In order to diminish the number of unemployed persons and reactivate domestic economy, the president Mr. Lee Myung-bak has made a policy to booster construction work. At the moment, about 300 areas have been designated as the area of redevelopment or a so-called ‘New Town’.
Youngsan 4-ga, Seoul is the area where a residential and commercial complex is to be built in starting February, 2009. It is about 53,441 square metres and about 85 percent of people who had either lived or run business in the place got compensation and left their house. It is reported that those residents who left their house had been continuously threatened by thugs hired by construction companies. About 100 families did not leave, claiming proper compensation. Meanwhile, nearly 80 percent of the area has been demolished.
On January 19, 2009, about 30 affected people including those who were evicted in other area occupied the roof top of a four-story empty building and hold a protest. They temporarily built the watchtower and asked the relevant authorities not to evict them but to provide temporal place to earn a living and to live. On response without any attempts to persuade or negotiate with the affected, however, 1,400 police were deployed with 100 police special unit at the spot at 4am on January 20.
While the police operation started, the affected threw Molotov cocktails protesting this operation. The police used water cannon toward the watchtower and at the same time police unit inside the container hanging by a crane attacked the watchtower from the air. In this process, a fire flamed inside the watchtower, which killed at least six persons including one police officer and injured about 20 people. Having had known the fact that the watchtower was full of thinner and discussed possible incidents might have happen, the commanders, in charge of ignored them and ordered to operate the mission. No safety facilities such as fire workers, mattress and doctors were prepared.
As soon as this incident took place, police blocked outskirts of the building. Under the situation that police neither allowed the family members nor journalists to visit the scene, the police clandestinely moved dead bodies to an ambulance nearby blocking them with police shields. On transferring the bodies to a hospital, autopsies were conducted without obtaining consent from the families and allowing family members to be present in the process of the post-mortems. Even worse, family members were not allowed to see the bodies after the autopsies.
Films taken by either individuals or internet media showed that one protester hanging on a wall for few minutes in order to avoid the fire fell down and they were uploaded to the internet where a few thousands have seen them. However, the police commander in charge of has denied of this fact. It is also revealed that before the police started operation, the thugs hired by the construction company fired tiers lower floor of the building by threatening the affected to leave the building in the presence of the police.
While the investigation is conducted by prosecutors, nine protesters who were hospitalised after being injured from this incident were arrested. A legal representative asked for the participation in the interrogation but failed to meet them because the attorney-at-law was given the room number that was incorrect and denied to access to them due to the reason that some of the arrestees were video-recording.
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) associates its grief with the dead, injured and their family members caused in the process of police suppression against protesters and in the meantime, it strongly condemns the police excessive action caused several killed and injured. The police responsible for the loss must be thoroughly investigated and punished in accordance with law.
Noting that serious doubts have been raised by the families of the dead and injured and civil society, the AHRC urges the government to form an independent body that include civil sectors in order to show no doubts will be raised any longer and furthermore, find the truth of the incident.
We also urge the government to take up the issues that legal representatives are denied of providing legal support to the arrestees of the incident in the interrogation process so that the denial of legal representatives are addressed as early as possible in accordance with Criminal Procedure Act.
The AHRC is also concerned that the similar incident may occur in the future due to the fact that about 300 areas have been designed for redevelopment. In this regard, it urges the government to recognise and fulfil the right to adequate housing, which is enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to which the South Korea is a state party.
