(Park Lae-goon's been released, but I thought I would post Amnesty's press release anyway.) 

South Korea: US base demonstrator attacked and detained by police

Press release, 07/19/2006

A prominent human rights activist, Park Lae-goon, will appear in court tomorrow having been beaten up and detained after peacefully demonstrating against the forced eviction of farmers in the northwestern region of Pyongtaek.

"Park Lae-goon is a prisoner of conscience and must be released immediately," said Rajiv Narayan, East Asia researcher at Amnesty International. "He has been detained for over a week solely because of his peaceful campainging for the Pyongtaek farmers."

Park Lae-goon was arrested on 9 July. He had been demonstrating for the rights of farmers in Pyongtaek, whose land is subject to an eviction order to make way for the expansion of a US army base. According to witnesses, Park and other demonstrators were attacked by another group wielding wooden staffs, but police officers monitoring the demonstration did nothing to stop the attackers. One protester suffered a severe head injury and had his teeth broken, according to a local human rights group.

Some of the demonstrators, including Park, went to the police station to complain about the lack of action on the part of the police. They also complained that the police had blocked the road into the village of Daechuri, preventing residents from getting into their own homes. Rather than consider their complaints, the demonstrators say the police beat up Park and other protesters and arrested them. Most have now been released, but Park Lae-goon remains behind bars.

"Everyone has the right to demonstrate peacefully and the police should be upholding this right, not attacking and arresting people who exercise it," said Rajiv Narayan. "The dispute over villagers' land around Pyongtaek should be settled by means of a fresh consultation that takes account of the farmers' concerns -- not through force."

On Thursday 20 July, the court will either formalise or drop the charges against Park and will decide if he should stay in detention or be released on bail.

Background
Daechuri village in Pyongtaek is subject to an eviction order to allow for the expansion of a neighbouring US army base, Camp Humphreys. The residents of the village, mostly farmers in their 60s and 70s, have been resisting eviction attempts since February 2006. They say the compensation offered will not be enough to buy equivalent land elsewhere and their livelihoods are at stake.

A consultation carried out before the eviction did not result in the farmers' concerns being taken into account and appeared to be mainly for show, according to those protesting the eviction. Amnesty International is concerned that the current settlement leaves the famers in a precarious situation, with few opportunities to make a living.

For more information, see:
South Korea: Elderly farmers forcibly evicted for US base: http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA250012006
South Korea: Thousands of riot police in bloody eviction for US base: http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA250042006

Posted by savePTfarmers at 07:21 PM | Permalink

    The Government's actions have divided former neighbors creating scars between those who left and those who stayed. 'Who is going to compensate for the destruction of the community?'
Reporter Jeon, Jong Hie

    Hong, Myung Gi, a former resident of Daechuri who moved to an apartment in downtown PyeongTaek, looks at the field of Hwang Se Woul where he used to farm, after packing his remaining possessions.

    For residents of Daechuri, PyeongTaek, as well as former residents who have left, life is very painful. A major reason is the serious division and animosity between the current 66 households residing in Daechuri and the 96 households who gave in to the extreme pressure and compensation incentives to sell their land. The community has already been ruined.

