Text Fwd: UN Special Rapporteur assesses freedom of expression in S.Korea

'Pastor Choi Hoon-guk shows the fine issued by the police for engaging in a hunger strike in front of the Cheong Wa Dae, May 12. '

Hankyoreh
May.13,2010
UN Special Rapporteur assesses freedom of expression in S.Korea Civic organizations say suppressions of legal assemblies and forced fingerprinting point to the suppression of civil rights

A blocked plaza and widespread police summonses are indicative of the reality that as of May 2010, human rights are in dire straits throughout the Republic of Korea.
Frank Larue is currently visiting South Korea as a Special Rapporteur sent by the UN to investigate the current state of freedom of expression in the country. The current administration and public authorities, however, appear unconcerned with the reality of South Korean human rights from his perspective. On Wednesday morning, Larue began a round of visits to organizations such as the National Police Agency, Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK). Larue also met with officials from the Yongsan Tragedy Countermeasures Committee, Internet commentator “Minerva” Park Dae-seong, and dismissed workers from Ssangyong Motors. But at that moment, citizen expression was still not free: not in Seoul Plaza, not on the Internet, not in the police station holding cells.

At 1 p.m. on Wednesday, groups such as Solidarity of Human Rights Groups held a press conference at Seoul Plaza in front of Seoul City Hall to decry suppressions of freedom of expression and the mass issuance of summonses. The groups said, “Police have sent summons to those who legally attended reported assemblies.” Three individuals from People’s Solidary for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) were targeted, namely representative Lim Jong-dae, Deputy Secretary General Park Won-seok, and Center for Government Administration Watch secretary Jang Jung-wook, who held an assembly at around 3 p.m. on May 6 at Seoul Plaza to call for guarantees on freedom of expression. It was the first assembly permitted there by police in more than two years, the last having taken place in March 2008.

Police, however, abruptly ruled that the assembly for which they had received proper notification was “illegal,” citing the number of participants and location. Seoul Namdaemun Police Station said, “The initially reported number of participants was fifty, but some 600 people showed up, and the location was near City Hall Subway Station rather than in front of the Plaza Hotel, which was the reported location.”

Police have continued to issue summonses despite objections from civic and social groups. Police sent summonses to Korean Federation of Medical Groups for Human Rights planning bureau head Byeon Hye-jin and Association of Physicians for Humanism Secretary General Lee Sang-yun. The summonses were issued because of a press conference held by the civic group Banollim on May 6 in front of the Samsung Electronics building in Seoul’s Seocho District following the funeral of Park Ji-yeon, a Samsung employee who died of leukemia. Byeon and Lee married last month, and it is the first time a married couple has jointly received summonses.
With police issuing summonses without regard to time, many have received summonses for assemblies that the participants themselves do not remember. KCTU Law Center attorney Kwon Du-seop received a notice to report to police by May 10 regarding a South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (KORUS FTA) assembly held on March 3, 2007. And Korean Peasants’ League chairman Lee Gwang-seok received a summons in early April to report to Jongno Police Station for questioning regarding a KORUS FTA assembly held on March 25, 2007.

On Tuesday, a human rights activist resisted being forcibly fingerprinted by police at Seoul Geumcheon Police Station. Solidarity of Human Rights Groups activist Nameundeul, anonymous, was arrested by police on charges of violating the Law on Assembly and Demonstration while taking part in a demonstration with two other activists at Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Plaza calling for guarantees of freedom of expression. Nameundeul was questioned at the police station after identity confirmation through presenting a passport. The problem arose at the end of the questioning, when police attempted to forcibly collect fingerprints to make an investigation data sheet, to which Nameundeul refused. The activist ended up submitting to fingerprinting when a court identification warrant was issued.
Human rights groups claim that fingerprint collection and sealing fall in the category of one’s right to self-determination and that citizens therefore maintain the right to resist forcible fingerprinting by state organizations. Park Ju-min, an attorney with MINBYUN-Lawyers for a Democratic Society, said, “Even if it is prescribed by law, it is not right to compel fingerprint sealing simply to obtain investigation data.” Park also said, “It is a violation of an individual’s fundamental right of freedom of person.”
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