The Advocates for Human Rights, together with The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty submitted an alternative report on the rights of children whose parents are sentenced to death in The Republic of Korea to the 82nd Session of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in August of 2019.
The Republic of Korea ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991. Nevertheless, the Republic of Korea continues to hand down death sentences which violates the rights of the children of those who are sentenced. Death sentences or executions of a parent violate their children’s rights to health, information, and protection from discrimination. They also interfere with the child’s right not to be separated from his or her parents. Moreover, the physical pain and mental anguish from having a parent on death row or executed can amount to torture.
The report offers suggested questions and recommendations to guide the Committee on the Rights of the Child to offer to the government of the Republic of Korea including: