalty

Source: FIDH (29 December 2022)

https://www.fidh.org/en/region/asia/south-korea/open-letter-to-the-president-on-the-moratorium-on-executions-and-the

December 29, 2022

Yoon Suk-yeol
President of the Republic of Korea
22, Itaewon-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul 04383
Republic of Korea
E-mail: president@president.go.kr

CC.
Speaker of the National Assembly Kim Jin-Pyo
National Assembly of the Republic of Korea
1 Uisadang-daero, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul 07233
Republic of Korea
Fax: +82 6788 4351

President of the Constitutional Court Yoo Nam-seok
Constitutional Court of Korea
15 Bukchon-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03060
Republic of Korea
Fax: +82 2 708 3566

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo
Office for Government Policy Coordination / Prime Minister’s Secretariat
Government Complex-Sejong
261 Dasom-ro, Sejong-si 30107
Republic of Korea
Fax: +82 44 200 2144

Foreign Minister Park Jin
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
60 Sajik-ro 8-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03172
Republic of Korea
Fax: +82 2 2100 7934

Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon
Ministry of Justice
47 Gwanmun-ro, Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi-do 13809
Republic of Korea
Fax: +82 2 2110 0350

Re: Republic of Korea’s moratorium on executions and the abolition of the death penalty

Dear Mr. President,

We welcome the Republic of Korea’s vote in favor of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly’s resolution 77/222 on December 15, 2022, which called upon states that maintain the death penalty to establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing capital punishment and to consider acceding to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. We take this opportunity to renew our calls on the Republic of Korea to take further steps towards the complete abolition of the death penalty for all crimes.

The global trend towards the abolition of the death penalty is clear. At the end of 1997, when the Republic of Korea carried out its last execution, there were 102 countries that had abolished the death penalty in law or practice. [1] By the end of 2007, when the Republic of Korea became an abolitionist country in practice, the number of countries that had abolished the death penalty in law or practice jumped to 134. [2] By 31 December 2021, that number further increased to 144. [3]

This global trend is reflected in the voting patterns at the UN General Assembly. In 2007, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 62/149, the first ever biennial resolution on the moratorium on the death penalty, by a 106-46 vote, with 34 abstentions. [4] In December 2020, the Republic of Korea for the first time joined the growing number of countries that supported the UN General Assembly resolution with its vote in favor of resolution 75/183, [5] adopted by a 123-38 vote, with 24 abstentions. Earlier this month, resolution 77/222 [6] was adopted by an all-time high of 125 votes in favor, with 37 votes against and 22 abstentions.

We recall that the use of the death penalty is inconsistent with the Republic of Korea’s international legal obligation to respect fundamental human rights, including the right to life. With 59 persons still on the death row, including one who has been under death sentence since November 1993, the Republic of Korea may also be in breach of its international legal obligation to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. UN human rights experts have recently reiterated that the “death row phenomenon” (the psychological effects on prisoners of being on death row for a prolonged period while awaiting an imminent execution under harsh conditions of confinement) has long been characterized as a form of inhuman treatment. [7]

We also note that lawmakers have proposed bills to abolish the death penalty in every session of the National Assembly, including the current one, since 1999. [8] The Constitutional Court twice upheld the constitutionality of capital punishment by a 7-2 vote in 1996, and by a 5-4 vote in 2010. However, it now has the opportunity to declare the death penalty unconstitutional in a case pending before it, and to pave the way for its abolition.

We respectfully call on you to immediately take the following steps to make progress towards the abolition of capital punishment, in keeping with the Republic of Korea’s support for the UN General Assembly’s biennial resolution:

Declare an official moratorium on executions.
Commute all death sentences to prison terms.
Repeal or amend all laws that prescribe the death penalty for various criminal offenses, with a view to abolishing capital punishment for all crimes.
Ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty.

We also urge the Republic of Korea to stop the extradition or refoulement of persons to countries that retain the death penalty - including the United States, Japan, China, [9] and North Korea [10] - as they could be in danger of being subjected to the death penalty.

We thank you for your attention to this important matter.

Sincerely yours,

Alice Mogwe
President, FIDH

Ethan Hee-Seok Shin
Legal Analyst, Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG)
Footnotes


[1] Amnesty International, The death penalty worldwide: Developments in 1997 (31 March 1998), Index Number: ACT 50/004/1998, pp. 3 and 23; https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/act50/004/1998/en


[2] Amnesty International, The death penalty worldwide: Developments in 2007 (15 April 2008), Index Number: ACT 50/002/2008, APPENDIX 1- LIST OF ABOLITIONIST AND RETENTIONIST COUNTRIES AS OF 1 JANUARY 2008; https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/act50/002/2008/en


[3] Amnesty International, Death sentences and executions 2021 (24 May 2022), Index Number: ACT 50/5418/2022, ANNEX II: ABOLITIONIST AND RETENTIONIST COUNTRIES AS OF 31 DECEMBER 2021; https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/act50/5418/2022/en


[4] https://undocs.org/A/RES/62/149


[5] https://undocs.org/A/RES/75/183


[6] https://undocs.org/A/RES/77/222


[7] OHCHR, UN experts warn of associated torture and cruel punishment, 10 October 2022; https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/10/un-experts-warn-associated-torture-and-cruel-punishment


[8] ROK National Assembly, Bill for the “Special act to abolish the death penalty” (Bill no. 152463) proposed by 90 members on 7 December 1999; https://likms.assembly.go.kr/bill/billDetail.do?billId=016007; Bill for the “Special act to abolish the death penalty” (Bill no. 2112795) proposed by 30 members on 7 October 2021, https://likms.assembly.go.kr/bill/billDetail.do?billId=PRC_P2K1H1I0C0B7F0V9D2D4H5N7Z1V2N6


[9] Kim Ki-Yoon, The killer of a Chinese Public Security officer from 30 years ago who had laundered his identity repatriated, Donga Ilbo, 18 May 2022; https://www.donga.com/news/Society/article/all/20220518/113468246/1


[10] HRW, South Korea Investigates Forcible Return of Two North Koreans: Inquiry Should be Credible, Impartial, Independent, 22 July 2022; https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/07/22/south-korea-investigates-forcible-return-two-north-koreans

9th Resolution for a moratorium on the death penalty: the trend is growing

Source: World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (20 December 2022)

https://worldcoalition.org/2022/12/20/9th-resolution-for-a-moratorium-on-the-death-penalty-the-trend-is-growing/

On 15 December 2022, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the 9th resolution for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty with 125 votes in favor (2 more than in 2020), 37 votes against, 22 abstentions and 9 absent.

POSITIVE CHANGES REFLECT THE TREND TOWARDS ABOLITION IN AFRICA

For the 1st time, 3 countries that had abstained in previous votes voted in favor of the resolution:

Ghana
Liberia
Uganda

These changes in votes reflect ongoing debates in these countries to abolish the death penalty. In 2022, 29 countries in Africa voted in favor of the resolution compared to 17 in 2007.

