Text Fwd: Coalition partially lauds SC ruling, reiterates call for probe on unconstitutional US basing

Text Fwd by Corazon Valdez Fabros, No US Bases, Agatha Haun

Coalition partially lauds SC ruling, reiterates call for probe on unconstitutional US basing
Wednesday, February 11, 2009

MANILA, Philippines - The Stop the War Coalition-Philippines, a broad network of over 80 civil society organizations, today expressed its partial approval at the Supreme Court's decision to order the transfer of convicted rapist US soldier Daniel Smith to Philippine authorities even as it continued to challenge the constitutionality of the Visiting Forces Agreement.

This is a partial victory for all those who've been fighting for justice for Nicole and for all those who've been fighting for the sovereignty of the Philippines, said lawyer Corazon Fabros, one of the coalition's spokespersons.

However it is only partial because the Visiting Forces Agreement should have been declared unconstitutional, Fabros added, while pointing out that the transfer of custody could prompt the United States to revisit the agreement.

What the US wants through the VFA is to put its soldiers above the law, beyond the reach of local authorities, Fabros explained. By preventing this, the Supreme Court has struck at the heart of the VFA's ability to give immunity to US troops.

Meanwhile, the Stop the War Coalition reiterated its demand for an impartial investigation into what it calls the obvious and undeniable US basing in the southern Philippines.

The existence of then US Special Forces Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines base in Zamboanga City can no longer be denied; it is there for everyone to see, says Fabros. Its existence is an affront to the Constitution and it is high time the government and the Supreme Court step in to stop this continuing attack on the rule of law.

The Stop the War Coalition-Philippines claims there is incontrovertible proof that the US has effectively re-established US basing in the country since 2002.

Unless this illegal basing is ended, there may be more Nicoles in the future, Fabros warned.





Philippines: Supreme Court orders US rapist to serve term in local jail

Manila, 11 Feb. (AKI) – In a surprise ruling, the Philippines Supreme Court on Wednesday said US marine Daniel Smith, a convicted rapist, must serve his 40 year prison sentence in a Filipino jail. The ruling overrides a 2006 deal signed by Philippines foreign affairs secretary
Alberto Romulo and US ambassador Kirstie Kenney. Under the deal, Smith was to be moved from a local prison and placed in the custody of the US Embassy.

Smith was sentenced in 2006 to 40 years in jail for raping a Filipina named only as 'Nicole' after he took part in military exercises north of Manila in 2005.

The conviction provoked a diplomatic crisis between the two allies with the US threatening to cancel large-scale military exercises with Manila if he was returned to jail.

The crisis subsided after Smith was moved to the embassy. Washington claimed Smith's custody was sanctioned by the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) which came into effect in May 1999. The court has now ruled against that.

At a media conference, Supreme Court spokesman Jose Midas Marquez said the court had no deadline for the negotiations over Smith's return to jail but wanted talks to take place immediately. The court has allowed Smith to remain at the US Embassy pending these negotiations.

Neither the US nor the Philippines government made any immediate comment, while activists rejoiced.

However, the Stop the War Coalition-Philippines, a broad network of over 80 non-governmental organisations, said that the Supreme Court ruling was a "partial victory". The court should have gone further and declared the Visiting Forces Agreement unconstitutional, the network said.

"This is a partial victory for all those who've been fighting for justice for 'Nicole' and for all those who've been fighting for the sovereignty of the Philippines," said attorney Corazon Fabros, one of the coalition's spokespersons.

"However it is only partial because the VFA should have been declared unconstitutional," Fabros added. The transfer of custody could however prompt the United States to revisit the agreement, she said.

"What the US wants through the VFA is to put its soldiers above the law, beyond the reach of local authorities. By preventing this, the Supreme Court has struck at the heart of the VFA's ability to give immunity to US troops."


* E mail from Corazon Valdez Fabros, Tuesday, May 9, 2006
Stop The Planned Expansion of Camp Humphreys (K-6)! Don't steal this land from the farmers of Daechuri!

Text FW: Riding on the Golden Eagle

Text forwarded by Bill Sulzman, Citizens for Peace in Space

Riding on the Golden Eagle

Seoul Pins Economic Hopes on T-50 Sales

By JUNG SUNG-KI
Published: 9 February 2009

SEOUL - South Korea is accelerating efforts to make its first overseas sale of the T-50 Golden Eagle, tying the success of the supersonic trainer jet to becoming a major arms exporter and reviving its economy.

After achieving $1 billion in defense exports in 2008, its largest amount since 1975, the Seoul government has set a goal of $3 billion by 2012. Industry and military officials agree that sales of the T-50, built by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and Lockheed Martin in 2001, are essential to attaining that goal.

The attention given to the T-50 also has cast a pall over the KF-X program, aimed at developing indigenous stealthy fighters by 2020, because of a proposed light-attack variant of the Golden Eagle.

But thus far, the joint international marketing of the trainer by KAI and Lockheed has produced no tangible results.

"It is of no doubt that selling T-50s will be central to boosting the country's defense exports. We expect the first sale to be sealed this year, as several deals are in the works," said Jeon Young-bok, head of the bureau of arms export policy in South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).

"It's too early to judge the sales of T-50s have been stalled, given it normally takes about 10 years to sell new aircraft to other nations," Jeon said, referring to ongoing tenders in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Poland and Singapore.

