SEOUL — Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF), along with CAP Liberté de Conscience, FOREF, CESNUR, and Bitter Winter, held a press conference at the Seoul Foreign Correspondents' Club on Friday to address growing concerns over freedom of religion and expression in South Korea. The event highlighted the treatment of elderly religious leaders in pretrial detention, including the case of 95-year-old Shincheonji Chairman Lee Man-hee, and called on authorities to ensure legal and administrative responses to religious minorities remain neutral and proportionate.
The organizations expressed particular concern about the detention of Chairman Lee, questioning its consistency with South Korea's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention against Torture. Thierry Valle, President of CAP Liberté de Conscience, noted that South Korea ratified the ICCPR in 1990 and the Convention against Torture in 1995, and argued that placing a 95-year-old in pretrial detention raises serious questions about the presumption of innocence and humanitarian considerations. He pointed to alternative measures used in other democratic countries, such as house arrest for elderly or ailing defendants, citing the release of Cardinal Joseph Zen on bail in Hong Kong and the house arrest of Buddhist Patriarch Thich Quang Do in Vietnam as precedents.
Michael Langhans, Executive Director of FOREF Germany, provided a legal analysis questioning whether pretrial detention was necessary given the evidence already available for indictment. He argued that the case raises broader questions about whether measures meant to protect fair elections can be applied without undermining constitutionally guaranteed religious freedom. Langhans also expressed concern that the evidence may have been gathered through a narrative framing the defendant's community as a 'sect' or 'cult,' rather than through neutral investigation.
The press conference also addressed the case of 83-year-old Hak-ja Han Moon of the Family Federation, as well as ongoing scrutiny of Segero Church in Busan, where Pastor Son Hyun-bo was released from detention but the church reportedly continues to face harassment. Concerns were raised about conscientious objection, public hostility toward a mosque project in Daegu, and religious accommodation in educational settings. HRWF has documented the imprisonment of hundreds of Jehovah's Witnesses in South Korea for conscientious objection, and critics maintain that alternative civilian service, introduced later, is punitive because it requires 36 months of service in correctional facilities—twice the length of regular military service.
Massimo Introvigne, Managing Director of CESNUR and Editor-in-Chief of Bitter Winter, stated that South Korea 'has crossed a worrying line' by arresting Chairman Lee, arguing that international standards such as the Mandela Rules would call for house arrest rather than imprisonment for a 95-year-old accused of a non-violent offence. He described the charges, tied to ordinary political participation by members of a religious minority, as 'legally and conceptually overstretched' and warned of a broader pattern of pressure against minority faiths.
Márk Nemes, Deputy Director of CESNUR, shared findings from recent scholarly investigations in Shincheonji congregations in Europe, Argentina, and Australia, which found a worrisome increase in hostility toward the movement. He stressed that Shincheonji is a global religious movement, and that disproportionate persecution in South Korea affects the rights of its members abroad, which are protected under ICCPR Articles 18 and 19.
Hans Noot, Associate Director of HRWF, opened the conference by stating that the issues at stake 'lie at the heart of democratic society.' He warned that when religious communities are stigmatized, peaceful gatherings are restricted, and dissent is treated as a problem to be contained, the consequences extend far beyond any single group. The conference was not about defending any particular theology, he said, but about defending the principle that fundamental rights apply equally to all.
At the conclusion of the press conference, the scholars signed an official letter calling on the Government of the Republic of Korea to immediately release Chairman Lee from custody. The organizations urged South Korean authorities, the media, and the international community to examine these developments with close attention to due process, proportionality, and equal protection of fundamental rights.