CONFIRMING POSITIVE CHANGES IN ASIA AND THE MIDDLE EAST

For the second or third time in a row, the following countries confirmed their support for the resolution:

Djibouti
Jordan
Lebanon
South Korea
Malaysia
Philippines

Also, Papua New Guinea moved from a vote against to an abstention (it abolished the death penalty in 2022), and Myanmar from an abstention to a vote in favor.

DISAPPOINTING VOTES OF SOME COUNTRIES WHERE INTENSE MOBILIZATION OF CIVIL SOCIETY DID NOT MATERIALIZE

Since May 2022, the World Coalition and its member organizations have coordinated a campaign to gather more support for the resolution.

Of particular focus this year was the USA, which voted against the resolution for the 9th time. Of concern also the Democratic Republic of the Congo voted against for the 1st time.

Finally, Vanuatu and Venezuela were absent for the 1st time, they had always voted yes before.

GROWING SUPPORT OVER THE YEARS

With 2 more votes in favor compared to 2020, the resolution has now reached 125 votes. The text of the resolution has also evolved over the years.

The next moratorium resolution, the 10th resolution, will be adopted in December 2024 and the goal will be to reach 2/3 of the United Nations Member States voting in favor.

‘South Korea should lead abolition of death penalty in Asia-Pacific’

Source: The Korea Herald (27 April 2018)

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20180427000573

South Korea has an unprecedented record when it comes to the death penalty, allowing a political prisoner on death row to become its president.

Late President Kim Dae-jung, who was in office from 1998 to 2003, was sentenced to death in 1980, on treason charges.

With a campaign by the international community and human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, Kim was able to leave the country for the United States two years later.

The last execution in Korea took place in 1997 and while the country still has the death penalty, it has been categorized as abolitionist in practice.

Now, South Korea should take the next step to abolish its death penalty and lead the human rights movement said Chiara Sangiorgio, the advisor on the abolition of the death penalty at the International Secretariat of Amnesty International, in an interview with The Korea Herald on Tuesday.

“South Korea has not carried out executions for more than 20 years. I think the moment is ripe for steps to be taken to abolish the death penalty here,” she said. Sangiorgio was also the lead author of the annual Amnesty report on the death penalty. The organization released the 2016-2017 report on April 12.

According to the latest report compiling data until the end of last year, South Korea has not delivered a death sentence for the past two years.

“Unfortunately, we did see one case in February, but we can see it is becoming a rare occurrence here,” she said.

“Many countries around South Korea practice executions in horrific ways, from North Korea to China and Japan. So the country stands out in the region from this point of view. It is a human rights issue which the government and the administrators here should take ownership of.”

China was once again the world’s leading executioner, with the figures expected to reach into the thousands. Japan carried out four executions in secrecy, and North Korea is also infamous for their public executions.

Regarding the communist regime, the watchdog found a report which claims that a ban on public executions has been placed.

“We see it as a significant step, which shows how the world’s stance is changing towards the death penalty.”

But she explained they face challenges with limited access to information in North Korea.

“We know there are executions. And we are concerned about the unfair trial proceedings as it seems to be the way through which the punishment is imposed, without the right to appeal,” she said. “But it would be difficult make a judgment for North Korea until we have full access to the statistics there.”

As of the end of 2017, South Korea had 61 men under the sentence of death. And while there has been legislative efforts to abolish the death sentence, the public sentiment appears to oppose doing away with the death penalty.

According to 2015 data from Korea Legislation Research Institute, 65.2 percent of the respondents opposed the abolition of the death penalty, while 34.2 percent agreed. In another poll in 2017, 79.4 percent of 1,000 respondents supported maintaining the death penalty.

Since 1999, seven revision proposal bills have been tabled at the National Assembly where they have been left pending for several years.

Sangiorgio noted it is not enough for the authorities to just say they cannot abolish the death penalty due to public opinion, as it is a question of leading the country for improving human rights.

“How polls are devised, what the respondents know, and when the polls are conducted can all affect the result,” she said. “Studies have shown that when the public is informed of what the death penalty is and what alternatives there are, their supporting opinions will change,” she explained.

“It is important to understand that abolishing the death penalty is not asking for impunity for crime, but that it is discussing about cruel punishment that needs to be repealed.”

Taking the example of Mongolia, which abolished the death penalty over a period of six years, Sangiorgio said South Korea can also initiate the process step by step.

“The government can start by formalizing the status quo of where the country is at in terms of the death penalty, and have a strong pronouncement by leadership. It should also take international commitment,” she said.

Amnesty International called for the South Korean government to immediately establish an official moratorium on executions, and urged it to vote in favor of the draft resolution on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, which will be considered at the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly at the end of this year.

“South Korea is put in a unique place and timing. And the country‘s leadership should take the opportunity to improve its human rights record and become the next country to abolish the death penalty,” Sangiorgio said.

By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)

Appeal: End death penalty in East Asia

The Centre for Prisoners' Rights and Amnesty International Japan continue to appeal for people to sign their petition and distribute it widely, calling for the abolition of the death penalty in East Asia.

Please print and sign the petition available here. The text of the petition is copied below.

Citizens’ Appeal for an Abolition of the Death Penalty in East Asia
December 2009

To:
People’s Republic of China, Japan, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, State of Mongolia, Taiwan

(CC: Republic of Korea, Republic of the Philippines, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China)

In 2008, most of the executions in the world were carried out in Asia. 11 countries in Asia as a whole, and five countries in East Asia, namely, China, Japan, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Mongolia, and Vietnam, continue to have the death penalty.

China alone accounts for about three quarters of the executions in the world and at least 1,718 death sentences were carried out.

In China, statistics on the death penalty and executions are a state secret, so the actual number is considered to be significantly higher than that.

In Vietnam, the death penalty is stipulated as the maximum sentence for a total of 29 offences defined in the criminal code, including illicit drug trafficking. Executions are by firing squad.

In Japan, there are currently more than 100 death-row inmates awaiting their executions. Executions by hanging in Japan are carried out secretively and the death-row inmates are notified of their execution only immediately before they take place.

In the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea, executions are either by firing squad or by hanging. Executions are conducted secretively but there is an indication that public executions are conducted for the purpose of making an example to the people.

In Mongolia, executions are a state secret and official statistics, such as the numbers of death sentences, executions, and death-row inmates, are not disclosed. Executions are conducted secretively. The family members of the death-row inmate are not notified of the execution beforehand. After the execution, the body is not returned to the family.

On the other hand, as of 2009, 139 states in the world have abolished the death penalty. In Asia as a whole, 27 states, such as the Philippines and Cambodia, have abolished the death penalty either de jure or de facto.

In the 20th century, many lives were taken in East Asia by the state or because of ideology. The death penalty has been used to impose the will of the state and as a tool of political repression. The state is still taking away the lives of the citizens by way of the death penalty. To put an end to this situation, East Asian states should renounce the state-sponsored violence known as the death penalty.

