SOUTH KOREA: Arrest of high profile government employees, union leaders and migrant union leaders 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you of the arrest of three high profile union leaders in South Korea. According to the information we have received, Mr. Ahn Byeong-Soon, the General Secretary of the Korean Government Employees Union (KGEU), was arrested on 15 March 2005, and on March 17 the courts allowed for his continued detention. The police also arrested Mr. Kim Young-Gil, KGEU President, on April 8. Both men continue to be detained. They were arrested on the charges of leading a general strike in November 2004.

More recently, on May 14, Mr. Anwar Hossain, head of a new migrant workers’ union, the Seoul-Gyeonggi Incheon Migrant Trade Union (MTU), was arrested by officers from the immigration control division. He had played a prominent role as a migrant worker activist and had been openly critical of the government’s policy towards undocumented migrant workers. On May 16, authorities from the government declared that once they receive Mr Anwar Hossaion’s passport, he will be deported from the country.

The situation for migrant workers in South Korea is worsening. Undocumented workers have been facing massive arrest and forced deportation for the last one and a half years. (See further: UP-15-2004, UP-01-2004, UA-73-2003) We therefore ask you to write a letter to the following relevant authorities listed below urging them to release Mr. Anwar Hossaion immediately and to ensure that he is not deported, as well as stop the crackdown against migrant workers.

Please also ask for the revising of the Bill on the Establishment and Operation of Public Officials’ Trade Unions, so as to put Korean law in accordance with international standards. Please also ask that authorities ensure the implementation of the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 9 December 1999, in particular articles 1, 5.b and 12.2, all of which require states to defend and promote the rights of individuals to protect human rights and freedoms and to participate in non-governmental groups and organisations. Finally, please ask the authorities to take steps to guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and other international human rights instruments ratified by South Korea.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
————————————————————

DETAILED INFORMATION:

Case one
Name of arrestees:
1. Mr Ahn Byeong-Soon, KGEU General Secretary
2. Mr Kim Young-Gil, KGEU President

Mr Ahn Byeong-Soon, General Secretary of the Korean Government Employees Union (KGEU), was arrested on 15 March 2005 and on March 17, the courts allowed for his continued detention. Mr Ahn is reportedly imprisoned in Seoul Prison. The police also arrested Mr Kim Young-Gil, KGEU President, on 8 April 2005. According to the KGEU, it is to be feared that he will be detained and imprisoned for several months. They were arrested on the charges of leading a general strike in November 2004.

These arrests took place in the context of a general crackdown on KGEU, which is considered to be an illegal union, as it is illegal for civil servants to organise themselves into any kind of group in South Korea.

Mr Ahn Byeong-Soon and Mr Kim Young-Gil were arrested after an arrest warrant was issued against them on 9 November 2004 in relation to a general strike opposing the Bill on the Establishment and Operations of Public Officials’ Trade Unions, which took place in November 2004. At the time, the government of Korea attempted to prevent nation-wide rallies organised by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and KGEU in protest at this Bill. Riot police have surrounded and monitored the KGEU office building since November 2004 and have prevented almost every event of the KGEU.

Background:
At a press conference on 8 September 2004, the Minister of Government Administration and Home Affairs announced that all rallies and demonstrations would be banned, and organisers and participants charged with criminal acts. The Minister also announced that he might withhold subsidies from local government authorities negotiating collective agreements with the KGEU, and that the ministry would prevent KGEU from creating a ‘struggle fund’, and prosecute the organisers of the fund. He further issued directives on 9 and 13 September 2004, prohibiting government departments from permitting the collection of union solidarity funds and the collection of union fees for the KDEU on the grounds that it is an illegal organisation.

While the KGEU was holding a rally on 9 and 10 October 2004 in order to mobilise opposition to the proposed Bill on the Establishment and Operation of Public Officials’ Trade Unions, the police responded violently, and ten union members were injured. Another 40 members were arbitrarily detained for 20 hours. On October 19, the government held a ministerial meeting to deliberate and confirm the Bill, and decided to submit it to the National Assembly. The Bill was passed on 31 December 2004, and is due to take effect in 2006. It is likely to be enacted as a special law under the Trade Unions and Labour Relations Adjustment Act and contains provisions restricting the rights of trade unions.

Case two:
Names of arrestee: Anwar Hossain, 34 years old, Bangladeshi migrant worker, head of the new Migrant’s Trade Union
Date of arrest: 14 May 2005
Alleged perpetrators: Officers from the immigration control division

On 14 May 2005, one of South Korea’s most high profile, undocumented mirgrant worker activists was arrested. Anwar Hossain, head of the new Migrants Trade Union (MTU) that was inaugurated last month was arrested by officers from the immigration control division.

Anwar, on the day he was arrested, had just been featured in a prominent national paper criticising the government’s policy towards undocumented migrant workers. Anwar announced during an interview that the MTU was planning to propose a Bill to the National Assembly in August that aims to abolish the three-year time limit on E-9 Employment Permits for migrant workers and extend further health benefits and labour rights to them.

Activists close to Anwar reported that his hands, arms and head were injured during his arrest, which involved over 20 immigration officials and police.

His arrest followed the deportation of a number of other migrant workers — two Bangladeshi members of the ETU’s sit-in team by the names of Abu Bakar and Jewel were picked up in early May, as were two Nepali activists named Jibon and Gagendra.

On May 16, authorities from the government declared that once they receive Mr Anwar Hossain’s passport, he will be deported from the country.

Background:
After passing the Employment Permit System (EPS) bill in 2003, the South Korean government announced its largest crackdown effort to date, to begin on 16 November 2003. It targeted some 150,000 undocumented workers, including the majority of politicised migrant activists who had fought for the EPS.

The crackdown proceeded at a brutal pace. In the first two months of the crackdown over 30,000 migrants left voluntarily while the government detained and deported over 10,000, and many committed suicide. The rights of migrant workers were abused, including the refusal of due process, indefinite detention and deportation, and physical assault by police and immigration officials at protests and rallies. As substantial as the number of deportations was, the crackdown had the dual purpose of silencing those migrant workers who chose to remain behind.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write a letter to the relevant authorities listed below voicing your concern at the seriousness of these arrests and the general situation for migrant workers in South Korea.

 

 

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER