UPDATE (South Korea): Two peace activists face trial and several injured by the police in Pyeongtaek 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that two human rights activists named Jang Do-jeong and Shin Yong-gwan are facing trial while about 10 protesters were injured in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi province, South Korea, when they tried to stop the police cutting off waterways leading to rice fields on 7 April 2006. Today, the Pyungtaek Branch, Suwon District Court accepted the police’s request for the arrest warrant against the two activists who were charged with interference with government operations and illegal protest. The police’s action was taken to thwart local farmers from planting rice in an area where a U.S. military base will relocate. People in Pyeongtaeak and many peace activists have been holding daily candlelight gatherings for over 500 days against the forced eviction of farmers from their homeland and the expansion of the U.S. military forces base in Pyeongtaek, which may have a negative impact on peace on the Korean Peninsula. For more details, please refer to our previous urgent appeal FA-009-2006 or background information described below.

DESTRUCTION OF WATERWAYS AND RICE FILEDS IN PYEONGTAEK

On 7 April 2006, 700 Defense Ministry workers blocked two out of the three canals and one pump pipe supplying water to the 2.85 million-pyeong (about 2,328 acres) of rice fields where the U.S. military forces base will relocate. For this work, the ministry hired construction workers and brought dozens of construction machines, including excavators, bulldozers and cement mixers. Meanwhile, police also dispatched 6,000 officers to halt the demonstrators. The action was taken by the Defense Ministry, who has faced fierce resistance from local farmers and peace activists demonstrating about the inability of farmers to properly farm the land without the water from the three canals. The Defense Ministry said that they conducted this operation because illegal farming in those areas would delay the relocation of the U.S. military base.

At about 9:30am, when about 100 construction workers attempted to go into Hamjeong-ri to close the Dodu-ri canal, about 50 local farmers and members of the KCPT, a civic group opposed to the U.S. military base relocation to Pyeongtaek, stopped them and subsequently a confrontation ensued. Four hundred local farmers, who heard the government’s plan to cut off the canals, refused to leave and yelled that the land belonged to them. However, the government-hired workers dug up the ground for the Hamjeong-ri waterway under the protection of 11 police squadrons and finally closed the waterway by pouring concrete into it at around 12:30pm. At 3:00pm, the police again forcibly broke up the anti-relocation protest and the Dodu-ri canal was also closed. However, the ministry workers failed to cut off the Shindae-ri canal due to strong resistance by the protesters. The ministry workers also destroyed some rice fields as well as the bridges linking them with excavators and bulldozers.

During the operations 10 protesters were injured and 30 protesters including local farmers were arrested on charges of interference with government operations and illegal protest. Twenty four of those arrested were later released. The six persons who were detained in several police stations in Pyeongtaek are Jang Do-jeong, Bae In-seok, Moon Yu-seong, Lyu Gi-man, Yoon yeong-il and Shin Yong-gwan. Upon the police’s request for the arrest warrant against these six persons, the Pyungtaek Branch, Suwon District Court today accepted the arrest of two activists named Jang Do-jeong and Shin Yong-gwan while rejecting the arrest of the others. As a result, these two men have to now face trial under detention.

The tension will undoubtedly increase in Pyeongtaek as the Defense Ministry has said that construction will start in July and that it will step up its efforts to ensure that the project does not fall behind schedule.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS

Park Raegoon and Cho Baeki, two human rights activists who had been arrested during the demonstration against the expansion of the U.S. military base to Pyeungtaek on 15 March 2006, were released on bail by Pyungtaek Branch, Suwon District Court on 29 March 2006. However, their charges have not been withdrawn and they are still at risk of being re-arrested if they participate in any activities against the expansion of the U.S. military base.

Mr. Park and Mr. Cho were arrested on 15 March 2006 when 4,000 policemen and hired persons went into the village. The police took 40 people into custody. Not until two days later were 38 of the 40 people released. Mr. Park and Mr. Cho were, however, further detained and were charged by the police with the interference of government operations. Meanwhile, several villagers were injured by the police and three of them were sent to hospital. Kim Yeon-ja, aged 65, cannot move her body due to injuries to her waist. Lee Eun-beom, aged 72, fainted after she was thrown into a rice field by the police and her head was crushed against the ground. Kim Wol-joo, aged 60, was also attacked by the police and her left wrist was cracked. Yoo Seung-aae, aged 64, was also attacked and her right knee ligaments were ruptured. Kim Tae-im, aged 53, was pushed hard by female police officers and suffered injuries to her abdomen. She could not however receive hospital treatment as she could not afford the medical expenses. Regarding this case, please also refer to our previous urgent appeal: FA-009-2006.

BACKGROUND INFORMAITON

The U.S. and Korean governments agreed to add another 1,154 hectares to the existing 1,513 hectares of U.S. military base in Pyeongtaek in the name of ‘strategic flexibility’. People in Pyeongtaeak and many human rights and peace activists have organised daily candlelight gatherings for over 500 days and raised their voices against the expansion of the U.S. military forces base, saying that the base will have a negative impact on peace on the Korean Peninsula, which is already vulnerable.

The villagers and activists also claim that the expansion of the U.S. military forces base will deprive the people in Pyeongtaeak of their normal existence. The villagers have farmed the lands for generations and do not want to leave their home place. In Daechu-ri and Dodu-ri, where residents mounted staunch resistance, only 51 percent of the 297 households agreed to the terms of the government’s land purchases. The remainders have been forced to accept the government’s offers by the court. As a result, the villagers, who have refused to move, are about to be forcibly evicted by the police due to pressure from the Ministry of Defense. Furthermore, the compensation the government has offered is insufficient for those displaced to settle elsewhere.

The villagers in Daechu-ri have suffered from constant relocation by the government for several decades. The village was relocated when the airfield was constructed during the Japanese colonial period. After independence, and since the U.S. military forces base was opened in Pyeongtaek, the villagers have been relocated several times due to the expansion of the base.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please immediately write to the Korean authorities listed below and other relevant UN agencies and express your concern about this serious matter.

 

 

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