As for criticism of the T-50 that the approximately $25 million jet is "too luxurious" to use as a trainer aircraft, he continued, "I believe the T-50 will eventually dominate the global trainer market. Simply, customers can't help choosing a quality product in the end."

DAPA and KAI officials say they expect the T-50 and its attack variants to secure about 30 percent of the global trainer market, or 1,100 of 3,300 trainers needed, within 25 years. They claim the Golden Eagle can satisfy air forces around the world because it is regarded as the only high-performance, supersonic trainer in production.

The single-engine jet features digital flight controls and a modern, ground-based training system. It is designed to have the maneuverability, endurance and systems to prepare pilots to fly next-generation fighters such as the Eurofighter Typhoon, the F-22 Raptor, the Rafale and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

The jet has a top speed of Mach 1.4 and an operational range of 1,851 kilometers.

Who Will Be 1st Customer?

With negotiations with the United Arab Emirates and Singapore at a stalemate, Seoul is promoting a sale to Poland.

Sources say Warsaw wants to acquire 16 lead-in fighter trainers to replace its PZL TS-11 Iskra trainers and is considering either T-50s or upgraded versions of Finland's surplus Hawk trainers.

Following a visit by Polish President Lech Kaczynski to Seoul in December, a South Korean military delegation led by former Vice Defense Minister Kim Jong-cheon visited Poland Jan. 18-23 to discuss a T-50 deal. A Polish delegation led by its Air Force commander, Lt. Gen. Andrzej Blasik, flew Jan. 28 to South Korea for a five-day stay.

"According to the Polish military delegation, the Korean T-50 meets all technical criteria to become Poland's training jet," Poland's ambassador to South Korea, Marek Calka, wrote in an e-mail. "The Polish government will soon invite tenders. Polish military experts perceive a potential Korean offer as a front-runner."

South Korea has been in an uphill battle to sell T-50s to the United Arab Emirates in competition with Italy's Aermacchi M-346. The UAE government is to announce a final bidder in April.

Seoul's Yonhap news agency reported Jan. 29 that the Middle East nation's trainer acquisition program would be worth $3 billion.

During his Jan. 16-28 trip to the Middle East, South Korea's National Assembly speaker, Kim Hyung-o, met with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, who concurrently serves as deputy supreme commander of the UAE armed forces, to tout the T-50, according to Yonhap.

However, the prince sought more attractive offset deals from South Korea, the news agency reported, and a modified offer will be made this month.

Seoul's industry and commerce minister is scheduled to visit Abu Dhabi before Feb. 20, when the International Defence Exhibition and Conference will take place there, the Yonhap report said.

The T-50 also is competing with the M-346 for a $500 million deal in Singapore.

FA-50 vs. KF-X

Debate has heated up here over a potential move to replace the Air Force's older fighters with the T-50's light-attack variant, the FA-50 which opponents say could kill the KF-X program.

KAI was awarded in December a $300 million contract to reconfigure four T-50 prototypes to FA-50 aircraft by 2012.

Once mass production starts by 2013, the Air Force would order about 60 FA-50s initially to replace its aging A-37 attack jets and F-4/ F-5 aircraft in the low-tier backup role to the service's high-end KF-16s, F-15Ks and fifth-generation aircraft to be procured, according to sources at KAI and DAPA.

This has raised concerns among local arms developers that the FA-50 could kill the ill-fated KF-X project.

The KF-X aims to develop a fighter by 2020, build 120 of them to replace the F-4s and F-5s, and then sell more globally. The single-seat, twin-engine jet would be stealthier than either Dassault's Rafale or the Eurofighter Typhoon, but not as stealthy as Lockheed Martin's F-35, according to the state-funded Agency for Defense Development, which runs the KF-X program.

In December 2007, the Korea Development Institute, a private economic policy think tank, concluded the KF-X would cost at least $10 billion but could be expected to reap only $3 billion in economic benefits.

"For the KF-X program, the FA-50 development is like rubbing salt into the wound," said a defense expert at a state research institute. "I believe the incumbent Lee Myung-bak administration, which put a top priority on efficient budget management, would also not likely choose the unaffordable KF-X option easily."

E-mail: jsungki@defensenews.com.


* Korea Aerospace Industries

Text FW: NO U.S. BASES CONFERENCE COMING UP

From the Blog of Organizing Notes(Space4Peace) by Bruce Gagnon
Saturday, February 07, 2009
NO U.S. BASES CONFERENCE COMING UP


An event called Security Without Empire: National Organizing Conference on Foreign Military Bases will be held at American University in Washington D.C. on Feb. 27–Mar. 2, 2009.

There is a sense of relief that many here in the U.S. feel after the presidential election, but we understand this is a time to step up our organizing for peace and economic justice - including the growing movement to close and withdraw the nearly 1,000 U.S. military bases located in foreign nations.

From Okinawa and Guam to Honduras, Germany, Iraq, and beyond people who have suffered from the abuses inherent to foreign military bases have been calling for their withdrawal. People in the U.S. have joined this call, outraged by the damage done by U.S. bases abroad and by their expense, which diverts $138 billion a year from addressing human needs and revitalizing our economy.

A broad coalition of groups from across the U.S. is organizing the conference including the Global Network, Veterans for Peace, FOR, CodePink, AFSC, United for Peace & Justice and Peace Action. Bruce Gagnon and GN affiliate Tim Rinne (Nebraskans for Peace) will be doing a workshop on space issues at the conference.

