- 인권단체 “구시대적 마녀사냥 즉각 멈춰야”
미국의 주요 일간지 <뉴욕타임스>가 최근 동성애자라는 이유로 실형을 받은 육군 대위 사건을 자세하게 보도했다.
지난 5월 24일자 <뉴욕타임스> 인터넷판에는 “한국군, 동성애자 대위에 유죄 선고”라는 제목의 기사가 실렸다.
기사에 따르면 다른 군인과 동성애를 가진 혐의로 육군 군사법원이 A 대위에 대해 징역 6개월에 집행유예 1년의 형을 선고했으며 인권단체들은 격렬하게 비난하고 나섰다.
기사는 군인권센터 임태훈 소장의 발언을 통해 사건의 전개 과정에 대해 상세하게 소개했다.
최근 군은 동성애자 색출을 위한 대대적 수사를 벌였고 A 대위는 여기서 적발된 32명 가운데 한 명이다.
임 소장은 기사에서 A 대위는 전역을 며칠 앞두고 구속됐으며 성관계는 부대 밖의 개인적 공간에서 상호합의 하에 이뤄진 것이라고 밝혔다.
A 대위는 선고를 듣고 법정에서 쓰러져 머리를 다쳤다고 덧붙였다. 국제 인권NGO인 국제앰네스티는 성명을 통해 “구시대적이고 차별적”인 조항을 군 형사법에서 폐지해야 한다며 동성애자에 대한 마녀사냥을 멈출 것을 요구했다.
UN 인권위원회가 보고서를 통해 한국 내 성소수자에 대한 폭력과 혐오 발언을 경고하기도 했다.
기사는 “한국의 군 형사법은 군인들 사이에 항문성교나 기타 명시되지 않은 ‘추행’을, 상호 합의 여부나 군대 내외의 여부에 상관없이 금지하고 있다. 이러한 행위가 발견될 경우에는 최대 2년 징역형을 받게 된다”며 법조항을 자세하게 소개했다.
대선을 앞두고 벌어졌던 동성 결혼 찬반 논란에 대해서도 언급했다. 문재인 대통령이 후보 시절 동성 결혼에 반대한다는 입장을 밝힘으로써 인권단체들을 실망시켰다는 것이다.
그러면서 “한국에서 성소수자의 권리는 심하게 금기시 되고 있으며 정치적으로도 지지를 받지 못하는 사안”이라고 적었다.
다음은 뉴스프로가 번역한 뉴욕타임스 기사 전문이다. 번역 감수 : 임옥 South Korean Military Sentences Captain for Sex With Other Servicemen By CHOE SANG-HUN
SEOUL, South Korea — A military court in South Korea sentenced an army captain to six months in prison on Wednesday for having sex with other servicemen, igniting an outcry against what rights groups called a homophobic “witch hunt” in the country’s military. The prison term for the captain was suspended for one year, which meant that if he did not break the law again in the next year, he would not go to prison. But he will be dishonorably discharged unless his conviction is overturned by an appeals court. The captain, whose name was not disclosed, collapsed when the verdict was announced in military court, and he was taken to a hospital after hurting his head, said Lim Tae-hoon, the director of the Military Human Rights Center. Amnesty International issued a statement condemning the verdict and urging the South Korean military to end “a bigoted hunt to root out gay personnel.” 국제앰네스티는 군사법원의 판결을 규탄하는 성명을 내고 한국군에 “동성애자를 뿌리 뽑으려는 편협한 마녀사냥”을 중단할 것을 촉구했다. “No one should be persecuted based on their sexual orientation, activity or gender identity alone,” Roseann Rife, the director of East Asia research at Amnesty International, said in the statement. 로젠 라이프 국제앰네스티 동아시아 조사국장은 “누구도 자신의 성적 지향이나 행위 또는 성 정체성만을 이유로 박해받아서는 안 된다”라고 성명에서 주장했다. Ms. Rife said South Korea should repeal an “archaic and discriminatory” provision in its Military Criminal Act that outlaws sex between gay soldiers and to “get up to date when it comes to the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex people.” The South Korean military criminal code outlaws sodomy and other unspecified “disgraceful conduct” between servicemen, whether or not there is mutual consent and whether or not that conduct takes place in or outside military compounds. Those found to have violated the act face up to two years in prison. In South Korea, the rights of sexual minorities are a largely taboo and politically unpopular subject. In recent years, powerful right-wing Christian groups have intensified a campaign against homosexuality, scuttling a bill that would have given sexual minorities the same protections as other minority groups. During his presidential campaign, the country’s newly elected leader, Moon Jae-in, a human rights lawyer and liberal, disappointed rights groups who have otherwise supported him by saying that he opposed homosexuality and same-sex marriage. 새롭게 선출된 인권 변호사 문재인 대통령은 대통령 유세 기간 동안 동성애와 동성 결혼을 반대하는 발언을 해서 그를 지지하는 인권 단체들을 실망시켰다. The captain was arrested on April 13, as the army was ferreting out dozens of soldiers suspected of having same-sex relationships in what rights groups said was a campaign against gay men in the 620,000-member military. At least 32 faced criminal charges of violating the Military Criminal Act, according to the domestic news media and lawyers and rights advocates familiar with the cases. The officer was arrested in a Seoul hotel, where he was staying while on an official trip, said Mr. Lim, whose group advocates the rights of gay soldiers and provided legal assistance to the captain. 출장 중이었던 대위는 서울 한 호텔에서 체포되었다고 동성애 군인의 권리를 옹호하고 법적 지원을 제공하는 단체의 임태훈 소장이 전했다. The captain was arrested days before he was scheduled to leave the army, Mr. Lim said. All of his sexual activities were consensual and took place in private spaces, like his home, Mr. Lim said. None of the servicemen the captain had sex with served in his unit, he added. Amnesty International said South Korean “gay men face enormous difficulties in fulfilling their military obligations free from violence, bullying or verbal abuse.” Under the conscript system of South Korea, all eligible men are required to serve about two years. South Korea has been slow to respect and protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people in society at large, Amnesty International said. In its 2015 review of South Korea, the United Nations Human Rights Committee also mentioned continuing widespread violence and hate speech against such individuals in the country. The crackdown on gay soldiers began early this year when the army was tipped to a video clip on social media that showed a soldier and an officer, both men, having sex. (The captain sentenced on Wednesday was not in the video.) The army insisted that it was not discriminating against gay soldiers; instead it said that it was trying to root out illegal homosexual activities. Right-wing Christian and other conservative groups have argued that sex among gay soldiers would help spread AIDS in the South Korean military and undermine its readiness to fight North Korea. Mr. Lim’s group accused the army of setting up fake profiles on dating apps to lure gay military personnel into revealing their identities and subjecting them to humiliating homophobic interrogations, although the army’s own regulations forbid identifying or outing gay men or asking about their sexual experiences. |
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