There are no empirical data verifying that the death penalty has a deterrent effect on heinous crimes. On the contrary, it is pointed out that the death penalty promotes violence.

In any country, those that are sentenced to death are skewed to vulnerable groups in the society, such as those in poverty and minorities. What gives rise to crimes in many cases is often poverty and social discrimination. Removing offenders from society by the death penalty does not solve the problem.

Having recognized the issues inherent in the death penalty system, we the signers below are petitioning for the realization of an East Asia without the death penalty.

We hereby request that:
* the taking of lives not be used as a means of punishment;
* the innocent not be killed;
* information be disclosed so that we can think for ourselves whether the death penalty is necessary;
* those that have erred not be cast away; and
* a society with few crimes be created without relying on the death penalty.

We the citizens hope for a truly peaceful society. We the citizens hope for a society without the death penalty. We the citizens hope for a tolerant society. Please heed our voices, the voices of the citizens.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the adoption by the United Nations of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Aiming at the Abolition of the Death Penalty. Taking note of the significance of the 20th anniversary, we call on the East Asian states that retain capital punishment to abolish the death penalty system.

Signature:
Message:

The petition organized and collected by:

The "We Can Do Without the Death Penalty" Campaign
Joint Secretariat:
Center for Prisoners' Rights Japan and Amnesty International Japan
Kyodo Bldg. 4F, 2-2 Kandanishiki-cho, chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan 101-0054
E-mail: petition_adp@amnesty.or.jp
Fax +81-3-3518-6778
HP: http://www.abolish-dp.jca.apc.org/

The “We Can Do Without the Death Penalty” campaign was launched in 2008 in Japan, aiming to raise a voice and to think together about what is wrong with the death penalty, setting aside various differences. The Center for Prisoners’ Rights Japan and Amnesty International Japan serve as the joint secretariat and various other organizations, individuals, and networks participate in this campaign.

South Korea: News report on constitutional court

Constitutional Court upholds the death penalty
From: The Hankyoreh, 27 February 2010

The ruling is expected to revive a debate over the death penalty as South Korea has not carried out a death sentence in 13 years and is classified as “abolitionist in practice”

The Constitutional Court ruled yesterday the death penalty system as prescribed by South Korea’s criminal code is not in violation of the Constitution. However, since six of the nine judges expressed the view that the currently operating system presents misuse and abuse concerns that should be addressed, observers are predicting a revival in the debate over revision and abolition of the death penalty.

In its ruling Thursday on the constitutionality of Article 41 in the Criminal Code, containing clauses regarding the death penalty, the Constitutional Court ruled five to four that the article is constitutional. The request for a constitutionality review was submitted earlier by Gwangu High Court. The court stated that the death penalty system “is a type of punishment anticipated by the Constitution.” It also said, “We cannot view the death penalty system as being in violation of Article 10 of the Constitution specifying human dignity and values, and the individual right to life is also included in the limitations on basic rights as specified by Article 37, Item 2 of the Constitution.”

The court added, “The public good, including the protection of the lives of citizens through crime prevention and the realization of justice, is not lesser than the protection of the right to life of a person who has committed a heinous crime.”

In contrast, the four dissenting judges said, “With the right to life, limitation means taking away an entire life, and it is therefore an absolute fundamental right that cannot be taken away by the Constitution.” They also expressed the view that the death penalty system should be abolished through measures such as the implementation of life imprisonment without possibility of parole.

Among the judges who ruled in favor of the death penalty’s constitutionality, Justices Min Hyeong-ki and Song Doo-hwan also suggested improvements to the current system. They stated, “It would be desirable to reduce the crimes subject to the death penalty and to amend or abolish the system through legislation rather than through a constitutionality trial.”

Previously, Gwangju High Court requested a constitutionality ruling from the Constitutional Court in September 2008 after receiving a request from an individual, identified by the surname “Oh,” who was charged with murdering four travelers in the costal waters off Boseong County in South Jeolla Province. The court’s decision over the death penalty is its first in over thirteen years. In November 1996, it issued a seven to two ruling affirming the constitutionality of the death penalty.

Currently, there are 57 prisoners in South Korea with confirmed death sentences, while there are two cases, including Oh’s, where the cases are pending in lower courts following a death sentence in the first trial. Ever since carrying out the execution of 23 people in late 1997, however, South Korea has not carried out the death penalty in twelve years and was classified by Amnesty International as “abolitionist in practice.”

In a statement on the Constitutional Court ruling Thursday, the Korean Bar Association called abolition of the death penalty “not simply an improvement of the criminal justice system but an index symbolizing the prestige of the state.”

The Korean Bar Association statement also said, “It is highly regrettable that the Constitutional Court could not go so far as to issue ruling of unconstitutionality when South Korea has been classified as an abolitionist country in practice.”

South Korea: "Dangerous decision" upholds death penalty

Editorial: Dated logic in Constitutional Court’s death penalty decision
From: The Hankyoreh, 27 February 2010

The Constitutional Court ruled Thursday that South Korea’s death penalty system is not in violation of the Constitution. Their ruling comes on the heels of the constitutional ruling over the same issue in 1996. At that time, the Constitutional Court said, “Although the death penalty system should be abolished, it is premature to annul the system at this time.”

Since the 1996 ruling, 38 countries around world have joined the list of countries that have abolished the death penalty, bringing the total number of countries who have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice to 139. Abolishing the death penalty is also a precondition of joining the European Union. The abolition of the death penalty has now become a measuring stick to determine which countries are advanced in human rights.

There is no reason for South Korea to lag far behind in this trend. South Korea has been recognized by Amnesty International as “an abolitionist in practice.” Many Korean citizens feel pride when reflecting upon our society’s development and the further enhancement of our collective consciousness. This new era has not changed direction, but rather the Constitutional Court has chosen to remain in the past. We cannot help but to ask whether the Constitutional Court’s decision reflects their attempt to read the minds of conservative factions in our society.

The logic that the Constitutional Court issued a decision in line with the Constitution is dated. The Constitutional Court justices issuing the majority opinion stated, “The death penalty is a legitimate punishment for heinous crimes, and by instating the death penalty, we can prevent those types of crimes from occurring.” The argument that capital punishment is related to crime prevention is an outdated theory. There is a wide consensus that it is difficult to prevent crimes through instating heavy-handed punishments. The possibility also exists that authorities could wield power as they wish using the logic of “proper punishment.”

In fact, current law in South Korea classifies 110 crimes in 20 laws as the subject to a death penalty sentence, however, heinous crimes comprise just 12 of the crimes including murder with intent. Because other crimes subject to a death penalty sentence include political offenses, criminal ideological violations, corporate offenses and administrative offenses, the possibility for serious abuse of the application of the death penalty exists.