The conference will feature base opponents from many “host” nations and will include leading activists as keynote speakers, panelists and workshop facilitators. Monday, March 2, will be a lobbying day on Capitol Hill, in which we encourage as many conference attendees as possible to participate. The conference will begin with a protest vigil at the Pentagon on Feb 27 from 4-5 pm at the Pentagon Metro stop (take yellow or blue Metro line to get there).

For more information contact: GGold@afsc.org or (617) 661-6130. http://www.projectonmilitarybases.org/

Protests as US Warship Docks in Nagasaki

* Nagasaki in wikipedia *


Forwaded by Joseph Gerson, NO Bases List and Agatha Haun



Published on Thursday, February 5, 2009 by Agence France Presse

Protests as US Warship Docks in Nagasaki

by Agence France Presse <http://www.afp.com/english/home/>


TOKYO - A US warship docked Thursday in Nagasaki to the protests
of residents and a boycott by local leaders who said the visit was in
poor taste in a city obliterated by a US atomic bomb.

The burnt ruins of Nagasaki, the site where the United States
dropped an atomic bomb in August 1945. A US warship docked Thursday in
Nagasaki to the protests of residents and a boycott by local leaders who
said the visit was in poor taste in a city obliterated by a US atomic
bomb. (Photo:Yosuke Yamahata Via Shogo Yamaha/AFP)

The USS Blue Ridge, which is stationed in Yokosuka near Tokyo,
sailed to Nagasaki with a stated goal of promoting friendship between
Japan and the United States.

Hundreds of residents including atomic bomb survivors chanted,
"We are opposed to the port call!" as the 19,600-ton vessel arrived in
the southwestern city.

"We don't want to see the US flag flying at this port and this
feeling will not change until the United States takes a policy towards
the elimination of nuclear weapons," Osamu Yoshitomi, an official at
Nagasaki city, told AFP.

Nagasaki's mayor and regional governor both refused to take part
in the welcome ceremony after unsuccessfully asking Japanese and US
authorities to cancel the visit.

The United States stations more than 40,000 troops in Japan
under a post-World War II alliance. Under a 1960 agreement, local
authorities do not have the right to refuse US warships' port calls.

It was the seventh visit by a US military vessel to the city of
Nagasaki. The US Navy also maintains a major base in the nearby city of
Sasebo, part of Nagasaki prefecture.

Nagasaki Mayor Tomohisa Taue regretted the timing of the visit,
saying that atomic bomb survivors had been optimistic that newly
installed US President Barack Obama would move towards nuclear
abolition.

"Nagasaki cannot accept a port call which rouses anxiety in a
city hit by an atomic bomb," Taue said in a statement.

Some 70,000 people died on August 9, 1945 when US forces dropped
an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Three days earlier, another atomic bomb
killed more than 140,000 people in Hiroshima.

Japan surrendered on August 15, ending World War II.

Text Fw: The Struggle of Ohyunri, South Korea

* Image source*


1, 2, The people of Ohyun-ri, 1st Pan Korean rally against the expansion of Mugeon-ri military training field, Oct. 11, 2008, Seoul, Korea

3. Korea DMZ area(mark added)


4. Kaeseong-Munsan-Paju map (English title added)


5. source from the Committee from P. 15, "Defense Reform 2020 by the SK Ministry of the National defense/ English title added


6. An Alliance For The 21 st Century And Beyond: United States Forces Strategic Digest, October, 2008




"On the basis of an agreement between the ROK and the US, the land was offered to the US military as a training area. It has become an international training ground, used not only by the USFK, but also troops based on Guam, Okinawa, and even the US mainland. This means that this training area was prepared for the purpose of permitting the US to carry out its new military strategy, based on "strategic flexibility", which allows the USFK to conduct offensive operations outside the boundaries of the ROK."

Written by Pan-Korean Committee against the Expansion of the Mugun-ri Military Training Fields, http://www.peaceoh.net/

Translation by Agatha Haun http://www.tlaxcala.es/



The Progressive Expansion of the Mugeonri Training Area


1980: In the vicinity of Mugeonri, a village in the Paju township, Kyeonggi Province, 3,500,000 pyeong of land (more than 10.5 million square meters) are cleared, followed by continuous expansion of the area after that.

1986: Up to this year the training area was expanded to 5,500,000 pyeong (more than 16.5 million square meters). All the residents who lived in Mugeonri at that time were evicted, and some of them moved to Ohyeonri. Now it is expected that the training ground will expand into that area.

1996: There are plans for enlarging the training area again, to 10,500,000 pyeong (more than 31.5 million square meters).

2008, September: A rushed announcement is made, afterward evaluation and assessment in Ohyeonri is moved forward.

2009: At present, the great majority of the residents do not accede to the National Defense Ministry's plan to buy them out, and appeasement and threats are used to win them over.

In September last year, residents protested against the National Defense Ministry's high-handed evaluation and assessment methods. Because of that, in connection with the illegal arrest of some residents, and the investigations that were set in motion, residents were summoned and compelled to make written apologies. This ran parallel with disgraceful coercion and pressure on residents.