    It seems pretty obvious that former residents are suffering from the animosity that's been created between the current residents and former residents. Those 27 former residents who have been interviewed between the 2nd and 9th of this month, consistently declared that they were personally suffering from being branded as 'betrayer' by their 'family like' neighbors.
    One Mr.Hong, who left the village (with less than $40,000, not enough to live as he had before) sighed, "I wept and felt heavy while seeing the rice paddies, but I had no choice but to leave the village, although I was considered a betrayer."  Mr.Bong (55) said anxiously, "in the village, we had shared affection and respect, but now most of the contact between those who stayed and those who left has been cut."
    Mr.B (45), who moved to downtown Pyeongtaek, said "I can't easily return to the village to get my remaining possessions because of the villagers' eyes." and "I, too, was in pain when I saw the police uproot the trees at the primary school, some of which I had planted." he drooped. One Mr. H (68), who left a month ago, said "I wish they wouldn't blame those of us who left the village, because people have different thoughts and lives." He also said "do not give up the struggle even though few people remain."
    On the other hand, villagers have shown hostility towards people who left the village saying "they're enemies." One Mr. J (70), who was interviewed in the peace park of Daechuri, said "They became enemies because they left us." Mrs J, who drank soju in daylight nearby the old people's home, said with an air of anger "if they hadn't have left, we would have already won the fight." The government's actions in this village have turned once strong and affectionate relationships into ones of hatred and rage.
    Whether the people had stayed in the village or left it, they universally said that "it is bitterly sad to encounter such an awful situation of fighting with neighbors who once lived together in harmony." Hong sun gi (65), who is staying in the village despite having received the compensation in Oct. of last year, said "I put my seal to the document intending to follow the government policy." and "the government split the community into two after all."
    Who is supposed to compensate for the destruction of the community? The residents of Dachuri were forcibly removed from their land twice, in 1942 and 1952.  First when the Japanese came and then the U.S army base. After these forcible removals, they devoted themselves to transforming the wetlands into fertile fields and created a successful and harmonious community.  This 3rd removal from their lands for the realignment & expansion of the US army base hurts the residents still more than before because this time, residents who previously went through hardships and joys together have been split.
    Korean society still isn't paying attention to the loss and suffering of the residents and the value of their community.  Their situation of being forcibly removed isn't so different from what happened in the 1970s when develpoment was booming. Song young-seob, a professor of urban engineering at Hongik University, said "Going over the history of urban development, when only receiving compensation, the residents tend to experience worsening living conditions.  It is difficult to buy equivalent land and a house elsewhere and they must adapt themselves to the new circumstances. Nam un-kyeung, secretary of the Citizen's coalition for Economic Justice, criticized, "the government doesn't compensate for the value of community, history, environment, etc, and those are difficult to quantify with money.

The reporter Jeon jong Hui /symbio@hani.co.kr

article from Hankyoreh   

 

 

Posted by savePTfarmers at 07:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Korean government said they are planning to drive all of the daechuri people out and tear down their houses soon.
Keeping the houses from being destroyed is the most important struggle in July.
Last weekend, several young people started a fun direct action.
They cleaned a deserted house and remodeled it. It was done for two days, last Saturday to Sunday.

Let's see the pictures!



























This project will continue.
You can join it!!!
Go to http://www.stopcrackdown.net/peace (It's Korean website.)

Posted by savePTfarmers at 01:17 AM | Permalink

On Friday, July 21st, the first hearing for Kim Jitae, Daechuri village leader, was scheduled to be held. His lawyers intended to attempt to have him released on bail. Prior to the start of the hearing, however, the trial judge announced that the trial would be postponed. The first hearing is now scheduled for August 8th. No explanation was given.
Kim Jitae is reportedly being held in solitary confinement, but can receive visitors. He is charged with allegedly organizing illegal protests.

Posted by savePTfarmers at 01:07 AM | Permalink

On Saturday, July 22nd, at 2pm, 2,000 people gathered at Pyeongtaek station to protest the planned expansion of US military base Camp Humphreys.
Speakers asked the crowd gathered to consider what US “strategic flexibility” really means and what that will imply for the future of the Korean peninsula. Several groups sang and danced, and Daechuri and Doduri residents also came to attend the event.

Following the main rally, the 2,000 person crowd began to march toward Daechuri. The march was blocked by police from crossing the Anseong river. They then moved across the paddy fields towards a second bridge to cross the river, but were also blocked there by 6 police busses. Military helicopters and vehicles surveyed the progress of the entire march.

The march ended essentially in the middle of the second bridge where  2,000 participants listened to speakers, sang and danced on the bridge. The crowd dispersed at 5:30pm. 

Approximately 150 pro-expansion demonstrators from Anjungri simultaneously rallied at the 3-way intersection leading to Daechuri.

Posted by savePTfarmers at 01:03 AM | Permalink

Lifelong human rights activist Pak Rae-gun has been released!!!

