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UPDATE (SOUTH KOREA): The PTCSD will resume their work for one more year

November 15, 2002

UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

15 November 2002
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UP-65-2002 (UA-39-2002: The activity period of the PTCSD must be fully extended)

UPDATE (SOUTH KOREA): The PTCSD will resume their work for one more year
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Regarding our previous appeal (http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2002/298/) and update (http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2002/319/) about demands to amend the Special Act to Find the Truth on Suspicious Deaths in South Korea, we have been informed that the Korean National Assembly passed the amended legislation on Nov. 14, 2002, allowing the mandate of the Presidential Truth Commission on Suspicious Deaths (PTCSD) to be extended for a maximum of one more year. Moreover, under the amended law, the PTCSD has a little more power, such as the right to ask organisations to provide the records of all telephone calls, faxes and other forms of communication. Therefore, the PTCSD will resume their activities in about March of next year after the appointment of new commissioners.

Meanwhile, the family members of the victims of suspicious deaths completed their sit-down strike after 36 days on the street in front of the office of the Grand National Party in Seoul.

However, the victims' family members and human rights organisations have condemned the passage of the amended law because the legislation has passed without containing the core powers that they demanded. These demands include strengthening the PTCSD by granting it the right to appoint special prosecutors, the right to seize and search the accused organisations and individuals, the right to investigate the bank accounts of the accused organisations and individuals and - the most important demand - to eliminate the statute of limitations from applying to crimes against humanity. Thus, they are again concerned whether the PTCSD can successfully reveal the truth about all of the country's alleged suspicious deaths even though its mandate has been extended for one more year. In spite of the perceived weaknesses in the amended law, they have concentrated their efforts on resuming the PTCSD's work for the present time but are willing to struggle again for the fourth time to amend the Special Act to Find the Truth on Suspicious Deaths in the future if necessary.

We are sending this update to you to draw your attention to this issue. However, no further action is needed at the present time.

Thank you for your solidarity.


Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-65-2002
Countries :
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Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.