The nature of the Mugeonri training area


As the only joint type of large-scale training area in the north part of Kyeonggi Province, it has been used for practicing the military strategy of an offensive against the North. It is expected that from now on it will seriously hinder the peace and reunification of the Korean peninsula.
On the basis of an agreement between the ROK and the US, the land was offered to the US military as a training area. It has become an international training ground, used not only by the USFK, but also troops based on Guam, Okinawa, and even the US mainland. This means that this training area was prepared for the purpose of permitting the US to carry out its new military strategy, based on "strategic flexibility", which allows the USFK to conduct offensive operations outside the boundaries of the ROK.


Residents of Ohyeonri living in the area where the enlargement of the training area is planned


Currently there are more than 200 residents, living in more than 100 households. They live mainly by raising livestock and farming. It is a handsome village with beautiful scenery and many natural monuments. During the more than 30 years since the training area was first created, the residents have endured the suffering caused by the noise of tanks and so on during training exercises. In the meantime, the state, far from paying any compensation for the harm suffered by the residents, now is again trying to force their eviction. The majority of residents are outraged by this violence and oppose it.


The residents' demands


Out of the entire area planned for the expansion of the training ground, more than 9,300,000 pyeong (over 28 million square meters), essentially 8,400,000 pyeong (more than 25.2 million square meters) is now secured by the Ministry of National Defense. In connection with this, on the occasion of the inspection of government offices, some National Assembly members asked the Minister of Defense why the military cannot conduct exercises in the training area in its present condition. Lee Sang Hee, the Minister of Defense explained that the training space had already been sufficiently enlarged, and that the residents were being made to remove simply for the sake of their own safety and security. However, in the middle of the training area where the village is situated, there is a national highway where every day several hundred thousand vehicles pass by. If one looks at it in light of the fact that there were already military units within the training area, this is merely an unconvincing, deceitful answer. The residents have already been living there for several decades already without any problem at all and training has gone on, and since the Minister of Defense himself said that the space needed for training had been enlarged enough, the residents demand that they be allowed to continue to live in their homes. Along with compensation for harm caused by living inside the training area, the residents are demanding the construction of sidewalks, in order to put an end to the danger caused by the careless driving of tanks. (In fact, this is the place where two middle school girls were run down and killed by a US armored vehicle in 2002.)


The need for international solidarity


As has been mentioned, this place is being used by the US as a training area for the purpose of implementing the aggressive, new military strategy that it intends to follow in Northeast Asia. Even so, although at present the US military has somewhat reduced its training exercises here, because of the residents' struggle, it is expected that if the residents all are expelled and forced to leave, the US military forces' training will proceed in earnest. (Due to an agreement between the ROK and the US, it was decided already that the US forces would use more than half the entire number of training days (91 days).) It is clear that this increases tension in Northeast Asia and has become a serious obstacle to reconciliation and cooperation between South and North Korea. Deepening military antagonism on the Korean peninsula and in Northeast Asia has become a major challenge to the peace of the entire world. Accordingly, the struggle to prevent the enlargement of the Mugeonri training area must become an significant concern and a matter of solidarity among the peace-loving people of the entire world.
We hope for your international solidarity and support for the Ohyeonri residents' hard struggle!

* For more *

Candle light vigil


About Mugeonri training center

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paju


http://activistphoto.net



* For more reference*

Realignment of U.S. Forces in Korea and Changes in US-ROK Military Alliance(Oct 2008)

http://usacrime.or..kr/ (Check English in the top right)




* The article was thankfully translated in Japanese by Makiko Sato.

http://www.anatakara.com/petition/struggle-in-Ohyun-ri.html


* The article was loaded.

http://www.spark946.org/bugsboard/index.php?BBS=eng_4&action=viewForm&uid=16&page=1

http://indymedia.cast.or.kr/drupal/?q=node/28

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/39631

* For more info.

Six largest World Militaries

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/39634

No US Base Conference

http://space4peace.blogspot.com/2009/02/no-us-bases-conference-coming-up.html

Appeal text fwd: [imc-korea] urgent international appeal for 5dead while protesting against an imminent forced eviction in Korea

* Image source: 5 protesters killed by the police in south korea
* The appeal text is in the IMC-KOREA
* The site below was alos loaded on the Nonviolence(Czech Republic) website
* The site below was also thankfully translated in Japanese by Makiko Sato in
http://www.labornetjp.org/news/2009/1233703003276Staff

The http://www.labornetjp.org/ also included
http://tvpot.daum.net/clip/bloader.swf?vid=JpaWTvpwlDM$&borderOff=true&flvPlayerType=tube&emerging=true&secid=05N31&srcid=428757
http://www.labornetjp.org/worldnews/korea/topics/yongsan09


Jan. 27, Tuesday, 2009

Friends,

I forward this forwarded from two of my activist friends (sinojo21@hanmail.net, dopehead.zo@gmail.com) in Korea. The original document came from the Korean activist group, Sarangbang Group for Human Rights (humanrights@sarangbang.or.kr)

The document is appealing to you for your international solidarity with sign and message regarding the 5 dead people while recently protesting against an imminent forced eviction in Korea. For detail, please look at through the document.

