Military urged to get tougher on sex offenders

By Kim Se-jeong

Korea’s human rights body is calling on the Ministry of National Defense to take harsher punishment against servicemen and servicewomen who sexually assault their junior colleagues.

The announcement came Thursday as the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) was wrapping up its six-month investigation into sexual violence in the military after one female navy officer committed suicide in May after a superior officer assaulted her twice.

“In many cases, we found perpetrators were in a position to evaluate the victims concerning their careers,” the NHRC report said. “To root out sexual violence, these people should face serious punishment.”

Sexual violence in the male-dominant military is believed to be rampant but only intermittently reported to the outside world.

The suicide case in May came as a big blow to the military which has successfully kept similar incidents within the military community.

In 2015, the defense ministry acted by outlining policy plans to curb sexual violence, but the NHRC’s report on Friday made many wonder whether the plans were implemented properly.

Together with introducing aggravated punishment, the NHRC urged the ministry to re-evaluate older criteria for determining punishment for those who commit sexual violence and make changes.

Other recommendations included granting military judges and prosecutors independence to act on their discretion when investigating cases of sexual violence and trying suspects; stopping judges from being lenient on male perpetrators because they’re fellow service members; and opening up the military court procedures to general public scrutiny.

The rights body called on the ministry to make sure that female victims can advance their careers, instead of being forced to quit or voluntarily resigning out of shame.

The NHRC also recommended the ministry appoint more servicewomen in high-profile positions, claiming it would be an effective way to prevent sexual violence.

The 27-page investigation report disclosed interesting facts that shed light on unjust circumstances which victims had to endure.

For example, the report said only 36 percent of the perpetrators were discharged from the military as a result of their misconduct. The NHRC also discovered military judges had applied civil criminal law on the perpetrators instead of military law which allowed them to keep their positions.

During the investigation, the rights body asked 170 servicewomen about sexual violence in the military and 54.1 percent answered it was “serious” or “very serious.” Asked whether these cases were handled fairy and transparently, 54.8 percent answered no and those who fell victim to sexual violence said they were skeptical about a fair trial.