Text Fwd: Scholars call for end to PSPD witch-hunt

'Members of far-right organizations hold a protest to voice opposition to the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) in front of the PSPD headquarters, June 18.'

Hankyoreh
Scholars call for end to PSPD witch-hunt :The group of scholars have called for a transparent debate about the sinking of the Cheonan
Jun.22,2010

A group of professors and other intellectuals have begun to voice demands that conservative groups stop their witch-hunt of the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) in regards to the sinking of the Cheonan.

In a statement released Monday, about 200 professors with the National Association of Professors for Democratic Society said the PSPD had performed its innate duty and right as a civic group, and called for conservative groups to end their irrational and backward attacks on PSPD.

The professors stressed that South Korean society needs not “blame and attacks,” but a transparent debate on the sinking of the Cheonan. They said that knowing, as the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) pointed out, that there were serious problems with the military reports themselves, suspicions about the investigation results could only grow, and stressed that if a full-scale debate and investigation regarding the Cheonan did not take place, the attacks on PSPD would be regarded as a maneuver to cover up the truth.

They also said that branding PSPD an “enemy group” is a mistaken claim that corresponds to false charges and slander, and that if there is a group the prosecutors should investigate, it is not PSPD, but the extremist right-wing groups that have designated PSPD as an enemy group.

The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, composed of 46 groups in Asia including PSPD, send an urgent petition to Frank La Rue, UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, calling on the UN to strongly advise the South Korean government to end a prosecutorial investigation of PSPD.

Meanwhile, it was reported on Monday that as the government and conservative groups launched their concerted attack on PSPD, the group gained about 1,000 new members.

In the week between June 14 and 20, the PSPD gained 1,003 new members, accounting for some 10 percent of the group’s total membership (10,500). In particular, between June 15 and 17, when the verbal assaults and threats of rightist groups, who brought gas canisters and bottles of paint thinner, grew violent, the group set new records with over 200 members joining each day. The previous record for most new members in a single day was 42, set during the candlelight vigil demonstrations of 2008.

Some 38.78 percent of the new members were in their 40s, the largest percentage. This was followed by 33.8 percent in their 30s, 14.36 percent in their 50s, 7.18 percent in their 20s and 2.29 percent in their 60s.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]
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# See the [Hankyoreh article, June 18, 2010] Far-right groups launch violent protests against PSPD: Experts say the Lee government’s forceful emphasis on patriotism and nationalism has cultivated an environment for extremist action

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# See the PSPD's urgent letter to Friends, Human Rights Defenders and Peace Activities, ' STOP Oppression & Prosecutors' Investigation on PSPD', HERE

(including the below:

PSPD’s Stance on the Disputes over its Letter on the Cheonan Incident to the UN Security Council
Official Accusation Remarks from the Lee Myung-bak Government on PSPD)
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# See the PSPD: Forum-Asia Submits the Urgent Appeal on Threats of Prosecution against PSPD to UN Rapporteur
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# See the PSPD: Amnesty International expresses its concern about the Investigation on the PSPD
Statement by Catherine Baber,
Asia-Pacific Deputy Programme Director, Amnesty International

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# See the PSPD Letter to the UN Security Council in Korean and English
(Check the PDF files in the bottom of the report)

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# See the PSPD three parts report

: [Cheonan Warship Report 1]
The PSPD's Stance on the Final Investigation Report on the Cheonan and the countering measures of the Lee Myung-bak administration'

: [Cheonan Warship Report2]
Eight Questions Needing Answers on the Investigation of the Sunken Naval Corvette Cheonan

: [Cheonan Warship Report3]
Six Problems on the Investigation Process of the Cheonan Sinking

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# See 'A letter on sinking of Cheonan to members of the United Nations Security Council' by the SPARK and Nodutdol

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