The Bush administration looks the other way as one of its allies, South Korea, tramples on the rights of faith-based conscientious objectors. In this case it's Jehovah’s Witnesses. Seen as a potential threat, South Korea has with the blessings of G.W. Bush taken a page right out of the Nazis' journals and is arresting Jehovah's Witnesses because they are unwilling to accept the authority of the state to be drafted or perform military-related work. The outcry to these arrests if any, will most likely be ignored because Jehovah’s Witnesses are perceived as nuisances and have no political clout.
Bush ignores international treaties. Now others are doing the same.
In a sweeping blow to international human rights treaties, the South Korean Constitutional Court ruled against conscientious objectors on 26 August 2004. This ruling is in line with an earlier ruling of the Supreme Court from 15 July, in which the court stated that "individual freedom of conscience can’t be more important than accepting calls of duty for the defense of their own country". The court said seeking freedom of conscience as a member of society can only be admitted when the person follows the rules that others follow. All Korean men have their duty to defend this nation, but conscientious objectors refuse to fulfill the obligation, it added.
With these two rulings, the legal avenue is now closed. While there is still the option to present a CO case as individual complaint to the UN Human Rights Committee, the Korean CO activists are now preparing for a long political struggle to achieve the right to conscientious objection.
Every year about 800 conscientious objectors - the majority Jehovah's Witnesses - receive prison sentences of 18 months for refusing to serve.