 

There will be a rally to demand the "release" of Daechuri and Doduri at 2pm Saturday at Pyeongtaek Station. After the rally, the participants will march toward Daechuri.

 

 

 

Posted by savePTfarmers at 09:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

On the 19th, a group of cyclists began a "Peace Ride" up from Gunsan. 

 

 

Posted by savePTfarmers at 03:51 AM | Permalink

Release Korean Human Rights Activist, Park, Raegoon




Arrested for Protesting Expansion of U.S Military Base in Korea







1. Outline




- On the 9th of July, lots of human rights activists and civic activists together with the residents demonstrated peacefully protesting against expansion of US military base in Pyungtaek. But the police attacked the demonstrators to take 45 demonstrators to a police station. During this collision, the police abused the demonstrators both verbally and physically which resulted in lots of injuries. Those who were taken to the police stations were accommodated to Suwon South, Bundang, and Kunpo police station separately.




On the 10th of July, 42 out of were released. However they carried out a warrant examination against three human rights activists at Suwon District Court : Park, Rae-Goon(Sarangbang Group for Human Rights), Kim Duk-Jin(Catholic Human Rights Committee) and Lee Yong Suk(A World without War).




On the 11th of July, Kim Duk Jin and Lee Yong Suk were set free but Park Rae-Goon of Sarangbang Group for Human Rights was arrested on the suspicion of  violating the Law on Assembly and Demonstration. Park Rae-Goon was sent to Suwon Prison, numbered 312.




The police alleged that the human rights activists organized a demonstration without permission during night and they obstructed the police in the discharge of their duties. However, the truth is compeletely different, almost opposite. The human rights activists named above marched towards Daechuri totally peacefully against expansion of US military base, which definetely threatens 속 residents' rights to live peacefully. But shopkeepers committed a brutal violence against the demonstrator. Then the demonstrators asked the police to stop the violence. Instead of stopping violence committed by shopkeepers, the police attacked the demonstrators. Lots of demonstrators were injured by violence committed both by shopkeepers and police.




Park Rae-Goon was in charge of "Peaceful March Group to Daechuri against US military Base and Korea-US FTA". The group started marching from the presidential residence, Chungwadae on the 5th of July. They planned to march 285 'ri' to Pyungtaek. The distance 285 ri symbolizes the area of US military base to be expanded, 285 million 'pyung'.  So the March Group planed to walk 285 ri in order to take back 285 million pyung area. And Park Rae-Goon is the chair of the Group.




On the 8th of July, the last day of the march, the demonstrators were marching to Daechuri peacefully. However, they were stopped by the police after the Candle Lights Demonstration at Pyungtaek Station. The shopkeepers there threw eggs and stones at them, but the police never took any action on the violence by the shopkeepers. Thus the demonstrators rushed to the police station to urge them to stop the violence and protested the neglect of the police duty to stop any violence.




But at the very late night of 8th and early morning of 9th, the police commited violence against the domonstrators of activists and residents and walked the demonstrators away to the police station without distinction.




The police alleged that the demonstration is not pre-permitted thus, the demonstration is illegal. If all the assemblies and demonstration should be permitted by the police in advance, any protest demonstration or movement on the spot cannot be possible. This is clearly against freedom of assembly. The Supereme Court declared that 'a demonstration on the spot' is not illegal. It should also taken into account that Par Rae-Goon never did any harm to anybody.







2. Background




The arrest of Par Rae-Goon, human rights actitivist, is a severe attack at 'human rights protectors'. The police and the prosecutory authorities in Korea have closely watched the activities of human rights protectors and attacked them politically and physically. Thus, the arrest of Park Rae-Goon should be understood a target attack at the people who are against the expansion of US military base.




In particular, it should be noted that the police attacked the demonstrators by the nape of their neck, the police inspectors themselve joined the violence committed at the demonstrators, they took demonstrators illegally to police station. This clearly reveals that the police attacks human rights and peace. The arrest of human rights protector, Park Rae-Goon is the arrest of human rights movements themselves by the government.  




