A South Korean court has dismissed an appeal by a group of defectors in South Korea and Japan, requesting humanitarian relief and protection for their family members imprisoned in North Korean detention camps. This marks the first time that a verdict regarding humanitarian relief for those in North Korean detention camps has been reached by a South Korean court.
Judge Jung Jae Woo presiding at Criminal Justice Court 31 of the Seoul Central District Court announced on October 26 that the claims of two North Korean defectors, including a Mr. A, to provide humanitarian protection for four of his family members currently imprisoned at the Yodok political prison camp (kwanliso), were dismissed. Such dismissals enable the court to end a trial without hearing if the claims are deemed as improper or unsuitable.
Mr. A and a number of other defectors lodged a petition to have humanitarian relief provided to their family members in July, saying, “The State Security Department should be ordered to immediately release those who were imprisoned illegally.” The petition for humanitarian relief serves as a measure to enable the court to request the release of detainees, most of whom are detained in facilities including so-called ‘psychiatric hospitals.’
The North Korean Defectors’ Council for the Promotion of Freedom and Unification, which led the current lawsuit, argued, “North Korea is technically a territory of the Republic of Korea according to the Constitution, therefore, North Korean residents have the same rights according to the law as South Korean citizens.”
However, in response, the judge noted that “the claims cannot be regarded as being under the jurisdiction of the Seoul Central District Court. The Habeas Corpus Act stipulates that various psychological procedures must be undertaken to determine whether the imprisonment is illegal, but it is practically impossible to proceed with a trial for people detained in North Korea.”
“It is almost impossible for the litigators to predict or execute the outcomes of the trial even if the verdict of discharge is made, because there are no mechanisms to enforce it,” the judge explained. Article 4 of the Habeas Corpus Act stipulates that, “the competent court that examines the request for relief must be a regional court which has jurisdiction over the address of the detaining facility or the detained person.”
Meanwhile, Judge Jung also dismissed a human rights relief petition from Kawasaki Echo (aged 74), president of the defectors’ community ‘Korea of All’ in Japan, requesting the release of 93,340 people who boarded repatriation ships to the North between the years 1959-1984. The dismissal was based on the determination that president Kawasaki was unable to specify the names of the captives or their locations, thereby rendering the petition unsuitable for filing.
