A/HRC/WGAD/2012/4
(d)
When asylum seekers, immigrants or refugees are subjected to prolonged
administrative custody without the possibility of administrative or judicial review or
remedy (category IV);
(e)
When the deprivation of liberty constitutes a violation of international law for
reasons of discrimination based on birth; national, ethnic or social origin; language;
religion; economic condition; political or other opinion; gender; sexual orientation; or
disability or other status, and which aims towards or can result in ignoring the equality of
human rights (category V).
Submissions
Communication from the source
3.
The case summarized was reported to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention as
follows:
4.
Shin Sook Ja, a national of the Republic of Korea, is a former nurse who left her
country to work in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1970. In 1972, Ms. Shin met and
married Oh Kil Nam, a national of the Republic of Korea who was studying Economics at
the University of Tübingen, in West Germany. They had two daughters, Oh Hae Won and
Oh Kyu Won.
5.
During the 1980s, Mr. Oh was invited by agents from the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea (DPRK) in Germany to move to DPRK. He was allegedly promised a
stable job as an economist in DPRK, along with medical assistance for his wife, who was
then suffering from hepatitis. Mr. Oh accepted the job offer and the family emigrated to
DPRK in 1985.
6.
For the first three months in DPRK, the family was placed in a remote mountainous
region, where they were educated in the Juche ideology and the political theory of Kim IISung. After this period, Mr. Oh was sent to the Mount Chilbo Liaison Office to work on a
programme, entitled the Voice of National Salvation, to be broadcast to the Republic of
Korea.
7.
According to the source, Mr. Oh was then instructed by the agents who brought him
to DPRK to bring in more students from Germany, with the nationality of the Republic of
Korea. Ms. Shin allegedly objected to this activity and asked her husband to flee DPRK.
Shortly thereafter, Mr. Oh was able to leave DPRK under the pretext that he was going to
Germany to bring in more students holding the nationality of the Republic of Korea.
8.
Ms. Shin and her two daughters were allegedly detained for the purpose of ensuring
Mr. Oh’s loyalty. On his way to Germany in 1986, Mr. Oh defected to Denmark, where he
requested political asylum. The following year, Ms. Shin and her daughters were taken to
Yodok Camp for political prisoners. She and her daughters were allegedly detained because
her husband did not return to DPRK.
9.
In 1986, 1988 and 1991, Mr. Oh received letters from Ms. Shin and their daughters
along with audio tapes of their voices and their photos, reportedly taken in Yodok camp.
The tapes and photos were delivered in 1988 by a Mr. Yun Isang. Mr. Isang had initially
assisted in bringing Mr. Oh and his family to DPRK. Mr. Isang further informed Mr. Oh
that his family was being detained to prevent them from returning to the Republic of Korea
and also because Mr. Oh had betrayed DPRK. In 1992, Mr. Oh moved to the Republic of
Korea.
10.
The source alleges that to be classified as a political prisoner in DPRK, means that a
warrant is not necessary to carry out an arrest. Furthermore, persons who are accused of
political crimes are normally taken from their homes and detained in a camp.
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