Human Rights Commission Recommends Additional Investigation of Military Personnel Involved in Secondary Harm to Late Sergeant Lee Yeram

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[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The National Human Rights Commission has recommended the Minister of National Defense to conduct additional investigations into some of the investigative personnel involved in the case of the late Air Force Sergeant Lee Yeram, who committed suicide after reporting sexual harassment by a superior.

On the 31st, based on the results of the "ex officio investigation into violations of the right to life caused by sexual violence within the military," the Human Rights Commission announced that it made this recommendation to the Minister of National Defense the previous day. In its recommendation, the Commission stated, "Additional investigation is necessary regarding the Air Force military prosecutor sharing the victim's situation and investigation details with unit personnel via SNS, and the Air Force legal office chief's phone call with a military court staff member the day before the execution of the search and seizure."

The Commission also proposed measures related to follow-up actions for sexual harassment and sexual violence cases. Regarding follow-up actions for sexual violence and sexual harassment cases within the military, it recommended revising related regulations to require consultation with a 'Sexual Harassment Grievance Review Committee' involving external civilian experts to prevent abuse of discretion by unit commanders when determining whether sexual harassment has occurred. Additionally, to prevent concealment and coercion in sexual violence and harassment cases, it suggested establishing measures to reduce command responsibility if commanders properly implement separation measures and efforts to prevent secondary damage after becoming aware of the incident.

The Commission also presented measures to prevent secondary damage. It stated that definitions of secondary damage should be established in the 'Unit Management Regulations' and the 'Regulations on Support for Gender Equality in National Defense,' and that the names and other personal information of the victim and alleged perpetrator must be thoroughly anonymized until prosecution. Furthermore, it recommended separately stipulating disciplinary measures for violations of confidentiality obligations concerning sexual violence victims in the 'Military Personnel and Civilian Employee Disciplinary Procedures Regulations.'

This recommendation by the Human Rights Commission follows its decision to conduct an ex officio investigation last August to assess the situation after a series of suicides related to sexual harassment and sexual violence within the military. The Commission stated, "The fact that a soldier suffered sexual violence while fulfilling their national defense duties and lost their precious life is a grave human rights violation that goes beyond an infringement on individual human dignity, reflecting the state's failure to protect the life and safety of soldiers." It added, "We will continue to strive to protect and promote the human rights of soldiers, including monitoring the Ministry of National Defense's implementation status in the future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.