We think the Constitutional Court has made a dangerous decision to uphold the death penalty, which will result in the restriction of basic human dignity rights. The Constitutional Court argued that there is no stipulation addressing the recognition of these types of absolute basic human rights. However, restrictions upon the right to life mean that the government can deprive a person of their life as a whole. In extenuating circumstances, no one can bring back a life that was wrongfully terminated by an incorrect application of the death penalty. Therefore, it is our belief that the death penalty infringes upon the basic right to life and is unconstitutional.

The justices who voted to uphold the death penalty, however, also demanded revisions to the death penalty system. This means that they also agree that it would be improper to allow the current death penalty system to continue as is. The lawmakers of the National Assembly should revise related law by accepting the spirit of the Court’s decision. The government also should also continue its past practice and refrain from executing prisoners on death row.

South Korea: Up to parliament to abolish death penalty

Capital Punishment
Editorial: Legislature Should Do What Judicature Failed to Do
From: The Korea Times, 26 February 2010

The Constitutional Court's ruling to uphold the death penalty Thursday shows Koreans' consciousness advances frustratingly slower than their economic development.

In a 5-4 decision, the top court said in effect that although capital punishment should be abolished someday, it is still too early to do so now. It was the same logic the nation's highest tribunal used 13 years ago when it also ruled the state's taking of citizens' lives constitutional.

Equally anachronistic are the reasons the court cited for retaining the ultimate penalty. The majority of judges wrote that capital punishment is the "rightful reward" for and "effective prevention" of heinous crimes. But penal studies both here and abroad have long found the death penalty neither deters crime nor provides a sense of closure for victims' families.

Even more importantly, there remains an unforgivable ― and irrevocable ― risk of executing an innocent person, which explains why the right to life must not be limited in any way and under any excuses, despite what the judges said. This is especially true in Korea, where there are as many as 110 offenses punishable by death with only 12 of them being atrocious crimes, and most others, political, economic and ideological ones.

All this testifies to why 139 countries have either completely or partially done away with capital punishment. Korea for its part has stopped executions since the inauguration of former President Kim Dae-jung, himself a one-time death-row convict, in 1998.

Considering the world's three biggest economies ― the United States, Japan and China ― are among the 58 countries that retain the death penalty, this seems to have more to do with national dignity than economy. The EU has made its abolition as a precondition for membership.

However Koreans may think their country is advanced and prestigious, it would appear as little more than another brutal state to people in the old continent, the birthplace of democracy and modern civilization.

It is hard to deny the top tribunal's ruling reflects the popular sentiment here, which reportedly favors the death penalty at a ratio of 6 to 4. Not many countries, however, have done away with death penalty following public opinion. When France abolished capital punishment in 1981, for example, 60 percent of its people supported it. A decade later, the same percentage approved its abolition.

Probably in light of all these circumstances, the court referred this issue to the court of the legislature. The National Assembly has toyed with its abolition throughout the past decade but taken no concrete action. It is time for the Assembly, especially the governing Grand National Party, to take the lead in the repealing of laws on capital punishment, if for no other reason than lifting the "national prestige," as the Lee Myung-bak administration has been addressing so emphatically.

Koreans should also realize this is not a matter between death-row convicts and the rest of the citizens but an issue between the state power and all citizens. It was only some decades ago that dictatorial regimes committed "judicial murders" of political dissidents and other innocent people under false charges of state subversion.

South Korea: "TIme to move" against death penalty

EDITORIAL: Capital punishment
From: The Korea Herald, 27 February 2010

In its second ever decision on capital punishment, the Constitutional Court ruled that capital punishment is constitutional.

The Constitutional Court's ruling on a petition filed by a provincial appeal court at the request of a 72-year-old man convicted of murdering four people upheld that the death penalty is a necessary punishment to protect the lives of the majority.

However, the 5-4 decision showed the Constitutional Court moving toward the abolition of the death penalty. In the 1996 ruling on the constitutionality of capital punishment, the court had ruled 7-2 to uphold the system. At the time, the court said that it was not proper to immediately abolish the capital punishment system, "given our current culture and reality." That statement had indicated that the Constitutional Court was in favor of abolishing the death penalty over time. Apparently, 13 years was not enough time to move away from the capital punishment system, which its opponents claim is state-sanctioned murder.

However, two of the concurring judges suggested gradually fixing the capital punishment system by limiting the types of crimes that are punishable by the death penalty and also reflecting the social milieu of the time. They said it would be preferable to resolve the issue through legislation at the National Assembly.

Indeed, Thursday's ruling is significant in that it asked the National Assembly to take up the issue. Given the controversial nature of the death penalty - both its opponents and supporters are unequivocal about their stance on the issue - the National Assembly is an appropriate forum for a meaningful discussion of the matter.

A 2006 National Human Rights Commission report said that about 70 percent of the population favored the death penalty. The proponents of capital punishment claim that with some 1,000 murder cases occurring every year, the death penalty should be maintained as a deterrent against heinous crimes.

However, the decision on whether to maintain the capital punishment system or to abolish it should not be left up to public opinion. Our National Assembly has failed to deal with laws on many controversial social issues - including abortion, adultery and the death penalty. Many of these matters have been brought to the courts for the Constitutional Court to decide. The Constitutional Court, on the other hand, has suggested that these matters should be decided by the legislature. The National Assembly should take a proactive position and not wait for the Constitutional Court's next ruling on the death penalty system.

Since President Kim Dae-jung - who was himself sentenced to death in 1980 but later pardoned - took office in February 1998, there have been no executions in this country. While there are 59 inmates on death row, Amnesty International in 2007 categorized Korea as having "virtually abolished capital punishment."

There are two bills on abolishing capital punishment that are languishing at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly. The lawmakers should start deliberating on this crucial issue that is often seen as a mark of a country's level of civilization.

Around the world 95 countries have abolished capital punishment while 58 countries maintain the system. Another 35 countries maintain the death penalty but have not carried out an execution for 10 years or more. Clearly, the trend is toward the abolition of the capital punishment. The time has come for Korea to make the move toward abolishing capital punishment.

South Korea: "Lost opportunity" to abolish death penalty

Statement from The Anti Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN)
25 Feb, 2010

South Korea: ADPAN regrets the Constitutional Court decision to uphold the death penalty

The Anti Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) that is currently attending the 4th World Congress against the Death Penalty in Geneva regrets today's decision by South Korea’s Constitutional Court to uphold the death penalty.

In a five to four ruling, the Constitutional Court stated that death penalty did not violate "human dignity and worth" protected in the Constitution.

South Korea has lost an opportunity to lead on abolition in the region. This decision now goes against a general worldwide trend towards abolition. More than 70 per cent of countries have a moratorium on executions or have abolished the death penalty. It is particularly disappointing given South Korea has not executed in over 12 years and has joined many other countries in the world that have become abolitionist in practice. There are currently 57 people on the death row in South Korea.

Asia holds the record for the highest number of executions in the world. ADPAN representing a regional voice for abolition calls on South Korean government to take a lead and follow other countries in the region that have abolished death penalty: the Philippines in 2006 and the Cooke Islands in 2007.