On the 4th of May, the Ministry of Defence occupied Daechu primary school by force. Since then daily violation of human rights has been witnessed at Daechuri without difficulty. Their farmland was surrounded by barbed-wire entanglements in order for the residents to stop farming.  The Defence Ministry designated 285 million pyung in Daechuri as Military Protection Area, where movement of residents and visitors are not free at all. The physical and mental damage of the villagers are severe. Thus the villagers asked the authorities to withdraw the military and police forces from their village, and to release the arrested. However, their reply was to start force demolition of empty houses in the village in July, which expects another human rights violation in large scale.




The US and Korean governments agreed to add new 1,154 ha to the existing 1,513 ha of US military base in Pyungtaek under the name of 'Strategic Flexibility.' It should be noted that US Military Base in Pyungtaek will play a major role in attack and containment against the People's Republic of China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which will destroy peace sustained with difficult around the Korean peninsula. Therefore, the people in Pyungtaek, human rights and peace movements activists have organized daily candle lights demonstration for 600 days against the expansion of the US Military Base. The expansion will deprive the people in Pyungtaek of their lives in their home village. The Peaceful March Group to Daechuri against US military Base and Korea-US FTA should be understood in this context.










3. Demand




- Set human rights activist Par Rae-Goon free immediately!

- Dismiss Head of Pyungtaek Police Station immediately for police violence on    the 9th!

- Punish policemen committed violence on the peaceful domonstrators              immediately!

- Stop coersive questioning by patrol police in Daechuri and Doduri                immediately!

- Stop the plan to expand US military base and expropriation of land by force    immediately!










Please, send any protesting messages to the following addresses:







President Roh Moo-hyun




Blue House

1 Sejongno Jonno gu

Seoul Korea(110-820)

fax: +822-770-4943/+822-770-2440







Minister of Defence Yoon Kwang-woong




Ministry of Defence

22 Leetaewon road, Yongsan gu

Seoul Korea(104-701)

fax: +822-748-6026










Minister of Justice Cheon Jung-bae




Ministry of Justice

Building # 1, Gwacheon Government Complex,Jungang-dong 1, Gwacheon-si, Kyunggi-do, Korea(427-720)

fax: +822-503-3532







Prosecutor Kim Sun-hwy




Suwon District Public Prosecutor's Office

80 Woncheon-dong, Youngtong-ku, Suwon city,

Kyunggi-do,  443-703, Korea

fax: 82 31-210-4611







Kim In Ok




Head of Pyungtaek Police Station,

619 Bision-dong, Pyungtaek city,

Kyunggi-do, 450-150, Korea

fax: 82 31-652-4982







Please, send the copies to:




Sarangbang Group for Human Rights




8-29, Myungryun-dong 2ga, Jongno-gu

Seoul Korea(110-522)

humanrights@sarangbang.or.kr

fax: +822-741-5364

Posted by savePTfarmers at 03:45 AM | Permalink

 

Movie here

Dear loving people  
                          
This is  Father Mun Jyeong Hyeon
Executive chairperson of the Pan Nat'l Solution Committee against the expansion of US Military Base in PT


I am an  eye-witness on cruel  government.

The riot police and army attacked villagers and civilians in order to occupied the fuge and rich farm land for the expansion of US militatary base.

Jitae Kim, headman of the village and other civilian activists are in jail now. Residents have been forced to give up their farm land.
I feel the heart-breaking pain,

Since the 4th of May this year. The villagers are just like refugees. The villages are being searched by soldiers and police every day and night. No one is free to come in and out of villages without inspection at checkpoints. Even a priest for Mass is not accepted.

I even went on a hunger strike in front of PyeongTaek police station and blue house, the resident of President No for three weeks. There was no response from the government.

As long as even one person is in jail, it is like all of us confined in prison. I believe that none of us are free until the US base expansion project is called off for good.

"All the prisoners should be free."
"The expansion of the US base in Pyungtaek should be renegotiated."
"Troops must withdraw from villager's farm land."

"The so-called strategic flexibility of US forces in Korea cannot bring peace to Korean peninsula."

