Advocates for Public Interest Law Buddhism Human Rights Committee Corporate for All Democratic Legal Studies Association Democratic workers for Solidarity Joint Committee with Migrants in Korea Korean Confederation of Trade Unions Korean House for International Solidarity Network for Glocal Activism People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy Public Interest Lawyers Group ‘Gonggam’ Sarangbang Group for Human Rights
Dear friends,
We wish to share with you the following statement from Korean civil society groups
Asian Human Rights Commission
Hong Kong
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Stop the process of forced land acquisition immediately!
Thousands of residents are protesting the construction of Posco’s steel plant by lying on the ground Posco is attempting to evict them from. The Indian Orissa state government is illegally threatening civilians by using police force, even though the protest is peaceful. It seemed impossible to build steel plant without trampling on the children and women who are lying on the ground to protect their livelihood. Why are residents fighting barehanded against armed police forces?
The Posco Orissa Project has faced a plethora of problems since the beginning of 2005. Posco even failed to figure out the number of residents or the amount of forest located on the construction site. Posco has also showcased its ineffectiveness by carrying out a faithless environmental effects evaluation and by hosting a one-sided public meeting.
Moreover, twice the Government Investigation Committee has investigated the construction area and they issued a report calling for a withdrawal of project approval in 2010. This was due to the fabricated agreements gathering process, which is effectively the entire project’s foundation.
It is justified that the residents cannot accept this police-enforced project, which showcases a clear lack of procedural legitimacy. It is reasonable for them to get angry about the pains they have suffered for the last 6 years.
Currently, international societies are watching the protests of residents arising from Posco’s Steel plant construction in India. The name of Posco as one of Korea’s leading companies has been reported with photos of children lying down on the ground by not only the Indian press, but also by media throughout the world. Through these news reports, all people in the world may remember Posco as the company that forcefully acquires land. If any tragic bloodshed occurs, Posco will be branded as a company who abuses human rights.
We need to ask Posco that in this serious situation, do they really just want to disregard the Orissa State Police’s use of violence towards the local people who are lying on the ground, protesting?
Both the Indian and Korean governments have shown their interests regarding the steel plant project, which is estimated to be valued at a staggering US$12 trillion. However both governments are closing their eyes to the dangers of enforcing this project. Economic outcomes are important but the Indian
government wants to disregard resident’s objections in the name of the law despite the Government Investigation Committee’s results. Similarly, the Korean government is not considering who will be on the losing end of this project and who will really pay price for this project.
Korean Civil Society remembers the message sent by Bynayak Sen who received the Gwang-Ju Human Rights Award this year. He said many of those less fortunate in India had already been exploited because of the imprudent development by multinational companies. He urged Korean Civil Society to avoid any more victims due to Posco’s development projects.
The residents’ claims are justified. They are demanding Posco to let them choose by democratic due process whether to accept or reject the development project and for Posco to respect the results. Until these requests are respected, the ongoing process of forced land acquisition by the police should stop. If Posco goes ahead with its project and builds a steel plant against the local people’s voices, Posco’s image will be irreversibly tainted; thus, it will not be easy to proceed with other development projects in India as planned.
Furthermore, regarding human rights violations by multinational cooperation, international societies emphasize the responsibility of respecting human rights when investing in a country. Since the Korean government has fully supported this project, it should do its best in preventing all human rights abuses by Posco.
Our demands from Posco are as follows:
First, they must immediately stop the process of forced land acquisition.
Second, they must follow the due process of democratic and fair agreements
conducted by the residents.
Third, the Korean Government should responsibly intervene with regards to the
recent state of Posco.
21 June, 2011
Signed by:
Advocates for Public Interest Law
Buddhism Human Rights Committee
Corporate for All
Democratic Legal Studies Association
Democratic workers for Solidarity
Joint Committee with Migrants in Korea
Korean Confederation of Trade Unions
Korean House for International Solidarity
Network for Glocal Activism
People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy
Public Interest Lawyers Group ‘Gonggam’
Sarangbang Group for Human Rights
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