[June 5] Accusation! The Police even condemn the UN and ROK Human Rights Commission!

[아름드리 나무]

Korean script link

Accusation! The police’s abuse of state power-condemnation on human life and violation on human rights on the NEXT DAY of the visit by the UN Human Rights rapporteur!

Deprive the qualification of South Korea from her status as an advisory board member of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC)!

The state power violence in Gangjeong is serious! South Korean government! Look at the International Human Rights rules and regulations! (related Korean article, Sept. 14, 2012)

While I am writing this, I had to restrain myself from the fury of yesterday. It is because the police behavior just shown in front of my eye was unbelievably unjust. The state power threats victims rather than harmer! It is nothing new in Gangjeong village, Jeju. We have seen that the court made heavy punishment to the powerless citizens who had protested to the military’s (navy’s) beating of people while it does not make any punishment to those soldiers! (To see the related accident on June 20, 2011 in video, see here. The court decision was on April 30, 2013, this year), Lee Sung-Han, the Chief of the ROK Police Office has expressed only 'sorry feeling,' rather than 'apology,' regarding the police's murderous crack-down of the villagers on May 10. (See the related Korean link)

It was June 4 that Magaret Sekaggya, UN Human Rights special rapporteur visited Gangjeong(See the Korean article, here, here, and here). On the day, the police’s illegal removing and encircling of Catholic priests in robes during the Catholic mass continued in front of naval base project construction (destruction) gates.  

On the same day, chief and security director (Ku Sool-Hwan) of the Seogwipo Police station were ‘cautioned’ from the National Human Rights Commission of Korea(NHRCK). And the policemen belong to the Seogwipo Police Station were recommended of education on job performance from the Commission regarding Oct. 29, 2011 accident when  the police forcefully encircled about 200 citizens including children in march just for the reason that they put fire works. (See the related link, video (from 6:41) and Korean article here)The citizens had filed for appeal to the commission last July). 

The NHRCK pointed out two on June 4:

1.    Though it is the protesters, object to be scattered, police should observe the procedures defined in related law and should minimize physical conflicts with and infringement on the citizens’ basic rights. On Oct. 29, 2011, the police demanded citizens volunteering scattering and made a disperse order WITH NEITHER guide on staged scattering NOR opening minimum path of retreat in the situation when they encircled the protesters.

2.    The police notified citizens that they “can punish the citizens up to two years,” for the charge of noncompliance to the scattering order while they can be punished by the law, up to six months imprisonment or fines/ detention up to 500,000 won for the charge. It is the act to infringe the freedom of rally and body.” (See the Korean articles, here and here)

Magaret Sekaggya, UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur (right in the photo) who visited Gangjeong on June 4. (Photo By Koh Gilchun)

On the same day, Catholic priests in robes were forcefully encircled and removed from the construction naval base construction gates during the Catholic mass (Photos by Pang Eunmi)

The stunning scene that happened on the next day of her visit and Rok Human Rights’ Commission’s caution, is hardly ignorable and should be disclosed. Though the below photos are only part of whole four hours and miss the important parts on the day, those tell some on the police ignorance and condemnation of UN Human Rights Council’s investigation and ROK Human Rights’ Committee’s caution on them.

Above all, the situation that shameless Koo Sool-Hwan, security director of Seogwipo Police Station chief orders his policemen to encircle them with the threat to arrest citizens shows clear police infringement on human rights, even ignoring the UN and ROK Human Rights Commission.  

The beginning and progress of the incident is like the below. Though the ordering of the details, relied on memory cannot be  100 % correct, some elements can be missed and the summary can be dull, the essence of the accident is same. 

What happened on June 5?

1.    After the Catholic mass, people made daily routine human chain and danced the Gangejeong addictive dance. At the time a truck was to enter the gate and could hit Fr. Kim Seong-Hwan.

2.    Known later, the truck driver was the same crazy driver who threatened the life of Brother Yang on May 24 by  turning over car engine while he knew that Brother Yang was underneath his truck in protest of disturbing Catholic mass. (See the video link)

3.    The truck driver, Kang Gil-Jin from the company, Osung Concrete (sub-contact company of Samsung C & T and Daelim, the main naval base construction companies) thoroughly ignored the apology demand by Fr. Kim Seong-Hwan. To express his fury, Fr. Kim then climbed up to Kang's  cement mixer truck and made sit-in demanding the apology from Kang who condemns human life and has no consciousness. ( The location was not in front of main gate of construction site but in the edge of a road)

4.    Kang Gil-Jin did not open the door of truck despite the police demand and pretended to sleep inside the car.

5.    He did not open the door even though his senior company man demanded him.

6.    Known later, the truck driver made an excuse that he had driven the car into the gate, following the hand sign of the police therefore he is not guilty.

7.    The police said that it is true that they made a sign but the driver toughly drove into the gate.

8.    Truely non-sense from the above is that the police made a sign to the truck driver to pass the gate in the situation of possible accident since people were dancing in front of gate.