For the photos and videos regarding the incident, you may check this Korean website, too.

http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/society/society_general/334235.html

Thanks very much for your concern and solidarity.
Bless for your works.
Sung-Hee

----

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: dopehead zo
Date: Tue, Jan 27, 2009 at 12:12 PM
Subject: [imc-korea] urgent appeal
To: imc-korea@lists.indymedia.org

hi happy new year!
please circulate and spread this urgent appeal so that we can get support, props, solidarity actions from every corner of the world.
thanks.

Urgent Appeal for immediate action
Stop forced evictions and further death in South Korea

In South Korea, 5 people died while protesting against an imminent forced eviction

1. Summary of the Incidence

At 6 a.m. on 20th January, people who were asking for solutions to avoid eviction in February in Youngsan-Gu, Seoul lost their lives as a consequence of violent oppression from the police. A 1500 strong police force was dispatched to disperse about 50 protesters.

The police actions taken toward these protesters were similar to those taken in times war. Less than a day after those facing eviction started protesting and without further conversations or an effort to discuss the issues, the government dispatched a special police force and staged an anti-terror operation.

After the police entered the building where the protesters were, a fire broke out and the circumstances became dangerous. However, without taking any safety measures, the police proceeded with the operation which resulted in the death of 5 protesters and 1 police officer.

Dispatching a special police force for an anti-terror operation in less than 24 hours is a rare case even in South Korea. Since the Conservatives took power however, the police have often cracked down on protesters in a violent way. This incidence also happened under this context.

A place to pray for the dead was set up at the spot of the incident. Despite of it being the Korean New Year holiday, visits from people continue. A fact finding committee composed of civilian organizations is carrying out investigations whilst the government is trying to close the case as soon as possible.

2. Background and Characteristics

It is well known that there are many problems coupled to rapid re-development projects in South Korea. Existing solutions (such as compensations, providing temporary place to stay etc) are neither realistic nor properly implemented. It is especially worrisome that forced eviction, which is prohibited under international human rights law, is being pursued under the auspices of the government.

South Korea, who is a signatory to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, was requested twice by the Committee on the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to provide protection to victims of forced evictions. However, as shown in this case, the South Korea government violated its obligation to respect the right to an adequate housing and to not being forcibly evicted. It also violated its obligation to protect the safety and the life of victims of forced evictions.

For over a year, lodgers in the re-development project area demanded the Yongsan-Gu Office for appropriate protection. The Yongsan-Gu Office provided no opportunity for talk or negotiation. Local lodgers went to the Youngsan-Gu Office to file an appeal but got rejected. During this appeal process, private security officers hired by the construction company threatened the lodgers and sexually harassed them.

However, the police did not take any action against the private security officer's practices. Despite the fact that eviction in the cold season requires the taking of special measures prior to the eviction, the Youngsan-Gu Office approved the construction company's request to initiate the re-development from February. Lodgers faced with forced eviction entered the empty building to stage protests against this process and lost their life due to violent police operation.

Lodgers living in re-development areas are excluded from both the process and results of re-development projects as they do not own a property in the area. Re-development to improve the housing condition causes inequality in housing as many lodgers have to move into a place worse than their previous housing. A serous problem is that in the previously re-developed area, only 10~15 % of local residents will get to stay in that same area.

Lodgers suffer a serious violation of their housing rights during the re-development process. The aim of re-development projects should be in improvement of housing conditions and relieving poverty for the people living there.

The government is obliged to provide necessary information and guarantee participation for people living there regardless of their ownership of the housing. However, these demands are ignored by the government and the construction companies who get benefits from the re-development in South Korea.

On the other hand, the investigation carried out at the government level is criticized for being biased. The police carried out autopsies of the bodies of the victims without the consent of their families. The police report on the incident was revealed to be false in light of a variety of evidence reported by the major media. The police attitude, which is neither democratic nor transparent, creates deeper mistrust.

A fair and impartial system for the investigation is urgently required. Rather than trying to close the case as soon as possible, an effort to prevent this kind of tragedy from happening again and a guarantee of democratic participation are required.

3. Demands

- Guarantee participation of civil organizations in the investigation process to secure a fair and thorough investigation.
- Punish those responsible for the incidence.
- Review current re-development projects which do not guarantee the right to housing of the lodgers.
- Guarantee the right to housing as a human right.

4. Action for everyone

We would like to show international support at the second pan-national memorial for the dead. Please email us your supporting messages and let us know whether you would sign our statement by noon of the 30th January. Please also send us a copy of your complaints for those responsible. Sending complaints for those responsible continues until mid February.

Email to Sarangbang Group for Human Rights: humanrights@sarangbang.or.kr

1) Send us your supporting messages.
2) Please sign the statement below.

Statement

We urge the South Korean government to protect victims of forced evictions and to carry out a thorough investigation and punish the responsible for the deaths that occurred during the police action in Youngsan-Gu, Seoul 20th January 2009.

We pray for the repose of the deceased who protested to secure the right to housing. With sorrow and anger about the deaths, we send our warmest regards to the family. We feel devastated with the reality that a demand for a living with dignity turned into a death and send our support to the family and people in South Korea who resist against the government.

We pay attention to the fact that this incidence was rooted in the problems of the re-development process in South Korea and resulted from a unilateral over-use of public power. We regret that the South Korean government has attacked its citizens who protested against forced eviction and tried to protect their right to housing.

Dispatching a special police force is an act of labeling its citizens as a terrorist group, which is contrary to the state's obligation to respect and protect the rights of its citizens. The government further damaged its fairness and trust by trying to close the case as soon as possible and in carrying out autopsies of the bodies without consent of the family's concerned.

