Our Solidarity to the Activists Arrested in Prague and an Immediate Call for their Release!!


Denouncement of the Czech Government and Police for their Brutality and Abuse of Human Rights!!


All of us here in Korea, organizing support and action for the struggle that will take place against neo-liberal globalization on the 20th of October at the Asia Europe Meeting, were greatly angered by news coming from Prague on
police brutality and the blatant disregard for human rights that have occured, and which are still going on, regarding the activists arrested at the anti-globalization demonstrations. During the days leading up to the demonstrations, the Korean People's Action Against Investment Treaties and the WTO (KoPA), and the People's Rally Committee had already expressed our solidarity to the activists gathering in Prague and declared our full support for their/our struggle against globalization. We were concerned over the massive gathering of police and even military forces, and in recent days we have seen our concerns become reality, with the Czech authorities brutallly suppressing the demonstrations and arresting hundreds of activists in the process. That is not all, we have reports coming in of beatings, sexual harassment, and denial of basic rights going on in prisons. The degree of brutality is reminiscent of the oppression that was present during the dictatorships, both here in Korea and abroad. It is especially alarming because such practices have become routine in the government and police/military responses toward international actions such as the ones in Seattle, Melbourne, and Prague. We are seeing increased government suppression, increased police violence, increased efforts by those in power to control their opposition and to limit their actions.

The police/government in Korea are responding with similar measures, they have already announced that the area all around the site of the Asia Europe Meeting will be closed off for the duration of the meetings, and have outlawed all demonstrations. Police special force units are training around the site already in southern Seoul. A clash with the police appears to be inevitable in Korea as well.

Many of the demands of the activists in Seoul on October 20th will be the same as the ones voiced in Seattle, Washington, Meobourne, and Prague. We will oppose globalization for the few, corporate rule, and the system of inequality which financial institutions such as the IMF and World Bank enforce upon third world nations and the people of the world. We will demand the cancellation of third world debt, a stop to neo-liberal restructuring and plans for more liberalization. We will be in the streets to protect the livelihood and rights of the workers, the farmers, the poor, and all those who suffer from the barbarism of neo-liberal globalization.

As the appeal message for solidarity from INPEG said, '[the] huge majority of the arrested are arrested only because of their political conviction. The repression is based on the collective guilt - the police must stop their brutality and release the activists immediately.' It seems governments and police authorities have forgotten that the right to criticize the government and to voice opposition to its policies, to congregate and demonstrate in the process of doing so, are values and rights that are at the very heart of democracy. Rights which need to be protected in order for democratic society to prosper, not suppressed and denied. We again denounce the Czech government and police for their outright disregard for democratic rights and the human rights violations going on inside the prisons. We demand the immediate release of all activists. We also demand an apology from the government for it's oppression of the justified activities of the people participating in the demonstrations and demand that the police chief step down for his responsibility in the human rights violations that have taken place inside the Czech prisons.

The actions by the people against globalization will continue in Seoul, and although we are hoping for the best, objective expectations lead us to believe that much of what has happened in Prague will repeat itself here. This is why your continued interest, support, and solidarity for our actions is critical, both for the success of the movement and for the safety of the protestors. We promise to keep you continously updated on all that happens here in Korea leading up to the actions, and the actions themselves. Solidarity!!


-The Korean People's Action Against Investment Treaties and the WTO (KoPA) is a people's network opposed to the MAI and the WTO,composed of more than 40 social, labor and citizen's movement organizations. Its aim is to make people recognize clearly the negative effects of the WTO, and also to stop the on-going negotiations of Bilateral Investment Treaties(BIT) between Korea and U.S / Korea and Japan. KoPA focuses on four issues mainly; first, opposition to the investment treaties and the WTO. secondly, control of transnational financial capital, thirdly, cancellation of foreign debt and redistribution to people, and the lastly stopping the IMF's SAPs. It also stress the importance of international solidarity in the development of its struggles.

-The People's Rally Committee is a composed of the major people's organizations in Korea, including the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions(KCTU), the Korean Farmer's League(KFL), and the National Union of the Poor. It organizes The People's Rally to defend the people's livelihood and basic rights against capital and the government's neo-liberal policies.

More information on the ASEM actions can be seen at:
http://antiwto.jinbo.net

Regular updates on the preparations for the ASEM action can be heard through the PICIS internet broadcasts at: http://cast.jinbo.net/news/yundai.html

Contact us at: kopa@jinbo.net


3rd Oct. 2000

Korean People's Action Against Investment Treaties and the WTO
People's Rally Committee