Interview with Former Chairperson Park Sun- young of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Concluding its Second Term

"South Africa, which was under colonial rule for over 300 years, finally came to terms with its past in just three years. But South Korea has been dealing with its past for over 20 years. Resolving the issue of the past is about achieving justice, not a pawn for some leftist lawyers."

Park Sun-young, former chairwoman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), said in an interview with this newspaper, “In Korea, settling past history has become a ‘commercialization,’” and “Justice has long since been distorted into vested interests.” Park served as the final chairwoman of the second-term Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which launched in December 2020, and resigned on the 26th of last month, concluding her term. Regarding the Democratic Party of Korea’s push to revise the Past History Act to launch the third-term Truth and Reconciliation Commission, she said, “If we continue to cling to the past, a proper investigation of the truth will be delayed, and victims may be forced into lawsuits again.” The interview with Park was conducted on the 25th of last month, a day before her retirement, at the TRC’s office in Jung-gu, Seoul.

In an interview, former Chairman Park said, “The unreasonable situation in which the issue of resolving past history has become a means of business for left-wing activists continues to persist,” and “The so-called past history specialist lawyers and law firms are using the past history as a business.” Previously, attorney Kim, formerly of the Lawyers for a Democratic Society (Minbyun), was indicted on charges of receiving 2.47 billion won in legal fees for taking on around 40 lawsuits, including lawsuits for state compensation filed by victims based on cases he investigated while working at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He was found guilty by the Supreme Court in 2022.

Orphelinats : retour à la case départ ? De notre envoyé spécial en Roumanie.

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Following a nomination by INEA, the Executive Board of the University for Humanistic Studies has appointed Elvira Loibl as Endowed Professor of Recognition, Dialogue, and Recovery after Intercountry Adoption. The chair is established by the INEA Center of Expertise on Intercountry Adoption. Elvira Loibl will focus on research into both the recognition of past abuses surrounding intercountry adoption and how recovery can take place, both at the individual and societal levels.   

Elvira Loibl on the endowed chair: “With this chair, I want to contribute to legal clarity and consistency in addressing the complex questions surrounding state responsibility and reparation. I also want to strengthen the role of adoptees by placing their voices and needs at the center of the debate, and build a bridge between the government and adoptees to promote constructive dialogue. My goal is to use this knowledge to better inform policy debates, stimulate broader public discourse, and jointly explore meaningful forms of recognition and reparation.”  

New research and expanding knowledge 

When INEA was established,  it was tasked  with revitalizing the scientific infrastructure surrounding intercountry adoption. The chair was established to promote research, education, and knowledge transfer in the areas of recognition, dialogue, and recovery surrounding intercountry adoption. The chair's ambition is to bring together and deepen the relevant interdisciplinary scientific knowledge. James Timmermans, INEA manager: "Funding for this chair creates the opportunity to conduct new research and expand knowledge on relinquishment and intercountry adoption. This is not only beneficial for science but also for practice, as it contributes to improving the care and support for adoptees."  

Relational perspective 

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Adoption from Nepal is beginning to look like trafficking 

A NEPALI TIMES INVESTIGATION

FROM ISSUE #339 (09 MARCH 2007 - 15 MARCH 2007) | TABLE OF CONTENTS SUBSCRIBE NT PRINT REFER WRITE TO EDITOR 

 

OFFENCES AGAINST CHILDREN

Child smuggling racket busted

In May, 2001, the West Bengal Police arrested three key persons in Cooch Bihar District, engaged in international child trafficking. The three accused were identified as Upendra Nath Sarkar, one of his sons, Nayan Sarkar and Majidul Haque. Two Bangladeshi kidnapped children were rescued from them. Another racketeer, Nitai Das, was arrested from Bhaktinagar area near Siliguri. The gang had earlier smuggled out 22 children from India and Bangladesh to Dubai via Nepal. The accused used to kidnap children below the age of 10 from Bangladesh and remote villages of India to send them to Dubai from where they were sent to different Arab countries to be used in Camel races.

Adoption racket busted

During May, 2001, a child adoption and trafficking racket was unearthed by Orissa Police in Cuttack. Seven children, between six years and one year were rescued by the police in a raid from the orphanage premises, Vikash Parishad Sishu Ashram (VPSA) run by Sukhdev Swain. The orphanage was functioning illegally at Kadampada in the outskirts of Cuttack city since 1994. Some eminent persons were arrested in connection with this racket. All the children were found housed in the most deplorable conditions. They were malnourished and ill treated.

They wonder why an NGO, Madras Social Service Society (MSSS), which adopted Koraikuppam, has not provided tangible help.

COVER STORY

A long wait for relief

T.S. SUBRAMANIAN
in Chennai

Digging for roots
Saturday, March 18, 2006 03:25:42 pm

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Looking into the past
Arun Dohle, a German citizen, is not here only to get to know his birth
country better. He is in India to find his biological mother.

Thirty three years ago, Arun was adopted by a German couple. But life,
without knowing about his real parents, has never been complete. The
orphanage in Pune from where Arun was adopted first told him they have no
records and then they plainly declined to give the details. But his
search, that started five years ago still goes on with no result till now.


Arun Dohle says, "First thing is that the adopted child should not search.
But we are not children, we are adults. Then the agency says that the
mother was unwed and she dumped you and does not want to see you. But this
is a vital human right."

Finding the biological parent is a tough task in India. This in spite of a
Supreme Court judgement in 1987 that clearly says that once the adoptee
child attains age of maturity, there is no serious objection in giving
details about the biological parents."

Similarly for Maria Chaya, the hunt for her biological mother has been
long and traumatic. When she was just four, Maria was adopted by a German
couple, but she was convinced she was kidnapped and then sold to foster
parents.

Maria Chaya, another adoptee, says, "I was treated very well. My mother
loved me very much. I always had enough to eat. I find it difficult to
believe that she gave me up for adoption. I tried to find out whether this
was true or not. But the nuns refused to let me see my records."

With so many stumbling blocks, more than 40 Indian adoptee children from
all over the world have come together in an e-forum. Indian Roots aims to
help one another and to bring more into the fold. Arun and Chaya are also
battling for their right to know who their parents are, in Indian courts.

The reasons that must have triggered each one of them to search for their
biological parents may be different, but the sentiment is the same, a
strong sense of being incomplete. But when it comes to revealing the
biological parent, the Indian system has grey areas. People like Arun are
however ready to fight the system.




(By Beverly White)







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ABSTRACT 

India’s adoption laws reflect layers of history and belief. In 1890, the Guardians and Wards Act created a guardianship route for non-Hindu families, leaving the child tied to birthline inheritance. Sixty-six years later, the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act established a clear path for Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists to adopt—and to grant full inheritance rights. A more open option emerged with the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act in 2015, inviting any citizen to take in an orphan or abandoned child. Yet the old Hindu statute remains alive, producing two parallel systems. That gap affects who can adopt, how quickly a child finds a home, and which rights a new family enjoys. This study traces each law’s origins, unpacks the holes they leave, and looks at how outcomes vary by community. It brings together a doctrinal analysis to build a single, cohesive adoption law- one that honors India’s constitution and its international obligations