By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SEOUL, South Korea –Discussion in South Korea surrounding the topic of abortion has taken on new found importance and public debate despite the being traditionally only talked about privately.

Presently, South Korea has a declining birthrate. Two doctors willing to speak about the issue, Dr. Choi and Dr. Shim, are hoping to force South Korea’s first serious public discussion of the ethics of the procedure. In November, they and dozens of other obstetricians held a news conference at which they asked for “forgiveness” for having performed illegal abortions.

Dr. Choi and Dr. Shim helped form a group, Gynob, that has reached out to other doctors to indicate whether they have performed similar illegal abortions. They formed another group this past December, Pro-Life Doctors, that tries to discourage women from having abortions and instead promotes adoption. The group also has a hot line that reports clinics that perform the procedure illegally. The group hopes to start to report individual practitioners who engage in illegal abortions to police to take further action.

In South Korea, the country has a, Mother and Child Health Law, which permits abortion only when the mother’s health is in serious danger, or in cases of rape, incest or severe hereditary disorders. It is never allowed after the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. As punishment when illegally performed, the woman faces up to a year in prison, and the doctor could be sentenced up to two years in jail. Part of Gynob’s mission is to illustrate the hypocrisy of having such a law that is loosely enforced. The group intends to protest and begin a campaign to end abortion altogether. Prior to the interest generated by these doctors and coalition they have formed, for decades, the South Korean government tended to look the other way, seeing a high birthrate as an impediment to economic growth. In the 1970s and ’80s, families with more that two children were denounced as unpatriotic, with official posters in South Korean villages driving the point home. Until the early 1990s, men could be exempted from mandatory army reserve duty if they had vasectomies.

However, this mindset has changed. Now, the government has concluded that this policy was too successful. South Korea’s fertility rate, which stood at 4.5 children per woman in the 1970s, had fallen to 1.19 children by 2008, and was one of the lowest in the world. The government fears that the recent financial downturn may have lowered it further. There is also the fear that the country’s rapidly aging population will undercut the economy’s viability even more.

In a recent statement, Health Minister, Jeon Jae-hee said, “Even if we don’t intend to hold anyone accountable for all those illegal abortions in the past, we must crack down on them from now on.” Ms. Jeon added that any crackdown should be coupled with an increase in medical fees. The government cap on payments for medical services is thought to have encouraged doctors to perform off-the-books, and potentially far more lucrative, services like illegal abortions.

The campaign to end abortion by Gynob faces resistance from doctors who believe women should be afforded the freedom of choice, and many of these doctors think that a crackdown that does not address the causes of abortion will only cause greater problems. In response, Baik Eun-jeong, an obstetrician who runs a clinic in Seoul’s upscale Kangnam district and speaker for the Korean Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said, “We credit them for bringing a widespread but hushed-up social anomaly to the surface, but we can’t go along with their radical tactics.”

In the present state of debate, the discussion will continue as those in support of the anti-abortion law attempt to sway the opinions of abortion supporters.

For more information, please see:

New York Times –South Korea Confronts Open Secret of Abortion – January 5, 2010

Los Angeles Times – In South Korea, abortion foes gain ground – November 29, 2009

Chicago Tribune – Rights for the Unborn Dead: Abortion in Korea – December 3, 2009

By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

MANILA, Philippines – Datu Andal Ampatuan Jr., a mayor in southern Maguindanao province, is accused of acting as a leader and rallying over 100 government-armed miltia, as well as police, at asecurity checkpoint outside Ampatuan township, where they shot and buried 57 individuals in mass graves. The slain group included 30 journalists and their staff.

Maguindanao is part of an autonomous region in predominantly Muslim Mindanao, which was set up in the 1990s to quell armed uprisings by people seeking an independent Muslim homeland in the predominantly Christian Asian nation. Authorities have said the killings were part of a politically motivated attempt to keep an opponent of the politically powerful Ampatuan family from running for governor. Thirty journalists were among those killed.

Ampatuan Jr. is a prime suspect in what is said to be one the worst cases of political violence. The former mayor pleaded not guilty to murder charges to the murders which took place last November. Although the deaths of the victims happened months ago, the charges are only now being read against Ampatuan Jr.

