Family, close associates and supporters have taken steps to challenge the detention of the impeached President Park Geun-hye of South Korea, currently on trial in Seoul on charges of corruption, bribery and abuse of power - allegations the former President denies. Dr Mishana Hosseinioun, President of MH Group, acting for these parties, has instructed Rodney Dixon QC as international counsel to launch urgent proceedings before the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in Geneva and other UN bodies to protect the former President’s rights and safeguard her well-being.
The first popularly elected female head of state in East Asia and South Korea’s first female president, Ms Park was abruptly impeached by the National Assembly in 2016 and forced out of office on 10 March 2017. In light of her deteriorating health condition, MH Group has filed a comprehensive communication in advance of the UN Working Group’s next meeting on 21- 25 August, urging it and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to declare the former President’s continued detention without provisional release as arbitrary and in breach of international law.
Rodney Dixon, considered one of the top barristers in his field, has appeared before the International Criminal Court (ICC) on behalf of several governments, senior accused and victim groups. Dr Hosseinioun is a Lecturer at the University of Oxford and has contributed to landmark judgments at the African Court of Human Rights and the ICC.
The team is closely monitoring the trial proceedings in Seoul to place all relevant information before the UN ‘special procedures’ bodies, and to highlight the prior impeachment proceedings and conditions of detention ahead of the UN Universal Periodic Review of the Republic of Korea, where the country’s human rights record will be under review.