The Anti Death Penalty Asia Network(ADPAN) is a cross-regional network made up of over 40 members including lawyers, NGOs and human rights activists from 22 countries. Members are attending 4th World Congress against the Death Penalty which is being held in Geneva from 24 – 26 February.

South Korea: 'Disappointment' at lack of change

[Interview] "S. Korea slips in being first in Asia to abolish death penalty"
Amnesty International’s Go Euntae talks on not wanting a ‘Santa Claus’ Amnesty International

From The Hankyoreh, 10 October 2009

"There are two kinds of countries in this world. One is the kind that does not kill citizens regardless, and the other is the kind that will kill its citizens at any time according to the circumstances."

Go Euntae, a member of Amnesty International’s international executive committee, sat down with the Hankyoreh on Friday, on the eve of the World Day Against the Death Penalty, Oct. 10. Go said, "If a state has the right to take a citizens’ life, individuals will always be subordinated to the state." He added, "The death penalty is a yardstick that fundamentally determines the relationship between the state and the individual."

The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty has designated Oct. 10 as the World Day Against the Death Penalty and holds related events on that day throughout the world. In South Korea, a commemorative ceremony is being held at Indiespace, Joongang Cinema on Jeo-dong 1-ga Street in Seoul’s Jung-gu district.

Until recently, Go had served as director of Amnesty International’s Korea branch since 2006, and had also served from 2002 and 2004. In August, he was elected the first Korean member of the Amnesty International’s international executive committee. This came 12 years after the last figure from the Asia region had been elected to the committee in 1997. The committee consists of nine members who serve four-year terms, during which time they represent Amnesty International activities throughout the world and execute decisions. Go has mainly carried out his duties in South Korea, but he also visits the organization’s headquarters in London, Great Britain, for quarterly meetings.

In the interview, Go expressed his concern about the fact that discussion of applying the death penalty has been surfacing again recently despite South Korea being an "abolitionist country in practice." South Korea received this classification by Amnesty International in 2007, ten years after the last time the death penalty had been carried out, however, the Constitutional Court has still not made any decision on the constitutionality of the death penalty, nor has there been any legislative activity in the National Assembly to abolish it. Justice Minister Lee Kwi-nam said in his National Assembly confirmation hearing last month that he would "seriously examine whether or not to carry out the death penalty."

Regarding recent public opinion in some quarters calling for the execution of 57-year-old child rapist Cho Du-sun, Go said that the death penalty should not be viewed as a solution in this case. "Rather than a method in which the wrongdoer is separated from ‘us, the innocent ones’ and met with severe punishment, I think it more proper to question why a person like that was able to commit a crime like that in our society," he observed.

Go also communicated growing concerns among the international community. "In the international human rights community, there were high hopes that South Korea would be the first to abolish the death penalty in Asia, which is seen as a ‘hole in global human rights,’" he said. "However, recently, disappointment has been growing within the international community," he added. Some 1,838 executions were carried out in Asian countries including China and Japan in 2008, accounting for 76.9 percent of all executions worldwide.

When asked what role he hopes Amnesty International will play, Go said, "I do not want to make a ‘Santa Claus’ Amnesty International that remains off in the distance and then pops in once a year to give presents. I want to make the ‘guy next door’ Amnesty International."

South Korea loses anti-death penalty voice

A tribute from Amnesty International

Kim Dae-jung, human rights champion and former South Korean president, dies
19 August 2009

Former South Korea President Kim Dae-jung died on Tuesday, aged 85. A winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts at reconciliation with North Korea, he leaves a legacy of commitment to human rights and democracy.

A former prisoner of conscience, Kim Dae-jung was a lifelong activist who sought to raise the profile of human rights both in South Korea and around the world. Once a death row inmate, he was a tireless campaigner against the death penalty.

"Kim Dae-jung was a hero and inspiration to Amnesty International and many people around the world for his uncompromising stance and struggle for democracy in South Korea during the seventies and eighties," said Amnesty International's Secretary General, Irene Khan.

"Amnesty International is privileged to have campaigned on his behalf, as prisoner of conscience, during his years of imprisonment and when he was given the death sentence.

"Kim Dae-jung was considered a dangerous radical in the 1970s and 1980s, during South Korea's decades of military dictatorship. He survived assassination and abduction attempts, walked free from a death sentence and was exiled twice.

Over several video interviews with Amnesty International in April, Kim Dae-jung discussed his childhood (he was the son of a middle-class farmer), his experiences as a prisoner of conscience, the attempt on his life in Tokyo in 1973 and his time as president. One of the main topics of conversation though, was the death penalty. He said:

"A human should not kill a human. We need to abolish the death penalty in Asia…If the death penalty were abolished, it would change the atmosphere in Asia and also have a positive knock-on effect in Central & South America and Africa and the rest of the world…the issue of death penalty is one of the most serious issues confronting human beings, and I hope that, if possible, the Asian countries will set an example in sorting out this problem.

"As a human rights activist, Kim Dae-jung was subjected to human rights violations for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression.

He was kidnapped in Tokyo's Grand Palace hotel in 1973 by South Korean agents. He was dragged to a ship where he said they planned to dump him at sea. The US government intervened to save him and the agents then abandoned their plan. The assassination attempt was in apparent response to his public opposition to the rewriting of the Constitution, which gave more power to General Park Chung-hee, the country’s military ruler.

Kim Dae-jung spent much of the 1970s under house arrest or in prison. It was during this period that he was first adopted as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.

He was arrested in March 1976, as a prominent signatory of a "Declaration for National Democratic Salvation". He was arrested again in May 1980, just before the Kwangju Massacre, which resulted in the deaths of civilians who had risen up against the military dictatorship. He was accused of having "instigated" agitation. He was sentenced to death in September 1980.

Amnesty International, and many other human rights and pressure groups, campaigned vigorously on Kim Dae-jung's behalf throughout that period.

In 1981, following widespread international protests and campaigning by international organizations, his death sentence was commuted; in 1982 he was released on a "suspended" sentence. He then went to live in Boston where he taught at Harvard University.

In February 1985, he was placed under house arrest again on the day he returned from two years' exile in the USA. House arrest and harassment continued until February 1986.

During a visit to London in 1993, Kim Dae-jung presented Amnesty International with calligraphy he had written, of four Chinese characters meaning “All Nations are One Family”.

He was elected President of South Korea in December 1997. It was the first time in the country's history that the power of government had been passed from the ruling party president to an opposition leader.

During his presidency Kim-Dae-jung became the first and so far only Korean to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000. This was for his instigation of the so-called "Sunshine Policy", promoting closer ties with communist North Korea.

Kim-Dae-jung’s term as President of South Korea ended in 2003.

"As fellow Nobel Laureates, we were honoured to share President Kim’s ardent opposition to the death penalty, and we were moved by his dedication to campaigning for human rights," said Irene Khan.