Ampatuan Jr. denied any involvement in the incident, and his father, the former provincial governor, in addition to several other close relatives have been accused of involvement in the killings. They also deny any affiliation, but have yet to be indicted. unlike Ampatuan Jr.

In November when the killing spree took place, there was an international outcry. In turn, Philipean President, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, announced martial law in Maguindanao for a short period, to crack down on the powerful Ampatuan clan and its private army. Arroyo has appointed a retired judge to head an independent commission tasked to dismantle private armies controlled by dozens of political warlords across the country and reduce election violence. Arroyo gave the commission authority to use the military, police and other agencies to disarm and disband an estimated 132 private armed groups. Troops have seized more than 1,100 assault rifles, mortars, machine guns, bazookas, armoured vehicles and more than half a million rounds of bullets from the Ampatuan clan in the government crackdown on the family’s private army since last month.

Ampatuan Jr.’s trial began in December. In reports and images of the fomer mayor, he was handcuffed and flanked by armed guards, and appeared tired during the hearing. Dante Jimenez, head of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, a citizens’ group, said that, “It seems he was very insensitive to the proceedings.”

Despite the pain of the massacre felt by victims,dozens of armed police and members of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) stood guard inside the courtroom as lawyers, journalists and families of the massacre victims sat just a few yards away from Ampatuan Jr. The court barred live news coverage of the proceedings. Even anti-riot police and fire trucks were posted at the police camp’s three main gates.In the midst of the judicial proceedings,Myrna Reblando, wife of one of 30 journalists killed, stated, “We hope for a speedy trial and swift justice for the death of my husband.”

For more information, please see:

The Jurist – Philippines mayor pleads not guilty to massacre murder charges – January 6. 2010

CNN – Mayor accused in Philippines massacre – December 10, 2009

CNN – Philippines mayor pleads not guilty to murder – January 5, 2010

Bloomberg News – Philippines Says Mayor Linked to Massacre Surrenders – November 26, 2009

The Guardian – Mayor denies Philippines massacre charges – January 5, 2010

By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – According to a report released by the Human Rights Watch, drug offenders in compulsory drug detention centers in China are denied access to treatment for their addictions and are exposed to physical abuse and unpaid labor.

The UN announced that as many as half million Chinese are held at these centers at any given time where the maximum sentence is two years, but that period can be extended to seven years by the authorities.

Chinese government enacted “Anti-Drug Law of 2008” by amending their old drug laws to a more “people centered” approach where the offenders were to be sent to professional detox centers and thereafter to community-based rehabilitation centers.

However, guards at the detention centers use electric prods, and the detainees are not provided with adequate meals and are allowed to shower only once a month.  Some are forced to work up to 18 hours a day without pay.  Other detainees work at chicken farms or shoe factories that are contracted with the local police.

Those incarcerated are detained without trials, and the Chinese law does not define mechanisms where people can appeal their detention.  Furthermore, the law does not have means to ensure “evidence-based drug dependency treatment.”

Joseph Amon of Human Rights Watch said, “They call them detoxification centers, but…[t]he basic concept is inhumane and flawed.”

Criticizing the Chinese law which subjects suspected drug users to cruel and arbitrary treatment, Amon added, “The Chinese government has explained the law as a progressive step towards recognizing drug users as ‘patients,’ but they’re not even being provided the rights of ordinary patients.”

Due to this “flawed model” of drug rehabilitation, Amon also said, “[P]eople who want to get off drugs have very, very few choices.  No one is going to sign up for three years of forced labor and detention as a strategy for reducing their drug use.”

One Chinese drug offender confessed, “I’ve tried to get clean and have been in compulsory labor camps more than eight times.  I just cannot go back to a forced labor camp – [it is] a terrifying world where darkness knows no limits.”

Amon said, “The Chinese government should stop these abuses and ensure that the rights of suspected drug users are fully protected…Warehousing large numbers of drug users and subjecting them to forced labor and physical abuse is not ‘rehabilitation.’”

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch – China: Drug ‘Rehabilitation’ Centers Deny Treatment, Allow Forced Labor – 6 January 2010

NYT – China Turns Drug Rehab Into a Punishing Ordeal – 7 January 2010

Radio Free Asia – China’s Drug Treatment Slammed – 6 January 2010