Hotline Asia Urgent Appeals -- UA060327(3)
Activists Arrested As US Military Base Expansion Endangers Home of Elderly Villagers
~SOUTH KOREA~
27 March 2006
Action Requested || Sample Letter || Background
Please respond before
29 March 2006, as the 2 peace activists will be tried in court on that day; OR
14 April 2006 to support the long-term struggle of the residents in Pyongtaek.
Summary
The residents of Daechuri village, Pyongtaek in Kyungki-do, northwest of South Korea, who are mostly farmers in their 60s and 70s, were injured while resisting the latest eviction attempts on 6 March and 15 March 2006 for the expansion of Camp Humphreys, a neighboring US army base.
The expansion will deprive the people in Pyongtaek of their lives in their home village. Moreover, peace activists regard this act as a disturbance to the peaceful situation in the Korean peninsula.
During the peaceful demonstration on 15 March, two human rights activists Park, Raegoon of Sarangbang Group for Human Rights and Cho, Baeki of Catholic Human Rights Committee were arrested. They were later charged by the court on the 18 March under "Interference with Government Officials in Execution of their Duties", and soon transferred to Pyongtaek Prison. Thus, their right to peaceful assembly is infringed.
While the protest on 15 March has successfully halted the destruction of the rice field, local residents are expecting a renewed round of seizure in the near future. Local groups, such as "Save PT Farmers" and "Pan S Korea Commission against US base expansion in Pyongtaek" were appealing for attention on this imminent issue.
Action Requested
Send polite letters to South Korean government and urge the authorites to:
Release human rights activists Park, Raegoon and Cho, Baeki
Stop attempts to evict residents of Daechuri village.
Renew consultation with the locals so their concern can be addressed in a peaceful and humanitarian manner.
Re-consider to stop military base expansion in Pyongtaek, for the sake of the elderly villagers and peace in the land of Korea.
Send letters to:
President Roh Moo-hyun
Blue House
1 Sejongno Jonno gu
Seoul, South Korea (110-820)
Fax:
(82) 2 770 4943
Send copies to:
Minister of Defence, Yoon Kwang-woong
Ministry of Defence
22 Leetaewon road, Yongsan gu
Seoul, South Korea (104-701) Fax: (82) 2 748 6026
Judge Sung Ji-yong
Pyongtaek Branch, Suwon District Court
152-3 Dongsak-dong Pyuntaek-si
Kyunggi-do, South Korea (450-140) Fax: (82) 31 650 3004
Prosecutor Choi Woon-shik
Pyongtaek Branch, Suwon District Public Prosecutor's Office
245-1 Dongsak-dong Pyungtaek-si
Kyunggi-do, South Korea (450-718) Fax: (82) 31 650 3555
Diplomatic representatives of South Korea (or Republic of Korea) in your country.
Sample Letter
We are gravely concerned with the evictions in Daechuri village, Pyongtaek in March, for the expansion of Camp Humphery, a US military base. Residents of the village are in their 60s and 70s, and the seizure of their land, without adequate compensation, means taking away their life. Moreover, two human rights activists, Park, Raegoon and Cho, Baeki, were arrested in the peaceful protest against police seizure on 15 March 2006.
We respect your country's accession to International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and would like to draw your kind attention to Article 21 of ICCPR which states that citizens have the right to peaceful assembly. Moreover, the spirit of providing socio-economic security to your people is shadowed by the act of arbitrary seizure of Daechuri village for the expansion of Camp Humphery.
Thus, we humbly request you to:
1. Release human rights activists Park, Raegoon and Cho, Baeki
2. Stop attempts to evict residents of Daechuri village.
3. Renew consultation with the locals so their concern can be addressed in a peaceful and humanitarian manner.
4. Re-consider to stop military base expansion in Pyongtaek, for the sake of the elderly villagers and peace in the land of Korea.
Background
On 6 March 2006, the Ministry of Defense tried to occupy Daechuri Primary School in Pyongtaek by force in order to use the building as an office for the expansion of US military base, Camp Humphery. Thus, human rights activists had a press conference in the primary school, and then held a peaceful demonstration. Some activists were reportedly arrested, including the chairperson of Catholic Human Rights Committee but released two hours later. The Ministry's plan to occupy the building eventually failed.
Again on 15 March 2006, around 4,000 policemen and private service corps invaded the Daechuri village. Residents and activists protested the invasion peacefully. During the confrontation, some people were injured and 3 villagers were hospitalized. 40 participants were arrested, but were released on 17 March 2006, except for Park Raegoon and Cho Baeki, who was trying to stop a forklift truck being used in the evictions. They were charged and sent to Pyongtaek Prison.
Expansion of the US military base in Pyongtaek
Activists noted that US Military Base in Pyongtaek 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 the peace sustained with difficulty around the Korean peninsula. Therefore, the people in Pyongtaek, human rights and peace movement activists have organized daily candle lights demonstration for 550 days against the expansion of the US Military Base since 2003.
A testimony given by a 77 year old villager, Mr. Kim Suk-Kyung, to the Daechuri International Solidarity Collective demonstrated much agony. "We were kicked out in 1952. The Americans forces forced us to leave so they could expand their base…..Our houses were also destroyed by bulldozers. We had no choice but to take down our homes and move to this place." (In 1952, the villagers of Daechuri left their homes empty-handed. The base runway at Camp Humphreys, which used to be part of the village, is still referred to by Daechuri villagers as "old Daechuri".)
Pyongtaek is famous for its rice in South Korea. The land in Pyongtaek was cultivated by the residents of Paengseong themselves. They believe the land is their life.
Since 2002 when Pyongtaek was selected as the new relocation site by the Land Partnership Plan (LPP - in which, additional land space from Pyongtaek, Euijeongbu, Ichon, and Pohang are granted to US Forces in Korea), the residents began their struggle to protect their land from the US forces. Additionally, after the "Future S. Korea US-alliance Policy Initiatives" (FOTA) meeting which concluded with the decision to relocate Yongsan and the Second Infantry Division, a US forces unit which stationed near the border, to Pyongtaek, the protest expanded to an all out struggle to save the community. About 5 residents have died during four months of struggle in Daechuri. Many other residents have resorted to alcohol, drowning in their grief.
In December 2004, the Korean government planned to give an extra 2,851 acres to the US Army base Camp Humphreys in Kyonggi province. The 2,851 acres included 523 acres in the Seotan area and 2,328 acres in the Paengseong area of Pyongtaek. There are 535 households totaling 1,372 residents in the planned areas. In December 2005 the government's Land Expropriation Committee approved the 'imminent domain' seizure of the village of Daechuri, a move which made the farmers' existence on their land illegal, with land ownership passed to the Ministry of National Defence.
After a consultation led by the Ministry of National Defence, the residents of Daechuri were offered a lump sum in compensation. However, they were determined on a low estimation of their land value: since the area is reclaimed from tidal flats, meaning the land price was already low compared to other farming areas. It would be almost impossible to buy equivalent areas of land for subsistence farming with the lump sum offered.
Source:
Catholic Human Rights Committee
Pan S Korea Commission against US base expansion in Pyongtaek (http://antigizi.or.kr/english)
Save PT Farmers International Solidarity Action (http://www.saveptfarmers.org)
Amnesty International
Please remember to send copies of your letters to Hotline Asia for monitoring purpose.
Thank you for Your Continued Support!!
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