9.    Some Seogwiop Police Station police officers such as the Intelligence director Yang tried to rather persuade Fr. Kim, victim of the accident, making excuse that they cannot persuade the driver.  

10. Meanwhile, police’s illegal taking of photo-collection without proper police costume, name tag, and official notice was continued. A policeman in the below photos shamelessly collected photos of people, saying he is a policeman to the citizen who protested to him. (a man with pink line t-shirt)

11. The citizens protested to such police behavior: “Why do the police respond slowly to the harmer (driver) while they usually promptly arrest innocent citizens who justly monitor and protest to environment-destroying illegal war base building or while they cut the pipes with which people connected their arms together, using the electric saw?

12. Fr, Kim came down from the truck after two hours, hearing the advice from a person he respects.

13. Some citizens protested to the driver and police, “It is not attitude that the harmer (truck driver) refuse conversation and communication. We do not need even his apology. He should at least come down and tell us to please remove ourselves. Then we would leave the truck.” They sat in front of the truck. What they demanded was just communication with the driver. 

14. Some citizens had called the emergency number thinking that the driver might have been drunken and an officer from the police came to investigate that matter. It was found that the driver, kang, was not drunken. Then how can we explain his mental status?

15. The people ask the police to call the driver’s company man and the police call him. The company man escaped into the construction site when he got protest from the citizens.

16. The whole incident that started around 1pm ended after four hours by the police’s infuriating and non-sensical measure. Koo Sool-hwan, the security director of the Seogwipo Police who had gotten ‘caution’ measure from the ROK Human Rights committee, led the other policemen and threatened citizens who made sit-in in protest of the driver’s condemnation of human life and non-apology, saying that he could “arrest people under the charge of obstruction of business," which is totally false accusation and lie.

17. The police forcefully removed the people in front of the truck and the driver drove the truck, escaping the situation.

Eval‎uation of the incident by the witness

1.   Kang Gil-Jin, the truck driver is clearly a person who is of dull consciousness and who has abandoned normal sense and consciousness. He has to get thorough investigation as he has threatened the lives of human beings (priests) twice and showed no reflection on it. He has to get mental cure and moral education again. If the police dispose the incident by the way of dereliction of their duty, the police are to threaten the safety of the basis of society themselves.

2.   However, the fundamental cause of the incident is in the routine police infringement and violation of human rights, which could bring the result of murder by the truck driver Kang. The police have abandoned the qualities of balance and neutrality but actively protect illegal construction(destruction) , sometimes with murderous crack-down on the citizens. Such police attitude would influence some citizens’ behavior of condemning human lives and rights (the judicial power’s constant protection on illegal destruction and abuse of its power also contributes to it)

3.   Koo Seul-Hwan, the security director of the Seogwipo police station should get serious punishment since he threatened victimized citizens not only with illegal encircling but also exaggerated false remarks, while taking dereliction of duty to the harmer, despite the fact that he got ‘caution’ from the ROK Human Rights Commission just a day before.

4.   The behavior of Koo Soo-Hwan, Security director of the Seogwipo police station is not merely a matter of individual. His behavior shows that the Republic of Korea is showing symptom of Fascism in which the police get order from the big corporations.Unless the deep rooted vicious elements within the top police class and police system that condemns citizens’ lives are removed, such police behavior will be worsen to the total detriment of principles of democracy. 

5.   It was not enough that the chief of the Police Office lied to the UN Human Rights Special rapporteur, saying that there was no police violence during their brutal arrest of movie critic, Yang Yoon-Mo, on April 16, 2011. The police's above behavior that they showed just the next day of the UN Human Rights’ rapporteur’s visit means the ROK has no qualification as the member of the advisory board member of the UN Human Rights Council. The UN should not permit such state as a member of the advisory board of the UN Human Rights Council, if it wants to make healthy of the international society’s human rights status.

The UN should deprive the Republic of Korea from its status of advisory board member of the UN Human Rights Council!

The Republic of Korea is not democratic state!

It is a Police State and Fascism state whose legal system relies on the order of big corporations!

 Fr. Kim Sung-Hwan could be almost hit by the truck driver around 1 pm on June 5, 2013(Photo by pang Eunmi)

It was a site that a villager, Mr. Kim Mi-Lyang was pushed up by police elbow (video link)and fell from 6 m height cliff. The state power forced to set up hurried garden at that site after their murderous crack-down of villagers' sit-in tents (link) which were to monitor for illegal naval base construction(destruction). 

The police led by Koo Sool-Hwan, Security Director of the Seogwipo Police Station encircled innocent citizens and threatened them (Photo by Fr. Kim Sung-Hwan) 

The unjust situation of police encircling of people(video by Pang Eunmi and Kim Kun)

Video by Pang Eunmi

Video by Kim Koon