International rights groups have raised concerns over freedom of religion and expression in South Korea, calling for the release of 95-year-old Shincheonji Chairman Lee Man-hee from pretrial detention.
The concerns were raised during a press conference at the Seoul Foreign Correspondents’ Club by Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF), CAP Liberté de Conscience (CAP LC), FOREF, CESNUR and Bitter Winter.
The organisations focused on the treatment of elderly religious leaders in pretrial detention and raised questions over proportionality, humanitarian considerations and due process.
They also urged authorities to uphold South Korea’s international human rights obligations, including in relation to 83-year-old Mrs Hak-ja Han Moon of the Family Federation.
Opening the conference, HRWF Associate Director Hans Noot said the issues discussed were central to democratic society.
Noot warned that the consequences of stigmatising religious communities, restricting peaceful gatherings and treating dissent as a problem to be contained “extend far beyond any single group or case.”
He said the conference was not aimed at defending a particular religious movement.
Instead, it was about “defending a principle: that fundamental rights apply equally to all.”
CAP Liberté de Conscience President Thierry Valle questioned whether Lee’s pretrial detention was consistent with South Korea’s international obligations.
Valle questioned whether placing a 95-year-old in pretrial detention was compatible with those obligations.
He also stressed that the presumption of innocence must prevail over any presumption of guilt.
Valle said there were alternative measures that could respect both the presumption of innocence and human dignity.
“There are alternative more proportionate and more humane measures respecting the presumption of innocence and human dignity in democratic countries,” he said.
He cited the 2022 release on bail of Cardinal Joseph Zen in Hong Kong and Vietnam’s decision to place Buddhist Patriarch Thich Quang Do under house arrest rather than in prison.
FOREF Germany Executive Director Michael Langhans presented a legal analysis of Lee’s detention.
He questioned whether pretrial detention was necessary given evidence that was already sufficient for an indictment.
Langhans also questioned whether the evidence had been gathered neutrally or through a narrative that described the Shincheonji community as a “sect” or “cult.”
He said the case raised a wider question about the application of measures designed to protect fair elections.
The question, he said, was whether such measures could be applied without nullifying the constitutionally and internationally guaranteed right to freedom of religion.
CESNUR Deputy Director Márk Nemes addressed the possible effects of what he described as ongoing persecution on minority faiths.
He referred to three recent scholarly investigations involving selected Shincheonji congregations in Europe, Argentina and Australia.
According to Nemes, the investigations found an increase in hostility towards the religious movement, which he described as peaceful and cooperative.
He said Shincheonji was not simply a South Korean minority church but a global religious movement with congregations around the world.
Nemes said developments in South Korea could affect members of the movement abroad, whose rights to express and practise their faith are protected under Articles 18 and 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
CESNUR Managing Director and Bitter Winter Editor-in-Chief Massimo Introvigne said South Korea “has crossed a worrying line” by arresting Lee.
He argued that international standards such as the Mandela Rules would support house arrest rather than imprisonment for a 95-year-old accused of a non-violent offence.
Introvigne also said the charges against Lee, which were tied to ordinary political participation by members of a religious minority, “appear legally and conceptually overstretched.”
He warned that the case formed part of a broader pattern of pressure against minority faiths in South Korea.
The organisations also raised concerns about Segero Church in Busan, saying it had reportedly continued to face harassment and official scrutiny after Pastor Son Hyun-bo was released from detention.
Other issues discussed included conscientious objection, public hostility towards a mosque project in Daegu and religious accommodation in educational settings.
HRWF said it had documented the imprisonment of hundreds of Jehovah’s Witnesses in South Korea over conscientious objection.
Although alternative civilian service was later introduced, critics maintain that it has been implemented in a punitive manner because it requires 36 months of service in correctional facilities, twice the length of regular military service.
The organisations called on South Korean authorities, the media and the international community to closely examine the developments, with particular attention to due process, proportionality and equal protection of fundamental rights.
At the end of the conference, the scholars in attendance signed an official letter calling on the Government of the Republic of Korea to immediately release Lee from custody.
