PSPD in English UN Advocacy 2012-04-24   2464

CIVICUS and PSPD Joint UPR Submission on the Republic of Korea

CIVICUS and PSPD Joint UPR Submission on the Republic of Korea
On 23 April 2012, PSPD and CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation send a joint submission to the 2nd cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on the Republic of Korea. In the joint submission, PSPD and CIVICUS pointed out that in a number of instances, foreign civil society members have been prevented from carrying out advocacy activities in the country and made to leave the country. As an example, the report includes the case of British and French activists who were deported due to their involvement and protest regarding construction of the controversial naval base in Gangjeong village in Jeju Island, and three Greenpeace activists who were denied entry into the country. It is assumed that the Government wanted to prevent them from carrying out anti-nuclear energy campaigning activities. PSPD and CIVICUS recommended that cases regarding denial of entrance or deportation of foreign human rights defenders on unsubstantiated grounds should be properly investigated and a mechanism to prevent further arbitrary interpretation on the Immigration Control Act should be established.
Also, as was stipulated in the report of the Korean NGO coalition for the 2nd cycle of the UPR, the report mentions that the freedom of assembly and freedom of expression is seriously violated by the Government. In addition, the report pointed out that the National Security Act is being abused despite several calls from the UN to abolish it. Most of all, the report used case of Jeju Gangjeong, where freedom of peaceful assembly is violated under the name of national project and national security. 
PSPD and CIVICUS made recommendations to the Government to amend laws that violate freedom of expression and assembly, abolish the National Security Act, and discontinue the practice of deportation of foreign civil society members on vague grounds. PSPD and CIVICUS will actively advocate for the recommendations in the report so that it can be fully and effectively discussed during the UPR Working Group Session on the Republic of Korea.

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