We urge the South Korean government to apologize to the families concerned and come up with measures to prevent a similar case happening again in future. We demand the acceptance of responsibility for this incident from Seokgi Kim, the head of the Seoul Police, Sehoon Won, the minister of the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, Jangkyu Park, the head of the Yongsan-Gu Office, Dongsan Baek, the head of Yongsan Police.

We confirm that the aim of re-development projects should lie on improving the right to housing. We are concerned that the re-development process in South Korea has become a means to earn more money for certain groups, such as construction companies, rather than follow an approach based on international human rights law.

Under the international human rights perspective, forced evictions are a clear violation of human rights. Despite the fact that the South Korean government should, as a signatory to the ICESCR, take steps to prevent forced evictions, the government itself used police force against citizens who tried to realize their right to housing, resulting in the death of five citizens and one police officer.

According to human rights organizations in South Korea, for over a year demands by lodgers in the re-development project area for appropriate protection, talks and negotiations were rejected by the Yongsan-Gu Office. They had asked several times to make plans for re-settlement but received no answers back. Out of desperation prior to the forced eviction, these people staged protests that cost them their lives.

We urge the South Korean government to review any re-development projects that do not provide protection to the lodgers and that do not guarantee the participation of citizens.

Sending our support and expressing our solidarity to those in South Korea demanding a thorough investigation and punishment of the responsible, we urge the following:
- Guarantee participation of civil organizations in the investigation process to secure a fair and through investigation.
- Punish those responsible for the incidence.
- Review current re-development projects which do not guarantee the right to housing of the lodgers.
- Recognize housing as a human right and guarantee this right to housing.

3) Please, send any protesting messages to the following addresses:

Myung-bak Lee, the president of South Korea
http://www.bluehouse.go.kr/kr/index.php

1 Sejongno Jonno gu
Seoul Korea(110-820)
Tel +822-730-5800
Fax: +822-770-4943/+822-770-2440

Sehoon Won, the minister of the Ministry of Public Administration and Security
http://www.mopas.go.kr
Tel +822-2100-3000
Fax: +822-2100-4001

Seokgi Kim, the head of the Seoul Police
http://www.smpa.go.kr
Tel +822-720-3993
Fax: +822-754-7000

Sehoon Oh, the Mayor of Seoul (Metropolis)
http://www.seoul.go.kr
Tel: +822-731-6060
Fax +822-737-8688

Jangkyu Park, the head of the Yongsan-Gu Office
http://www.yongsan.seoul.kr
Tel: +822-710-3333
Fax +822-718-0333
__________________________________________
imc-korea mailing list
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International Conference against the Asia Pacific Missile Defense and for the End of the Arms Race

http://www.space4peace.org

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/39179

http://www.nenasili.cz/en/2863_international-conference-against-the-asia-pacific-missile-defense-and-for-the-end-of-arms-race

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Global Network <globalnet@mindspring.com>
Date: Wed, Jan 21, 2009 at 12:00 PM
Subject: Int'l Conference against the Asia Pacific Missile Defense & for the End of Arms Race
To: Peaceworks <peaceworks@lists.riseup.net>

International Conference against the Asia Pacific Missile Defense

and for the End of Arms Race

Seoul, South Korea

April 16-18, 2009

1. Background and Greetings

The 17^th annual conference of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space will be held in Seoul, Korea from April 16-18, 2009, under the title of the 2009 International Conference against the Asia Pacific Missile Defense and for the End of Arms Race.

The Korean committee for the conference, lead by the Peace Network http://www.peacekorea.org/index.php (Korean), http://www.peacekorea.org/english/ (English) and Center for Peace and Disarmament, People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) http://blog.peoplepower21.org/Peace/ (Korean),

http://blog.peoplepower21.org/Peace/category/English (English) and is formed by 10 peace organizations is the Co-Sponsor with the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space http://www.space4peace.org for this conference.

The signs of a 'new cold war' are brewing as the U.S. pushes ahead with the missile defense (MD) system installations in Eastern Europe against Russia's strong opposition. There is an urgent need for the international civil society to respond against the current rapid arms race in the Asia Pacific where the US leads the Asia Pacific MD efforts, supported strongly by Japan, Australia and South Korea; against the frontline of opposition formed by China, Russia and North Korea.

The MD issue is becoming the core element of the destabilization of peace in Northeast Asia, not to mention the Korean peninsula, especially when the U.S. intends to make South Korea its MD outpost and the Lee Myung Bak government promotes stronger US-South Korea alliance and the US-South Korea-Japan trilateral system formation.

By this great chance, the Korea Committee points out the Korean peace issues within the international peace movement circles, and wants to share international understanding and cooperation about Korean peninsula's peace and reunification issues.

In light of such concerns, holding an international peace conference in South Korea on missile defense and arms race issues will provide an important momentum in bringing the issues pertaining to the Korean peninsula-one of the last divided countries by the cold war in the world- and the North East Asia to the international community and in developing international solidarity.

We, the Korea Committee is already excited and grateful by many international participants' enthusiasm to participate. Above all, we, the Korean Committee welcomes everyone in the world, who wants to share the urgent issues in each country regarding the Missile defense, military base, arms race etc. issues and to promote further international solidarity one another.

