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Oh Tae-yang and ten others who refused to serve in the military for conscientious reasons will file a petition with the United Nations arguing that their convictions by the Korean government violated their freedom of conscience.
Two people who refused military service on religious grounds filed a petition last year with the UN. The UN Human Rights Committee in December advised the Korean government to pardon the two.
Choi Jung-min, the head of the activist group Korea Solidarity for Conscientious Objection (KSCO), said Sunday, "The conviction of 11 objectors who refused mandatory military service because of conscience beliefs is against the basic principle of freedom of religion and conscience in the UN Charter, and we decided to file a petition with the UN." Choi said that the objectors did not refuse military service because of religious issues.
Meanwhile an official from the Ministry of Justice said that discussion is underway about granting last year's objectors a pardon but a conclusion has not yet been reached.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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