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Letter of Appeal from the AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility

5 August 1998

His Excellency Kim Dae Jung
President, Republic of Korea
The Blue House
1 Sejong-no, Chongno-gu
Seoul, Republic of Korea

Your Excellency:

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the largest organization of natural and social scientists in the United States, and the world's largest federation of scientific societies, with 143,000 individual members and 282 affiliated groups. Our AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility was formed in 1976 to protect the human rights of scientists and to deal with issues relating to scientific freedom worldwide.

We are writing to you on behalf of the Committee regarding Ahn Jae-ku, a mathematician and a former professor at Kyuonghee University. Mr. Ahn Jae-ku was reportedly arrested on 14 June 1994 by agents from the Agency for National Security Planning (ANSP), along with his son and approximately twenty-five others because of alleged pro-North Korean activities. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on 30 November 1994.

It is our understanding that Ahn Jae-ku was charged with establishing an "anti-state" organization, the National Front for the Salvation of the Fatherland, with the alleged purpose of spying for North Korea. We are concerned about the declining health of Ahn Jae-ku, who was, according to reports received by our Committee, interrogated for twenty consecutive days following his arrest, at which time he was subjected to sleep deprivation and psychological pressure to sign a confession. We have learned that since that time, he has been held in harsh conditions that have contributed to his declining health. It is also our understanding that Professor Ahn Jae-ku is only allowed two fifteen minute visits per month by family members.

We would like to point out that the arrest and long-term imprisonment of Ahn Jae-ku is in violation of international human rights standards, including the right to freedom of expression and to receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds; the rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly; the rights to liberty and security of person, and to a prompt, fair and impartial hearing before an independent and impartial judicial tribunal; the right to be free from torture or cruel and degrading treatment or punishment; and the right and opportunity to freely take part in public affairs and political life.

It is our understanding that Your Excellency has recently announced a mass release of political prisoners to take place on 15 August, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the Japanese occupation and the founding of the South Korean government. We call on you to use your good offices to assure that Ahn Jae-ku is among those released. We urge you to release Ahn Jae-ku immediately and unconditionally on the grounds that he is a prisoner of conscience. The Committee calls on Korean officials to assure that the treatment of Ahn Jae-ku while he remains in prison conforms to international standards for the treatment of prisoners.

Sincerely,



Irving Lerch, Ph.D. Mary Gray, Ph.D.
Co-Chair Co-Chair
AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom
and Responsibility and Responsibility

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