Related stories:
South Korea: Kim Dae-jung's call for abolition -- 6 March 2006
South Korea – former president calls for abolition -- 27 February 2006

South Korea: Human Rights Body Challenges Death Penalty

By Kang Shin-who
From The Korea Times, 4 August 2009

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRC) filed a petition with the Constitutional Court Tuesday to end capital punishment.

In the petition, the commission said the nation has no authority to deprive citizens of life, as life is the most fundamental right of human beings.

"Even in extreme situations, human life shouldn't be a tool or an object to realize state policy or promote public interest," it said.

"The death penalty is also against humanitarianism and we cannot rule out the possibility of misjudgments," it added.

Historically, human rights groups here and overseas have campaigned to abolish the death penalty.

Last September, the Gwangju High Court filed a petition with the Constitutional Court, claiming that the government should come up with a punishment between the death penalty and life sentencing.

The case is currently under review.

A fisherman was sentenced to the death penalty in his trial for killing four tourists and asked his appellate court judge to lodge the petition, claiming that capital punishment was unconstitutional.

Accepting his suggestion, the appellate trial will be suspended until the Constitutional Court reviews the petition.

According to the Ministry of Justice, Korea has 59 convicts on death row. Korea has been a de facto country free of capital punishment as no executions have been carried out here for the past 11 years.

Related stories:
South Korea: Murders spark debate on death penalty -- 28 February 2009
South Korea: Challenge to death penalty law -- 13 October 2008
South Korea: Renewed calls for abolition -- 12 October 2007
South Korea death penalty hearing -- 10 April 2006
South Korea: Kim Dae-jung's call for abolition -- 6 March 2006
South Korea – former president calls for abolition -- 27 February 2006

South Korea: Murders spark debate on death penalty

[Please note: long post]

Police investigations into an alleged serial killer in South Korea have sparked renewed debate about the use of death sentences and the execution of convicted murderers.

Ministers from the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) have decided on a series of "countermeasures" against crime, including increased sentences and a genetic database, and called for the government to retain and use the death penalty for the worst offenders.

According to The Korea Herald, Kang Ho-soon allegedly confessed to killing seven women in the past two years and "calmly demonstrated his crimes, without signs of regret or agitation" during a two-day investigation at the crime scene in early February.

The maximum penalty for murder with rape is life or the death penalty.

GNP parliamentarian Park Jun-seon said the death penalty was the "only way'" to deal with criminals such as Kang.

"I believe every South Korean citizen demands the serial killer be put to death," he said.

"Maintaining the death penalty would help reduce such crimes and serve as a 'last resort' in keeping those gravely undermining social safety away from society permanently."

The party's 'first policy coordinator' Chang Yoon-seok said he had told the government that public opinion was in favour of enforcing the death penalty.

"I communicated to the government that there is high level of public opinion that the death penalty must be enforced," Chang said, according to The Hankyoreh.

But he said there was no agreement with the government on whether this would occur.

The Justice Ministry recently released the results of a survey that found more than 60 per cent support for the death penalty.

The survey of 3000 people over 19 years old found 64 per cent of respondents were in favor of a resumption of executions. About 18 per cent of those surveyed said they were against it and 17 per cent were undecided.

'Executions no solution'
Human rights organisations and religious groups condemned calls for a resumption of executions.

"The prevention of violent crimes is not a problem solved through the execution of violent laws," a representative of the Catholic Human Rights Committee said.

Enforcement of the death penalty and the establishment of a gene bank would represent "a major step backward for the human rights policy that South Korea has been improving all this time".

The country's human rights watchdog expressed its concern about the debate and called for the complete abolition of laws providing for the death penalty.

"South Korea needs to scrap the death penalty completely to become an advanced nation in terms of human rights protection," the National Human Rights Commission of Korea said in a statement.

"The commission is concerned about the resumption of the death penalty being discussed across society lately. South Korea would degenerate into a backward country in terms of rights protection if capital punishment is resumed.

"A mature society does not obtain security by sacrificing human rights and human life."

Amnesty International's Secretary-General Irene Khan wrote to President Lee Myung-bak acknowledging public concern over the murders but urging him not to return to carrying out executions.

"I would like to stress that our opposition to the death penalty does not in any way distract from the sympathy for the victims of violent crimes and their loved ones," she wrote.

"However, Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases and considers it a violation to the right to life and the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment."

She said a resumption of executions would run counter to a "clear international trend toward abolition of the death penalty".

"I urge the Government of South Korea to signal its embrace of the international trend to move away from using the death penalty and to refrain from reintroducing executions," she said.

Abolitionist in practice
Justice Ministry figures show there are currently 58 people on death row in South Korea, but the country has not carried out any executions for over 10 years.

Amnesty International declared in December 2007 that South Korea was therefore an abolitionist country "in practice".

The last executions in South Korea were on 30 December 1997, when 18 men and 5 women were hanged in prisons across the country. The mass hangings were the first executions in the country for two years.

Kim Dae-Jung, himself a former death row inmate sentenced to die on trumped up political charges, began the practice of not carrying out executions when he took office in 1988.

The constitutional court is set to consider a challenge to the death penalty in June.

Justice bureaucracy sceptical
The Korea Herald reported that the Justice Ministry was sceptical about carrying out death sentences again, despite public support for it.

"In the past scandalous serial murder cases, public opinion also demanded the death of the killers, but it was just not enough to resist the worldwide legal trend of capital punishment abolishment," the paper quoted an unnamed Justice Ministry official.

"The very nature of the death sentence is controversial, and Kang's case alone will probably not reverse the present flow of criminal punishment."

The ministry has previously opposed moves in the National Assembly to abolish the death penalty, but in February 2006 it announced it was reviewing the death penalty and considering replacing executions with life imprisonment.

But in April 2008, the ministry announced it would seek sentences of life imprisonment or the death penalty for the sexually assault and murder of children under 13 years of age.

Related stories:
South Korea: Challenge to death penalty law -- 13 October 2008
South Korea: Death penalty for child murders? -- 09 April 2008
South Korea: Renewed calls for abolition -- 12 October 2007
South Korea: death penalty not on 'roadmap' -- 19 February 2007
Call for South Korea to show 'leadership' -- 27 June 2006
South Korea death penalty hearing -- 10 April 2006
South Korea: Kim Dae-jung's call for abolition -- 06 March 2006
South Korea – former president calls for abolition -- 27 February 2006

South Korea: Challenge to death penalty law

A South Korean death row inmate has been given leave to make a constitutional challenge to the country's death penalty law.

The Gwangju High Court filed the appeal on 3 October on behalf of a 70 year-old who was convicted of murdering four tourists on board his boat, according to The Korea Times.

The newspaper reported that he asked the provincial court to file his petition claiming the death penalty is unconstitutional.

It said his appeal would be suspended until the Consititutional Court ruled on the application.

