 Image: TJWG |
North Korea’s apprehension of citizens
without due process of law, its systematic political prison camps, and myriad
other violations of human rights are gradually gaining more attention from the
international community. And so, within this social milieu, a group of NGOs
convened to shed light on how to bring about justice for North Korean human rights victims.
Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG),
National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK), Social Science Korea (SSK)
Human Right Forum, and Heart for Korea (HEKO) hosted a joint symposium
entitled, “Transitional Justice Measures in Germany and Crimes Against Humanity
in North Korea,” in Seoul on July 28th. This conference sought to devise methods for South Korea and the international community to approach and
combat the systematic violation of human rights by North Korean security
entities.
At the forefront of discussions taking place at the
conference was the topic of Germany’s treatment of the legacies of human rights
abuses committed by former East German policing organs. Upon reunification of the country, West Germany extended relative tolerance to human rights
perpetrators of East Germany; this tolerance was ascribed to what was deemed as patent
repentance on the part of the former governing party of East Germany, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED).
“The Ministry for State Security of East
Germany had committed a multitude of human rights violations; however, only a
handful of commanders were punished while lower-ranking officers who simply followed
superiors’ commands were pardoned,” Park Sang Bong, the head of German
Reunification Research Institute, explained at the event.
Daily NK followed up after the event with
Hubert Younghwan Lee, head of TJWG, who added, “Sadly, it commonly happens in
many societies in transition that the majority of perpetrators are not held
fully accountable because, among other reasons, politicians are often afraid of
punishing those who can mobilize a group that resists transition. Politicians
believe that strong punishments might further exacerbate internal political conflicts
and thus hinder the processes for reconciliation and peace. However, impunity
often comes at the expense of truth and justice for victims of serious abuses”
Nevertheless, reunification is not the only
viable channel to see justice for those who have long suffered from
methodical oppression of their most basic human rights. Koo Jeong Woo,
associate professor at Sungkyunkwan University, explained, “North Korea has
signed various human rights treaties. It ratified the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights in 1981, the Convention on the Rights of the Child
in 1990, Convention on the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities in 2013,
etc. That gives the international community the legal foundation to hold North
Korea accountable for its violations of these treaties.”
Lee expounded on this assertion, pointing out that while Germany offers useful insight in terms of a reunification scenario on the Korean Peninsula, a different window of opportunity may open for socio-political change in North Korea– even without reunification. “To be prepared for such a
case, we need to pay attention to many other countries where transition
happened internally,” he said.
