Conscientious objector Cheol-min Kang
Use this form to send the letter below to the relevant authority (Roh Moo-hyun, President, Korea). You can add your own notes in a separate box after the standard text, if you wish.
You must include a name, address, and email address; a copy will be sent to you with a cc to the WRI office (so we have a record of how many email letters have been sent out for this particular case).
Dear Mr Roh Moo-hyun, President
I am very concerned about the arrest of conscientious objector Cheol-min Kang. Cheol-min Kang, who turned conscientious objector after enlisting as a soldier, declared his conscientious objection on 21 November 2003, in protest against the deployment of Korean troops in Iraq. Kang was arrested on 28 November, on a protest march against the deployment of Korean troops in Iraq.
Conscientious objection is a human right, derived from the human right to freedom of belief, conscience, and religion. Cheol-min Kang is exercising this human right. His imprisonment would be in breach of human rights, as is the imprisonment of 750 conscientious objectors in Korea.
Cheol-min Kang is a conscientious objector, even if his conscientious objection is focussed on the deployment of South Korean troops in Iraq. I want to draw your attention to the report by Eide and Mubanga to the UN, which dates back to 1983: “By conscience is meant genuine ethical convictions, which may be of religious or humanist inspiration, and supported by a variety of sources, such as the Charter of the United Nations, declarations and resolutions of the United Nations itself or declarations of religious or secular non-governmental organizations. Two major categories of convictions stand out, one that it is wrong under all circumstances to kill (the pacifist objection), and the other that the use of force is justified in some circumstances but not in others, and that therefore it is necessary to object in those other cases (partial objection to military service).”
I therefore urge you to immediately release Cheol-min Chang and all other imprisoned conscientious objectors. I urge you to respect human rights.
- Sign and send this protest email