Please pay a bit more attention to the Pyungtaek matter in your daily life and visit Daechuri and Dodu-ri, if possible.

Please be with us in our struggle.

Posted by savePTfarmers at 01:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Notes from the Peace March from the Blue House to Pyeongtaek

I didn't get to join the march until Saturday morning, but I hear that all went smoothly and according to plan the first several days.
I got to meet up with the marchers just after they had passed Jinwi subway station. Everyone was all smiles and high spirits, despite having been on the road since Wednesday.

We had a police car in front and back of us and a couple motorcycle police directing traffic.

Together we marched through Songtan, along highway 1, past the city offices and through the Songtan industrial zone. We passed the road that leads to Godeok-myeon where another farming community is facing eviction for a related development project, variously called an "International Business City", a "Peace City" and an "International Free Industrial Zone" - exactly what it will be is still foggy. We ate at Jijae station and then marched on to the Pyeongtaek detention center where Kim Jitae, Daechuri village headman, is still being held while awaiting trial on charges of allegedly organizing illegal demonstrations (which is nonsense, by the way. It is the opinion of this author that the government simply believes that average people are too stupid to know right from wrong and too lazy to organize themselves, and so they need a leader - which we know is preposterous. But that aside - ).

At the detention center we were joined by a number of Daechuri and Doduri residents. A peaceful sit-down demonstration was held, at the end of which the front wall of the detention center was blissfully and peacefully entirely covered with stickers which read "Choose Peace" (it's a pun, actually, in Korean, Pyong-hwa-rur / Teak-ha-ra!, with the Pyeongtaek being in large circles).

 

After the detention center, we marched on past the main Pyeongtaek Police station which was heavily guarded with riot police and then on to Pyeongtaek train station where a peaceful candlelight vigil was held by about 1,000 or 1,500 participants.

At the vigil, several friends and I saw an elderly man videotaping the crowd, face by face. We thought it odd, and my friends suggested that he was possibly a right-wing individual. But we thought no more of him as we began to chant "Daechuri, Doduri, Hwangsaeool, Chikimi Imnida" (We're the guardians of Daechuri, Doduri and the field - yes, it sounds silly in English, perfectly natural in Korean). Perhaps we should have given the man more thought.

After the candlelight rally, about 100 or 150 people marched on towards Daechuri. It was not expected that we would be allowed into the village, but it was rather a symbolic action. We made it to the Hyundae Oil Bank (gas station) at the corner where you can turn off the main road and head directly into Daechuri. There, we stopped and gathered in the empty parking lot to listen to some songs and watch some performances.

Then we received word that some villagers had been beaten and at least one had been sent to the hospital emergency room. We had no more word for maybe 10 or 15 minutes and then heard that some business owners from Anjung-ri, the village that is adjacent to the main gate of Camp Humphreys were drunken and enraged because their businesses have been suffering due to the protests - and that they were headed our way.

(Soldiers are not routinely allowed off base if there is a protest against the U.S. military in the vicinity. I seriously doubt there would ever be any random acts of violence against non-Korean passers-by, but I suppose it's fair for them to be on the safe-side.)(I would also like to add on a personal note that while I am sure that there are many, many legitimate businesses outside the gate of Humphreys, I am perfectly aware as well that there are plenty of brothels and "juicy bars" where women are trafficked in from all over the world to "service" the soldiers. I am terribly sorry that the legitimate business owners are suffering. I am not in the least sorry that the pimps and human traffickers are suffering monetary loss.)

So, there we were, like a bunch of perfect peacenik hippies (honestly some folks were dressed up in what looked to me like faerie costumes) listening to some folk music and shuddering at the thought of some really pissed-off, drunk and stick-wielding business owners (legitimate or not!) coming our way.  Should we stay or should we go back to the train station? What would be safest? What would provoke them the least (we did NOT want to provoke them, we want them to understand that the farmers are losing their homes, their communities and their land and their whole lives, whereas the business owners are losing some profit...)? And then, what if the group we were facing was some kind of crazy group of pimps who had hired gangsters... oh my!  