2. Summary of the International Conference

Official event dates: April 16 to 18, 2009

- Core issues: MD and space weaponization; Arms race and arms reduction; US bases and the peace movement in Northeast Asia; and global meaning of the peaceful reunification process in Korea etc.

- Main events: International symposium (Seoul), International news conference (Seoul), Visit to Panmunjeom, Peace campaign (Pyeongtaek) and GN annual strategy and business meeting (Seoul)

- Interpretation: International symposium will be translated in Korean and English simultaneously while the other programs will be done consecutively. The GN annual strategy and business meeting will be done in English. For the effective usage of time, we integrated the whole program rather than having separate

workshops.

3. Daily events and programs of the GN International Conference(Consecutive Interpretation)

(1). April 16, 2009 (Thursday):

09:00(07:00)-15:00(17:30): International participants trip to Panmunjeom(the symbol of Korean division, http://koreadmztour.com/english/tour/tour2.htm) or Visit to the vicinity of the DMZ(Imjingak, Dorasan observatory etc.)/meeting with activists/cultural event etc as a plan B

18:00-21:00: dinner and entertainment(including the speech by 3~4 GN participants)

(2). April 17, 2009 (Friday): International meeting (Simultaneous interpretation)

9:00-10:00 Foreign and domestic press conference (consecutive translation)
9:45-10:00: Registration
10:00-10:10: Welcome speech (Korean dignitary)

10:10-10:20: Greeting speech (GN Chairman )

10:20-10:40: Keynote speech, "Star Wars (space weaponization), Future Warfare, and the Global Peace" (GN)

10:40-12:20: Plenary session I "MD and the World"
10:40-11:00: The MD policy of the overall and Obama government (USA participant)

11:00-11:20: MD, Europe and the New Cold War including the NATO missile defense(European participant): 11:20-11:40: MD, Arms Race and the Future of the North East Asia(Korean participant):

11:40-12:00: What is the alternative against the MD?: Nuclear Disarmament and Conversion of the Military Industrial Complex(GN participant)
12:00-12:20: Q and A

12:20-14:00: Lunch and break (There will be short presentation(about 4min.) of the slide projection )

14:00-15:20: Plenary session II "Global Anti-War and Peace Movements"
* Each international participant requested to give a ten minute speech on the MD and No US bases movements; and Q&A. The participants from GN are cordially asked to give a speech.

15:20-15:30: Break

15:30-17:00: Plenary session III " Korea, Japan and the Northeast Asia Peace
15:30-16:00: Peace Constitution in Japan and the Northeast Asia Peace (Japanese participant):

16:00-16:30: Korea Peace and Reunification Process and the Northeast Asia Peace (Korean participant): ?
16:30-17:00: Q& A
17:00: Closing the symposium
18:00-21:00: Dinner and Entertainment: includes three Keynote speeches

(3) April 18, 2009(Saturday)(English)

9:00-12:00: GN Annual Strategy and Business Meeting
12:00-13:00: Lunch
13:00-20:00: visit and rally/ protest in front of the military base in Pyeongtaek (the emerging hub of US military bases in construction) and dinner meeting with the local peace organizations

(4). Official Conference and Stay site : Seoul Women's Plaza, Seoul, from April 15 to April 19(During the given official dates above, no stay cost by the international participants. The Korean Committee is reserving seven western-style two-bed rooms and seven Korean-style two bed rooms except for the special request. The rooms are the building can best afford. Reservation for the first comers, first. The international participant may pay for other nights at low cost or request for the info. of home stay/ other hotels as alternative. Regarding stay, please contact wooksik@gmail.com, armha5156@gmail.com and globalnet@mindspring.com

Jan. 20, 2009

The Korean Committee for the international conference, Seoul, 2009

Korean Organizations in the Korean Committee (No order, List in formation)

Peace Network

Center for Peace and Disarmament, People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy(PSPD)

National Campaign for Eradication of Crimes by U.S. Troops in Korea

Women Making Peace

Pyeongtaek Peace Center

Civil Committee against the Kunsan U.S. base

Jinbo Korea

Lawyers for a Democratic Society

People's Solidarity for Social Progress

Nonviolent Peaceforce Korea

Arirang International Peace Foundation

Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
PO Box 652
Brunswick, ME 04011
(207) 443-9502
http://www.space4peace.org
globalnet@mindspring.com
http://space4peace.blogspot.com (Blog)

Text FW: No to NATO

* Image sources : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO *
Current members Acceding members Promised invitation Intensified Dialogue Membership not goal Undeclared intent

* For more info. Global Energy War: Washington's New Kissinger's African Plans
(introduced in Space4Peace(Organizaing Note) blog)

[Below was translated by Agatha Haun from German to English]

"NO to NATO"

In solidarity with everyone who will protest on April 2009 in Strasbourg and Kehl against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit meeting, marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the NATO military alliance, we call for protests as the beginning of a long-term campaign against NATO and militarization of the European Union, and call for the following demands to be made central to the campaign.

Withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan

Withdrawal of all foreign troops from Iraq - an end to the German support for the occupation

Solidarity with the legitimate resistance of the peoples of the Near East and Middle East against war and occupation

An end to the blockade against the Gaza Strip, demolition of the apartheid wall and the illegally bult Israeli settlements

An end to the threats of war against Iran

NO to NATO and EU interference in the Balkans; withdrawal of their troops; the recognition of "Kosovo" has been null and void from the beginning.

