By Park Si-soo
The United Nations Human Rights Committee said the South Korean government infringed on the freedom of conscience and religious freedom by imprisoning conscientious objectors who are Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The committee demanded the government expunge their criminal records and provide adequate compensation, and set measures to prevent the recurrence of similar cases in the future, according to the Korean headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
It was the committee’s third and latest ruling of this kind following a collective petition filed with the international human rights watchdog by 100 Korean believers convicted of the charges.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are known for refusing to fulfill their military duty and not permitting blood transfusions in line with their religious beliefs.
All able-bodied South Korean men aged over 19 are required to serve in the military for 21-24 months to defend the country against North Korea. Korean courts have sentenced conscious objectors to one year and six months in prison. At present, 843 Jehovah’s Witnesses are jailed with this charge.
In its ruling, the committee said the prison sentences imposed on conscientious objectors “amount to an infringement of their freedom of conscience and a restriction on their ability to manifest their religion and belief.”
The imprisonment is a violation of the government’s obligations under Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights, the committee added.
The Constitutional Court ruled twice in favor of a law punishing them with the third petition against the law pending.
In 2007, the government considered introducing a non-combat community service as an alternative military service for Jehovah’s Witnesses. But the plan was abolished after facing a public backlash.