amnesty international

£SOUTH KOREA

@Appeal for the Release of

Kim Chin-ju

MARCH 1994AI INDEX: ASA 25/15/94

DISTR: SC/CO/GR

Kim Chin-ju, 38-year-old pharmacist and editor, is serving a four-year sentence under the National Security Law for belonging to an "anti-state" organization. Amnesty International believes that Kim Chin-ju is held for the non-violent exercise of her rights to freedom of expression and association and is calling for her immediate and unconditional release.

Kim Chin-ju was arrested in February 1991 by the Agency for National Security Planning who interrogated her for 20 days, during which time she was deprived of sleep, hit and insulted. She was accused of belonging to Sanomaeng(Socialist Workers' League), an organization which has been defined by the authorities as "anti-state". Under the National Security Law an "anti-state" organization is defined as a group "with the structure of command and control, organized for the purpose of assuming a title of the government or disturbing the state". This broad definition has been widely interpreted by the courts and often used to imprison people with left-wing views and those with views considered to be similar to those of the North Korean Government. Since 1990 over 200 Sanomanegmembers have been arrested, around 60 of whom remain in prison today.

Amnesty International believes there is no evidence to support accusations that Kim Chin-ju and other members of the group had planned to overthrow the state using violence, as claimed by the authorities. Sanomaengsaid it sought to set up a political party and several of its members have stated their commitment to using non-violent methods of political activism.

Kim Chin-ju graduated from Ewha Women's University in 1978 with a bachelor of science degree in pharmacy. She worked as a pharmacist before working for Sanomaengas an editor. Her husband, Park No-hae, is a well-known poet and leader of Sanomaengwho has been sentenced to life imprisonment for establishing an "anti-state" organization. Kim Chin-ju is held in Hongsong Prison and has been unable to communicate with her husband since the couple were arrested in 1991.

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