South Korea, Human Rights "desert"
by Choe Kwang
December 7, 2010
South Korea has turned into a human rights desert and a place devoid of democracy where fascist dictatorship reigns.
Democracy and fascism, human rights and dictatorship are incompatible with each other. The south Korean people have been long struggling to restore social democracy and true human rights.
However, their struggle fizzled out after the conservative group came to power.
Talking about the “lost decade”, the present south Korean authorities crushed the bud of democracy that had sprouted in the period of the preceding “government”, further increased the mechanisms for repressing human rights including the intelligence agency and security organs and revived all sorts of fascist evil laws and systems as a whole.
In the “government”, organs, enterprises and schools at all levels conscientious democratic figures were branded as the “leftists” and dismissed. Organizations from all strata of society and politicians who participated in the candlelight demonstration against the pro-US sycophantic acts of the conservative “government” suffered political retaliation and the professors who published declarations of the situation were dismissed or taken into custody.
Last year the two former presidents, who spoke for the democratic reformist force, died due to the political plot and retaliation of the fascist authorities. The tragedy unprecedented in history shows the poor human rights situation of south Korea.
The number of political parties and organizations that were labeled as “illegal organizations” by the conservative authorities amounted to over 1 840 in one year and a half.
Political inspection and surveillance are openly conducted and religious organizations are under repression.
Police rummaged a car of the leader of a Buddhist organization in broad daylight and Buddhist and Catholic priests suffered massive violence.
Last summer Rev. Han Sang Ryol was repressed on a charge of having visited the DPRK.
What is more astonishing is that the south Korean authorities attempt to place the press under their control.
They replaced officials at the important posts of the press organs and revised various laws on the press for the worse and trade unions, journalists and men of the press who were opposed to this suffered repression.
Freedom of holding a rally or demonstration and forming an association has been already banned. Due to the atrocities of policemen equipped with electric guns and water cannons the demonstrators became blinded and deafened and the heads of schoolboys were broken. The tear-gas liquid was thrown even on babies in perambulators.
Torture, harsh atrocities and unethical insults go unchecked.
A university professor in south Korea deplored, “In one year and a half after the advent of the present government the value of human existence was stifled and the fascist era arrived in the south Korean society”. This tells that basic democratic right and freedom and human rights vanished in south Korea.
The crime against human rights committed by the conservative authorities that have turned south Korea into a human rights desert can never be tolerated and will get the stern punishment of the nation.
