[Ron Engel, CHN, IUCN member] Speech for Gangjeong motion 181, in the IUCN General Assembly, Sept. 15 (Fwd)

[아름드리 나무]

Update (Oct. 21, 2012): Ron and Joan Engel's thankful present to Gangjeong. See here. 

Update (Oct. 2, 2012): Korean translation can be seen at  http://cafe.daum.net/peacekj/5htg/73

(Fwd by Gayoon Baek on Oct. 1)

'Attached is a transcript of my spontaneous speech on behalf of resolution 181 -- as you know, we only had 4 minutes and I deliberately kept my remarks as short and to the point as possible in order to allow time for Mayor Kang or others to speak as well. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to use that extra time. Nonetheless, many IUCN delegates came up to me afterwards to say that my little speech had moved them - we had clearly touched a nerve -- Gangjeon has become a symbol of our global struggle and illustrates the plight of many other communities throughout the world today.' (Ron Engel, Center of Human and Nature, IUCN member)' 

Ashok Khosla, president of IUCN: You have the floor.

Ron: Thank you Mr. Chairman.

I am Ronald Engel, a member of the Center for Humans and Nature and the Ethics Specialist

Group of the Commission on Environmental Law. The Center for Humans and Nature was the

original sponsor of this motion.

I would like for us to step back and think very briefly and clearly about the genesis of this

motion.

For those of us who became aware of this issue in February of this year, we did not ask for

this issue to be put before us. It was here in Jeju waiting for us.

In fact, it has been here since 2007 and even longer as a visit to the April 3 Peace Memorial

will make clear.

The people of Korea have been most gracious and hospitable. They love their country, their

land, their culture, and it is a beautiful thing to see. And we have seen this first hand among

the people of Gangjeong Village.

They are also a people who have suffered greatly. My own country, the United states of

America, bears great responsibility in that history.

Gangjeong Village is everything IUCN says it believes in. It is an indigenous community that

has lived sustainably with a rare and fragile ecological community for hundreds of years. It is

everything the World Charter for Nature and the Earth Charter aspire for us to follow.

It does not wish to make money from cruise ships or from the 8,000 marines who would be

stationed on its shores. It only wants to live as it has lived and to pass on its legacy to the

future.

In 200[5], the government of Korea apologized for the history of Jeju island and declared it an

Island of Peace, promising that it would not become a base for military defense or the target

of military action by others.

Mr. Chairman, the people of the world need Jeje island to remain an island of peace, as a

beacon of hope for all of us.

Our sponsoring group for this motion came this morning to the contact group with the

proposal that all sides in this issue present evidence for their position to the IUCN Council and

the IUCN Council should conduct a thorough review and issue a report to the membership.

This was the only way we saw that we could find a way forward on this issue of such ultimate

importance to the people of Korea and the world.

Thank you.

............................................................................

(Video by Cho Sung-Bong. Ron Engel's speech begins to appear at around 2:24, source at http://cafe.daum.net/peacekj/GdUL/234)

See photos of Sept. 15 at http://cafe.daum.net/peacekj/GdUL/227  (Photos by Cho Sung-Bong)

...........................................................

See also

http://www.space4peace.blogspot.kr/2012/09/video-from-iucn-voting-on-gangjeong.html

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2012

VIDEO FROM IUCN VOTING ON GANGJEONG MOTION

Gangjeong villagers Mayor Kang Dong-Kyun (in yellow shirt), Sung-Hee Choi, Seoul activist Baek Gayoon, U.S. international attorneys Katy Kintzele and Shauna Lange, and Ron Engel from Center for Humans and Nature (Indiana, U.S.), on the Assembly floor just before voting on Motion 181 to save Gangjeong Village from construction of a navy base.

It's fascinating to listen to the South Korean government environmental ministry representative lie through his teeth as he says that the Gangjeong villager supports the Navy base.  They voted 94% to oppose the base!  They've been protesting and going to jail for years.  IUCN delegates in the hundreds went and met with the villagers.  To continue those lies is a slap in the face of truth.

In the end the NGO's saw through the smokescreen and voted yes for the resolution.  The governments (with 30 South Korean votes) essentially blocked passage.

(Video by Paik Koohan. Ron Engel's speech appears at around 7:59)

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