“Violation of Human Rights in Cyber Space Reached to Dangerous Level“

Although there were criticisms on the cleansing of the unjust past and the social reformation, including the inquiring into the truth of the mysterious deaths, human right situations improved in 2000. However, the Korean Bar Association (KBA) evaluated that the overall consciousness on human rights were still underdeveloped.

The KBA announced its position in the `Report on the Human Rights in 2000` which was published on 9th, and especially presented the violation of human rights in the cyber spaces as a new type of outrages against human rights.

The KBA evaluated the establishment of the `committee for the inquiring into the truth of the mysterious deaths` and the enactment of the compensation law for the democratization movement were noteworthy works of the cleansing of the unjust past.

The KBA also announced that the raising of the issues of the civilian massacre during the Korean War, which has prohibited for mentioning, such as the Nogeun-Ri massacre, of the suspicion of the massacre in Vietnam by the Korean armies, and of the practice ground for the bombing of the U.S. Air Force in Maehyang-Ri were remarkable advances of the consciousness on human rights.

However, the KBA pointed out the suppression of the Lotte Hotel labor demonstration in June 2000 as a typical example of the violation of human rights that disclosed the anti-human rights tendency of the governmental organizations.

The KBA also reported that the discrimination against the minorities continued. It was revealed that a Nepalese worker had been hospitalized in a mental hospital due to the wrong charge. And Hong Seok-Chun, a homosexual TV talent, was banned from attending a committee of the National Assembly because his attendance will harm the `dignity of the National Assembly`.

Especially the KBA indicated the violation of human rights in cyber spaces, which became an issue by the case of `miss O`s video`.

The KBA said, "If a video of female talent was posted on the cyber spaces without the person`s agreement, the act of watching itself is the act of anti-human rights that destroys the dignity of a human being."

The KBA pointed out that, "Many people are unconsciously violating other people`s human rights by watching the video. The outrage against human rights in cyber spaces, based on the anonymity of the internet, reached the dangerous level."

However, the Ministry of Justice explained that, "The Lotte Hotel case was that some polices accidentally used forces while the demonstrators brandished metal pipes. The poor status of the foreign workers are a worldwide phenomenon, and the government is performing the polices to improve the human rights of the foreign workers, including the supporting system on legal affairs."

Kim Seung-Ryun srkim@donga.com