Monday, 12 March 2018

In the wake of the recent meeting discussions between Presidents Trump and Kim Jong Un, members of UK religious communities rallied to appeal to the South Korean government to investigate religious leaders involved in programmes called “coercive conversion” that recently led to the death of a young woman. The rally was co-hosted by the AVCCP (Association for Victims of Coercive Conversion Programs) and IWPG (International Women’s Peace Group).

Hundreds of people, including high-profile leaders and members of the London Christian, Buddhist, Sikh, Islamic, and Jain communities, gathered to protest this human rights violation on Saturday 10th March in Parliament Square.

UK supporters at the rally could relate to this issue, since radicalisation is a growing cause for concern in the UK. In particular, British prisons are addressing an increase in forced conversions to Islam, as has been reported by the Prison Officer’s Association.

Vardata Singh from the London Central Gurdwara said: “It was very inspirational, it was a time of great sadness when forced conversion is becoming more widespread in British prisons, it has become almost an epidemic, and the need to protect people’s rights to religious freedom is imperative”

Satya Minhas, President of the Hindu Council UK said, “The rally has done so much good for all the people that gathered together to give a common message to the world. Hindus are fully committed and we fully support any campaign, any initiative, anything we can do against coercive conversion taking place around the world”

A representative of the AVCCP in the UK said, “Alongside the UK religious community, we are calling on the South Korean government to enact a law that will ban coercive conversion programmes.”
Although this movement against coercive conversion began in South Korea, it sparked an international wave of protests in over 30 locations worldwide including the US, South Africa, France, Zimbabwe, Australia, Japan, Germany, and the Philippines.

Ms. Gu Ji-In, a coercive conversion victim in South Korea, died of cardiopulmonary arrest on 29 December, 2017. She was 25 years old. Her parents are under investigation for her death for allegedly collaborating with Christian pastors to enrol Ms. Gu in the programme to change her religious beliefs. This was not the first time she was enrolled — after escaping 44 days of captivity in another conversion programme in 2016, Ms. Gu petitioned the South Korean Government for a law banning coercive conversion and legal repercussions for leaders involved.
There are currently over 1,280 victims of coercive conversion in South Korea alone, and the number is growing. Religious leaders in the United Kingdom are urging the South Korean government to enact a law that criminalises coercive conversion.

Contact: 07982 682468
Email: AVCCP@mail.com
http://www.kangpiyeon.org/main.html?lang=kor