I have rarely heard so many people say "don't panic" - and you know that's when panic really sets in.

From my point of view, this is what happened next: We heard they were coming, so we sat in rows and linked arms and put our heads down. I got hit in the leg with a rock, but at the moment, couldn't figure out what had happened. The next moment, the person to my left looked up because someone was crashing into us from above and he got smashed between the eyes with an egg. I saw lots of people and police crashing around and it seemed pretty clear that several of the (allegedly) Anjung-ri business owners had broken past the police lines and were pelting us with rocks and eggs. The police then pushed them outside their lines and we shifted around and resumed sitting cross-legged, heads down until things calmed a bit. A man who sounded extremely inebriated went into a long diatribe about how "if we loved North Korea so much, why didn't we move there". (I would like to state for the record that I have yet to speak to anyone who so much as likes North Korea. The demand of the residents is simply that the base does not EXPAND and destroy their villages. The demand of civil society is merely that the U.S. forces Korea does not use the peninsula to wage wars against other countries, particularly the Asian neighbors. Rumsfeld's and the Pentagon's reiteration, time and again that the Global Posture Review is all about "strategic flexibility" and being able to send "lethal force" anywhere, anytime is giving people legitimate jitters that Seoul will end up in the crossfire as a result of some idiotic decision from Washington. There are many who believe that the division of the peninsula is maintained unnecessarily by the U.S. and who wish that USFK would leave so the North wouldn't have the excuse of "foreign imperialism" to build up it's military... and then there are those who realize that North Korea doesn't have the capability to carry out any kind of aggressive action, and so U.S. forces here are simply silly and displacing farmers to accommodate an anachronism is ... stupid. I've encountered lots of differing views, but not one North Korea lover. Not a single one.) We then marched back to Pyeongtaek train station mostly under police guard.

 

 

- I understand from others that the people who attacked us were also wielding sharpened PVC pipes and were screaming that they were going to stab/impale us on them. I did not however see this myself. I also understand that several police intelligence officers were seen chatting friendly-like with some of the attackers. Again, this I did not see with my own eyes, I had my head down as I was getting pelted with rocks and eggs. -

At the station, we prepared to go to various area lodging facilities when we received word that the bus of Daechuri residents (mind, these people are in their eighties) had been stopped outside the village on it's way back from the candlelight vigil and was not going to be allowed into the village because there were three college students on board. The students were staying in the village for three days and had left their bags and whatnot inside the village. They'd only planned on attending the vigil and returning to the village. The residents refused to separate from the students and all of them had camped out in front of the police line for the night. (Now that's some hard-core grandparents!)

The group decided to sit in solidarity with them outside the gate of the main Pyeongtaek police station. As it turned out the station was unguarded and the front gate was unlocked. Someone had to use the pay phone and there was some kind of misunderstanding about protestors being inside where they shouldn't have been. Things settled down for about 30 seconds and then the riot police busses - I counted 7 - rolled in. I understand that 45 people of about 80 or 90 were arrested. Several have been released but at least 3 are going to be held in detention and tried - accused of "leadership". (Preposterous! There was no leadership. Not one leader in that whole group of people. Just a group of people who agreed together that they wanted to let the government - in this case the police - know that not letting the 3 college students into the village was silly and they should stop being unreasonable. Leaders! Bah! What a load of crap!) A number of people were injured during the arrests and it is alleged (I was down the street at the time) that the police basically came suddenly into the crowd, batons blazing and just arrested everyone they could catch.

As the crowd scattered, they could hear the police yelling "get those fuckers!" Everyone has a hair-raising story of how they narrowly escaped capture - some were harbored by kindly neighborhood residents, I hear, but those stories are not mine to tell...

My story resumes the next day at 1pm at Pyeongtaek train station when we began to gather for the (second) march to Daechuri. The march was peaceful and uneventful. At the intersection that the police had designated as our end-point, outside the village, we held a rally, listened to speakers, and danced. Then all peacefully returned home, tired, and worried about our friends who had been arrested, but overall, in good spirits.

 

 

 

Posted by savePTfarmers at 12:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)