Internal conflict FINAL

NAME: KALYANI SETH
COLLEGE: JESUS AND MARY COLLEGE
COUNTRY: REPUBLIC OF KOREA
COMMITTEE: HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
TOPIC: INTERNAL CONFLICT AND PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS WITH SPECIAL
REFERENCE TO SRI LANKA AND NEPAL
The Republic of Korea puts forth its concerns regarding the rights of children affected by war, violence against women,it strongly condemnes
the practice of honour killings, and legislation favouring those guilty of
such heinous crimes, urging that this practice should be actively discouraged. Use of rape as a tool of war is totally unacceptable and no amount of humanitarian assistance could overcome the serious after-effects of such cruel treatment.

With Sri Lanka being the victim to the ravages caused by the LTTE, labeled
as the most dangerous terrorist organization recently by the FBI, the preservation of Human rights becomes all the more a relevant issue. Its people have faced countless cases of killings, torture, rape, discrimination, and violence against children and women. South Korea would like to see a more stable Sri Lanka as one of its important trade partners.

Nepal, has been caught in the violence for over 10 years; Nepal's people
have become the often-overlooked victims of the ongoing strife, their plight aggravated by poverty and abuse. In the past decade of the armed Maoist rebellion, some 13,000 civilians have died in the violence in remote regions and rural areas. South Korea has signed an MoU with Nepal paving the way for the construction of a Government Integrated Data and Training Center.

South Korea on its part is also taking steps towards abolishing death penalty in the country. One of the most important human rights issue in South Korea continues to be the National Security Law, which is used arbitrarily to curtail the right to freedom of ex-pression and association, providing long sentences or the dealth penalty for loosely defined 'anti-state' activities. President Kim Dae-Jung has announced his willingness to repeal the harsh National Security Law, as recommended by
the United Nations Human Rights Committee and demanded by a coalition of more than 200 local rights organizations. As per allegations by the international community, in South Korea and many other countries in Asia, migrants have frequently faced discrimination in accessing their rights to equality, housing, health care and labour
rights which the Government is trying to progressively eliminate. The
government, in June 2002, recognized the need to give worker status to unskilled
foreign labor for the first time under the Employment Management Scheme. Due to
its limited scope, it failed to significantly decrease the number of undocumented workers. Finally, in July 2003, the government introduced a
new employment permit system for guest workers. On 31July 2004, new act regulating the work permit system of migrant workers was passed, which granted foreign workers rights not only to legal employment but also to join unions, to collective bargaining, and to strike.