The validity of the current death penalty law was last confirmed in 1996.

The judge at his trial said: "At the time of the latest constitutional ruling on the death penalty in 1996, the Constitutional Court stated it was constitutional although it indicated the need to scrap the capital punishment on a long term basis."

Amnesty International said in December 2007 that South Korea was "in practice" an abolitionist country, after it had not executed anyone for ten years.

The last executions in South Korea were on 30 December 1997, when 18 men and 5 women were executed in prisons across the country.

Related stories:
South Korea: Death penalty for child murders? -- 09 April 2008
South Korea: 100 days for abolition -- 06 February 2008
South Korea: Renewed calls for abolition -- 12 October 2007
Call for South Korea to show 'leadership' -- 27 June 2006
South Korea death penalty hearing -- 10 April 2006
South Korea: Kim Dae-jung's call for abolition -- 06 March 2006
South Korea – former president calls for abolition -- 27 February 2006

Global focus on Asia's executioners

Human rights activists worldwide are this month campaigning for an end to the death penalty in Asia.

The sixth World Day Against the Death Penalty, held this Friday 10 October 2008, is focusing on six countries which exemplify important issues in the region:

• Japan - secrecy and a lack of transparency
• Pakistan - unfair trials
• Viet Nam - with a high number of offences punishable by death
• India and Taiwan - encouraging the introduction of a moratorium, and
• South Korea - highlighting calls for abolition.

According to the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (WCADP), which organises the annual day of action, the region is home to 60 per cent of the world's population. Some 95 per cent of people in the region lives in a country with the death penalty.

"In many cases, trials are unfair, the death penalty is used for a wide range of crimes, including non-violent ones (drug trafficking, embezzlement), and the lack of transparency characterizes the legal system in many countries,"it said.

The WCADP said however there were some positive changes in the region that raised hope for a "death penalty-free Asia".

"Over the last few years, the total numbers of death sentences and executions have decreased in Asia," it said in a statement.

"Periods of moratorium (i.e. the temporary suspension of executions) are longer and more frequent.

"Alongside these improvements, there are more and more organized Asian activists in favor of the abolition of the death penalty."

Think regionally, act globally
The campaign is centred on collecting signatures on a series of petitions targeting governments in the six countries.

Campaign events in Asia and around the world will raise awareness of the region's use of the death penalty and encourage the six countries to take specific steps towards abolition.

The 2007 World Day Against the Death Penalty helped build support for the United Nations (UN) resolution calling for a moratorium on executions. The UN General Assembly adopted the resolution by an overwhelming majority on 18 December 2007, with 104 member states voting in favour, 54 countries voting against and 29 abstentions.

Related stories:
Victims opposing the death penalty -- 10 October 2007
Sign the global petition against executions -- 3 September 2007
New voice against Asia's executions -- 10 October 2006
World Day call for Australian leadership -- 10 October 2006
Global protest against failure of justice -- 10 October 2006
Call to action on 10 October -- 4 September 2006

South Korea: Death penalty for child murders?

South Korean prosecutors will seek sentences of life imprisonment or the death penalty for people who have sexually assaulted and killed children under 13 years of age, according to an announcement by the Ministry of Justice in early April.

The Ministry presented the proposal to a Cabinet meeting following the sexual abuse and murder of two children in December and an attempted kidnapping in March.

"Such criminals who commit sexual assaults and murder after kidnapping children should be subject to stiff penalties such as life imprisonment or capital punishment,'' Prime Minister Han Seung-soo said after the meeting, according to The Korea Times.

"Crimes against children cannot be tolerated at all," he said.

"Ministries related to public security should map out measures against such inhumane crimes."

The Ministry has proposed other measures to combat a reported rise in sexual assaults on children. These include the creation of a DNA database to help monitor sex offenders and an increase in the minimum sentence for sex offences against children to seven years.

South Korea was declared abolitionist "in practice" on 30 December 2007, after it had not executed anyone for 10 years. It brought to 135 the number of countries that have abolished the death penalty in law or practice.

The Korea Times said in its editorial that the country needed stiffer prison sentences and improved medical treatment of paedophiles and other sex offenders.

In November 2007, the newspaper called for complete abolition of the death penalty, saying the National Assembly should deal with an abolition bill before it "as soon as possible".

"Human judgment isn't perfect. Once someone is executed, there is no way to reverse this even if the person is later found to be innocent," the newspaper said.

Related stories:
South Korea: 100 days for abolition -- 6 February, 2008
South Korea: Renewed calls for abolition -- 12 October, 2007
Call for South Korea to show 'leadership' -- 27 June , 2006
South Korea death penalty hearing -- 10 April, 2006
South Korea: Kim Dae-jung's call for abolition -- 6 March, 2006
South Korea – former president calls for abolition -- 27 February, 2006

South Korea: 100 days for abolition

Amnesty International considers a country to have abolished the death penalty "in practice" if it has not executed anyone in the previous 10 years, and it is "believed to have a policy or established practice of not carrying out executions". The organisation also includes in this group those countries which have made an international commitment not to use the death penalty.

South Korea was declared abolitionist in practice on 30 December 2007, bringing to to 135 the number of countries that have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. Some 27 of these are from Asia and the Pacific.

To celebrate this milestone, Amnesty International South Korea joined a coalition of 20 human rights organisations in a series of events for the 100 Days Against the Death Penalty campaign, run from 22 September to 30 December.

The campaign was designed both to celebrate 10 years since the last executions were carried out in South Korea, and to reinvigorate the campaign to abolish the death penalty in law.

It included the Life is Precious film festival, a press conference for the World Day against the Death Penalty (10 October), presentation of a thank you letter to former president Kim Dae-Jung, and a concert and public statement for 30 December.

Kim Dae-Jung, himself a former death row inmate sentenced to die on trumped up political charges, began the country's practice of not carrying out executions when he took office in 1988. In February 2006, he issued a statement arguing for the abolition of the death penalty.

Presentation of a letter of thanks to former president Kim Dae-Jung (23 November, 2007):

AI Korea youth group performing at the press conference for the World Day Against the Death Penalty:

Petition of faces calling for the abolition of the death penalty in law:

Ceremony marking 10 years without executions. Following the ceremony in front of the National Assembly building, 64 roses were handed to passers-by and 64 doves were released - symbolising the 64 people then on death row:

A member of Amnesty International South Korea reported that the country's president decided at 10 o'clock that night to commute the death sentences of six death row prisoners, reducing the number of people under sentence of death to 58.

One brutal day, 10 years ago
The last executions in South Korea were on 30 December 1997, when 18 men and 5 women were executed in prisons across the country. They had no advance notice of their imminent executions. The mass hangings were the first executions in the country for two years.

