Posted on 07/02/2018 3:50:33 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Human rights groups are calling on South Korea’s government to stop imprisoning conscientious objectors who refuse to participate in military service, including numerous Jehovah’s Witnesses who have served time over the years.
South Korea’s Constitutional Court ruled Thursday that a section of the country’s Military Service Act is unconstitutional because it obligates conscientious objectors to participate in military service. Human rights advocates said this ruling could be the first step toward creating alternatives for Jehovah’s Witnesses and other groups that object to participating in the military. Representatives of the Jehovah’s Witnesses said that over 19,300 of the group’s members have served sentences since the end of the Korean War in 1953, serving more than 36,700 years behind bars overall.
“For many, it has been a lifetime wait. Over the past 65 years, young Witnesses have courageously held to their peaceful stand of conscience. We are grateful that the Constitutional Court has now acknowledged the fundamental human right to conscientiously object to participating in war,” David Semonian, international spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses at their world headquarters in New York, told Newsweek....
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...
Then again when you’re pinned down with bullets whizzing past your ears, you can be sure it isn’t a JW shooting at you.
I was raised a Jehovah’s Witness. I left them when I was 18. I have a mix of positive and negative thoughts about them but in the end there are a lot bigger issues on the Korean peninsula than this. No pun intended, but ya gotta pick your fights.
i think let them become army medics (which can be even more dangerous, too), or let them do other genuinely-useful work
Serve your country or serve time. Seems pretty simple to me.
That’s a nice compromise but what if everyone suddenly converts? I mean you’d have enough who’d see it as a ticket out of combat if there was mandatory service.
I frankly don't know much about JW theology (it's quite unorthodox), but I did see some JW's on TV who were civilian volunteers assisting in disaster relief and humanitarian aid, including in war zones. I can respect that..
yes.
but not everyone has converted in USA
or anywhere else so far as I know
anyway it seems the right thing to do, imho
(or let them work in any of a number of other types of national service, whatever the nation needs the most)
Long ago, Singapore came up with solution to this issue. They simply banned Jehovah’s Witnessism (sp?).
So What
It is a choice
Who cares? South Korea does not have the same kind of constitution the US does
They knew the risks.
I don’t think that’s ever happened in the history of the world. The JW’s are an extremely small sect, and always have been.
If “everybody” faked being JW in order to get out of the military (far-fetched hypothetical) it would be, I suppose, a pretty good sign that most people saw the war was totally unnecessary, not in defense of their life, liberty, or urgent legitimate interests. Maybe even harmful to their national interest. In which case, it wouldn’t be a very good war, would it?
Banned their religion? Sounds like a kinda North Korean-type solution to me.
Not quite as off-centre as the Norks. In the sixties and early seventies, Singapore was a rather more hard-edged place than it is now, as they were struggling for the very survival of the country. Nevertheless, as I remember, it was still more fun than it is today; might be because I was far younger then.
From WIKI:
In 1972 the Singapore government de-registered and banned the activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses on the grounds that its members refuse to perform military service (which is obligatory for all male citizens), salute the flag, or swear oaths of allegiance to the state.[89][90] Singapore has banned all written materials (including Bibles) published by the International Bible Students Association and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, both publishing arms of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. A person in possession of banned literature can be fined up to S$2,000 (US$1,333) and jailed up to 12 months for a first conviction.[91]
In February 1995, Singapore police raided private homes where group members were holding religious meetings, in an operation codenamed “Operation Hope”. Officers seized Bibles, religious literature, documents and computers, and eventually brought charges against 69 Jehovah’s Witnesses, many of whom went to jail.[92][93] In March 1995, 74-year-old Yu Nguk Ding was arrested for carrying two “undesirable publications”—one of them a Bible printed by the Watch Tower Society.[94]
In 1996, eighteen Jehovah’s Witnesses were convicted for unlawfully meeting in a Singapore apartment and were given sentences from one to four weeks in jail.[95] Canadian Queen’s Counsel Glen How flew to Singapore to defend the Jehovah’s Witnesses and argued that the restrictions against the Jehovah’s Witnesses violated their constitutional rights. Then-Chief Justice Yong Pung How questioned How’s sanity, accused him of “living in a cartoon world” and referred to “funny, cranky religious groups” before denying the appeal.[92] In 1998, two Jehovah’s Witnesses were charged in a Singapore court for possessing and distributing banned religious publications.[96]
In 1998 a Jehovah’s Witness lost a lawsuit against a government school for wrongful dismissal for refusing to sing the national anthem or salute the flag. In March 1999, the Court of Appeals denied his appeal.[89] In 2000, public secondary schools indefinitely suspended at least fifteen Jehovah’s Witness students for refusing to sing the national anthem or participate in the flag ceremony.[97] In April 2001, one public school teacher, also a member of Jehovah’s Witnesses, resigned after being threatened with dismissal for refusing to participate in singing the national anthem.[89]
Singapore authorities have seized Jehovah’s Witnesses’ literature on various occasions from individuals attempting to cross the Malaysia–Singapore border. In thirteen cases, authorities warned the Jehovah’s Witnesses, but did not press charges.[97][98][99]
As of 2017, there are 10 members of Jehovah’s Witnesses incarcerated for refusal to carry out mandatory military service.[100] The initial sentence for failure to comply is 15 months’ imprisonment, with an additional 24 months for a second refusal. Failure to perform annual military reserve duty, which is required of all those who have completed their initial two-year obligation, results in a 40-day sentence, with a 12-month sentence after four refusals.[99][101] There is no alternative civilian service for Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Quite a history.
Comparing to JW’s and Muslims, I would say it’s better to have “funny, cranky” eccentric Bible-believers within your borders who are unarmed and refuse to shed blood, than Koran-believers deeply inspired by a national-Utopian vision of caliphate, for whom shedding blood is a way to please Allah.
I have no problem with a conscientious objector as long as they are sincere about it, but a coward using that excuse ?
well that is different.
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