Dissolution of the ad hoc tribunals against Yugoslavia and Rwanda, which violate international law and serve as instruments of NATO propaganda and brainwashing

No to eastward expansion of NATO (Ukraine, Georgia)

Solidarity with the resistance against the USA's plans to install missiles in the Czech Republic and Poland

In nearly all conflicts around the world, the member states of the NATO represent one of the main obstacles to peaceful political solutions. NATO undermines democratic development of nations. It hinders self-determination and thereby destroys the bases for social well-being and ecologically sustainable economies.

After the series of previous wars of aggression against Iraq (1991), Somalia (1992), Yugoslavia (1999), Afghanistan (2001), and Iraq (2003), as well as the series of proxy wars of militias against the DR of Congo (1998), Israel's war against Lebanon (2006), and Georgia's war against Russia (2008), people ask themselves in alarm: What is the next thing we must fear from the USA and its allies? Will the war of occupation in Afghanistan be further intensified? Will Pakistan and India be destabilized? Will Iran be assaulted by terror bombing? Will the independent path chosen by Cuba, Venezuela, and more and more Latin American countries be destroyed by military violence?

In view of the developing global economic crisis, people remember that already during the world economic crisis of the 1930s, imperialism sought a way out by means of armaments and war, which led to the catastrophe of World War II.

The peace movement's answer to NATO policies must correspond to the growing danger. Therefore we appeal to all right-thinking people: let us develop a sustained, comprehensive, determined campaign against NATO. Let us develop coordinated strategies in order to mobilize opposing forces, against NATO policies in all areas and in all spheres.

Let us recognize in good time the acute dangers and let us sound the alarm, in order to win as many people as possible for defensive actions.

Let us expose the purposeful lies about war and let us counteract the brain-washing with information and education.

Let us determinedly promote the goal that individual member nations can withdraw unilaterally from the NATO structures.

Every step that weakens NATO strengthens the forces of peace and progress throughout the whole world. Twenty years after the end of the Warsaw Pact, the disbanding of the NATO pact is long overdue.

***
The EU has been extended in the direction of East and Southest Europe in step with the expansion of NATO. Europe has been split once again by new EU external borders. The EU has been turned into an instrument of a new confrontation with Russia and Belarus. The USA / NATO doctrine of preventive warfare has been taken over within the EU framework. EU "rapid intervention forces" are being built up, in order to intervene militarily anywhere in the world, in coordination with NATO, using the pretext of "humanitarian missions", the "struggle against terrorism", or "crisis management". With the aim of political conquest, control of markets, and the plundering of other countries' natural resources, the collaboration among the EU, the USA, and NATO is being significantly intensified. The EU requires its members to continue their buildup of armaments and militarization. Marching in step with the USA and NATO, and with the mechanisms of the EU, the European governments are pushing through measures in order to restrict democratic rights, eliminate achievements in social welfare, and to expand repressive structures against social movements.

In view of the character of the EU as an imperialist union of European governments, there can be no talk of the EU becoming independent and of freeing itself from the tutelage of the imperialist superpower -- in spite of occasional strong-arm tactics.

Nevertheless, the EU's internal contradictions; the competition of all imperialist powers against each other; setbacks for EU policies; the French, Dutch, and Irish positions of "No to NATO"; objections and disobedience to EU decrees -- all of these factors open up opportunities for the development of new forms of cooperation among the countries of Europe and the former Soviet Union, as well as the Mediterranean, the Arab world, and other continents. Only if the junior partners of the USA and NATO also resist the imperialist EU alliance, and the assumed "European" legitimacy is withdrawn, will the antimilitary struggle against NATO come to full fruition.

***
In the current general crisis, which takes in the spheres of the economy, financial relations, social development, the supply of commodities, and the environment all at the same time, new opportunities emerge alongside new dangers. The politics of neoliberalism has already had to admit that it is fully bankrupt. The USA's hegemony over the planet is being increasingly challenged. The attempt to reorganize the Near and Middle East along neocolonialist lines has come to a dead end, because the forces of national self-determination in the region have fiercely resisted the military machinery of the USA and its allies. In Latin America, new prospects have opened up for socialist national development. New coalitions are being formed among countries such as China, Russia, India, and Brazil, that are pressing toward a new multipolar world. The time is past when capitalism could shout triumphantly about its victory over socialism, about the "end of history". The world has entered upon a period of the upturn of the anti-imperialist struggle for independence, social development, and progress of peoples and nations.

The decisive rejection of the imperialist NATO pact along with its EU auxiliary troops does not signify -- as the financial power elites are spreading the word -- isolation, nationalism, and economic autarchy, but rather winning back full national sovereignty as an elementary prerequisite for a democratic or socialist path to development. A principled "No" to NATO and the EU is indispensable for managing the crisis and creating new forms of international cooperation for the benefit of the majority of working people

FOR A WORLD WITHOUT NATO -- FOR A EUROPE OF THE PEOPLE

Deutscher Freidenker-Verband; Initiativ e.V.; Antiimperialistische Koordination; Vereinigung f?r Internationale Solidarit?t (VIS) e.V.
German Association of Freethinkers; Initiative NGO; Anti-imperialist Coordination; Union for International Solidarity NGO
_____________________________

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