Related stories:
South Korea: Renewed calls for abolition -- 12 October, 2007
Call for South Korea to show 'leadership' -- 27 June , 2006
South Korea death penalty hearing -- 10 April, 2006
South Korea: Kim Dae-jung's call for abolition -- 6 March, 2006
South Korea – former president calls for abolition -- 27 February, 2006

South Korea: Renewed calls for abolition

Human rights groups, religious communities and the country's former president have called for South Korea to abolish the death penalty, backed by a newspaper urging the country's parliament to remove it "once and for all".

The Hankyoreh reported about 300 human rights activists and religious leaders took part in a ceremony in favour of abolishing the death penalty, held at Seoul's Korea Press Center on 10 October, the World Day Against the Death Penalty.

Former president Kim Dae-Jung and 2000 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate joined the call for abolition.

"The dignity of life is a natural right that nobody can infringe and demolish," he said.

No-one has been executed in South Korea since Kim was elected president in February 1998, although people continued to be sentenced to death.

The Korea Times reported in September that twenty organisations, including Amnesty International and Lawyers for a Democratic Society, were campaigning for the government to support a resolution for a moratorium on executions set to be debated at the 62nd session of the United Nations General Assembly.

"The adoption of such a resolution by the U.N.'s principal organ would be an important milestone toward the abolition of the death penalty," the Association for the Abolishment of the Death Penalty said.

The Association said it was holding a 100-day campaign to encourage the government to support the resolution.

Time to 'finish the job'
South Korean newspaper The Hankyoreh said in an editorial that although there were now 64 people on death row, the executive government had been "right" to not approve the sentences being carried out.

The newspaper said the previous two governments had "tried in their own ways to have it abolished" and the current government seemed unlikely to carry out any executions.

But it said half the members in the last National Assembly signed an abolition bill that was never dealt with and 175 legislators in the current assembly have proposed a similar bill.

"It is time the National Assembly finish[ed] the job by legislating it out of existence," The Hankyoreh said.

It said justice systems were imperfect and the death penalty was in irreversible punishment, once carried out.

"Ultimately the decisions of the judicial system are made by people, and decisions by human beings can never be perfect.

"If someone is executed for having been found guilty and sentenced to die, there is no way to reverse that decision once the action has been carried out."

The newspaper also said some people think the death penalty is a necessary response for "perpetrators of particularly heinous crimes".

"However, if you look at studies of societies where it has been abolished, capital punishment does not especially have the effect of preventing heinous criminal acts.

"You question whether taking someone’s life because that person is a criminal is something that can be justified.

"It is for reasons such as these that some 90 countries have already completely done away with it, and close to 60 have more have moratoriums of one sort or another."

Kim's call
In February 2006 Kim, himself a former death row inmate, issued a statement arguing for the abolition of the death penalty.

"Capital punishment goes against the foundation of democracy," he wrote.

"Democracy regards the life of a human being to be the most cherished in the world, and to end a person's life even in the name of law clearly runs counter to the basic principle of human rights."

His said justice systems were prone to error, the death penalty was abused by dictatorships and it did not lead to a reduction in crime.

Kim was sentenced to death on sedition charges in 1980 by South Korea's ruling military government.

His death sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment and he was allowed to leave the country.

Related stories:
South Korea: death penalty not on 'roadmap' -- 19 February, 2007
Call for South Korea to show 'leadership' -- 27 June , 2006
South Korea death penalty hearing -- 10 April, 2006
South Korea: Kim Dae-jung's call for abolition -- 06 March, 2006
South Korea – former president calls for abolition -- 27 February, 2006
Positive signs in the Philippines and South Korea -- 22 February, 2006

South Korea: death penalty not on 'roadmap'

A new human rights 'roadmap' issued by South Korea's Ministry of Justice has ignored calls for the abolition of the death penalty.

The roadmap for human rights protection, announced on 13 February, deferred a decision on abolishing the death penalty, according to the English language edition of The Hankyoreh.

South Korea's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has repeatedly called for the country to move towards abolition.

The roadmap also ignored calls for the abolition of the country's notorious National Security Law.

The ministry said it was deferring a decision on the death penalty, but in the first half of this year it would review whether the penalty should be abolished.

It said the government would consider the introduction of an 'absolute life sentence' and would try to take into account the outcome of the current National Assembly discussion of a bill abolishing the death penalty.

In February 2006, the Ministry of Justice also announced it would review the death penalty and consider replacing it with a sentence of life imprisonment. At the time, this was seen as a significant concession from a ministry that had previously opposed moves towards abolition in the National Assembly.

The Hankyoreh report said the NHRC "could not understand why the Ministry of Justice's draft sought to defer a decision on abolishing the National Security Law and [the] death penalty".

In 2005, South Korea’s National Human Rights Commission recommended the death penalty be abolished, and in early 2006 it recommended the government set out a plan for human rights.

The last executions in South Korea were carried out in December 1997, when 23 people were hanged.

Related stories:
Call for South Korea to show 'leadership' -- 27 June , 2006
South Korea death penalty hearing -- 10 April, 2006
South Korea: Kim Dae-jung's call for abolition -- 06 March, 2006
South Korea – former president calls for abolition -- 27 February, 2006
Positive signs in the Philippines and South Korea -- 22 February, 2006

Call for South Korea to show 'leadership'

Amnesty International (AI) has written an open letter to South Korea's Minister of Justice, Mr Chun Jung-bae, welcoming the current review of the death penalty and encouraging the country to consider its abolition.

The letter, from AI's Secretary-General Irene Khan, highlighted and addressed four "key arguments" for abolition:

• Whether executions achieve justice for the victims of crimes and their relatives
• The death penalty as a deterrent to crime, and the corresponding fear that abolition will lead to higher rates of criminality
• The "ever present" risk of executing the innocent, and
• Whether societies should show their "revulsion" for heinous crimes by executing the perpetrators.

The letter notes that "the question of the death penalty often prompts heated political and public debate".

"The death penalty is most commonly used in the belief that it acts as a deterrent to violent crime and governments therefore find it difficult to abandon a measure they believe protects their citizens," the organisation said.

"Scientific studies have, however, consistently failed to find convincing evidence that the death penalty deters crime more effectively than other punishments."

The open letter noted the Asian region was an exception to the global trend towards abolition and urged South Korea to provide leadership and a positive example on human rights.

"The region contains countries with high rates of executions and no apparent prospect of abolition. Nations such as Japan, China, Singapore and Indonesia appear to be staunch supporters of capital punishment," it said.

"Amnesty International believes that the abolition of the death penalty in South Korea would provide the region with much needed human rights leadership and be a valuable example of a nation progressing towards the full protection of human rights.

"Such a step would encourage further positive developments in the region such as the abolition of the death penalty in Cambodia, Nepal and Timor Leste, and the Philippines’ decision this month to abolish the death penalty after it was re-imposed in 1994."

The human rights organisation concluded: "Executions give society the illusion of control over the threat posed to public safety by serious crimes. In the immediate period around an execution there is a feeling that a blow has somehow been dealt against criminality. However, the reality is that capital punishment serves no useful purpose in the fight against crime."

Read the full text of the open letter here.