[asia-apec 904] NSL Statement in South Korea

[PSPD]

Dear Friends,

Korea Human Rights Network(KOHRNET) will be holding a rally on 1 December in
Seoul,
Korea. This date is significant as it is the 50th Anniversary of the South
Korean NSL and
also because of the upcoming 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights
on 10 December.

To give some background, the Asia Pacific Human Rights NGOs' Facilitating
Team(FT),
ooperation with the ICHRDD, has proposed the "98-99 International Campaign on
Human
Rights Violations under the National Security Laws" by targeting South Korea,
China,
Indonesia and India.

Korean human rights NGOs,  including KOHRNET, have been campaigning in
various ways
on human rights violations under the National Security Law. KOHRNET has
agreed to focus
on the democratic reform of the security regime in Korea during the years of
1998 and 1999,
through cooperation with the FT and other international partners in the
campaign, and work in
solidarity with other countries in Asia with similar issues of national
security.

KOHRNET would like to contribute to building consensus among Asian NGOs that
the
National Security Law is the common and most urgent issue to address in the
region.

As a friend and supporter of the democratic movement in South Korea, we are
asking
organizations to sign our  'Declaration on the Repealment of the South Korean
National Security
Law.' This would help us in our event and also serve to show the widespread
support throughout
Asia on this issue.

We are enclosing a draft copy of the declaration, and hope to receive your
response by November
25, as well as any additions or comments.

Thank you for your time in this matter.

Best Regards,
Sarah Chee
Coordinator for International Solidarity


Statement to Abolish the National Security Law(Draft)

   Considering that the 1 December, 1998 is the 50th Anniversary of the
National Security Law
in South Korea,
   Recognizing that the National Security Law was modelled after the Public
Order and Security
Law used under Japanese colonialism to punish Korean independence activists,
   Recognizing furthermore that the National Security Law is also a result of
the division of the
Korean peninsula and the Cold War, and a remnant of past repressive
dictatorships,
    Convinced that the National Security Law has been used to cause the
suffering of people
who promote democracy and are devoted to reunification,
   Convinced futhermore that the government and investigation agencies which
are responsible
for the enforcement of the National Security Law violate the basic rights of
citizens,
   Stressing that each advent of new dictatorial powers brought about
negative revisions in the
National Security Law, giving more power to government agencies which in turn
gave legitimacy
and permanence to the dictatorship,
   Emphasizing that the existence of the National Security Law and the
government agencies
that were empowered by it, led to violations of not only civil and political
rights, but also social,
economic, and cultural rights of the Korean people, and acts as a hurdle to
the dignity of human
beings and the positive development of Korean society,
   Acknowledging that the Cold War has virtually ceased worldwide, and
relations between
south and north Korea is marked by a new atmosphere of reconciliation,
   Considering that the current president of Korea was also sentenced by the
National Security
Law in past dictatorships, the 'new human rights government' was touted as a
slogan for the
new government, a promise to the world that human rights would be protected,

 We, the South Korean people, remember the insistence of the current Korean
president
on the need to create alternative laws and abolish the National Security Law
which violates
human rights while he was leader of the opposition party.
  We affirm that the repeal of the National Security Law and the absolute
guarantee of
democracy and human rights is the best way to attain true national security,
based on the
ideology of people's security. Therefore we cannot be satisfied with mere
alternative laws and
we expected the phasing out of the National Security Law and the application
of human rights
according to international standards with the inauguration of the new
president.
 However, in the close to one year since the new government in Korea has been
in
power, we cannot help but be disappointed by the lack of positive measures to
deal with the
National Security Law.
  Furthermore, after the inauguration of the new government, the majority of
political
prisoners imprisoned for violating the National Security Law were not granted
amnesty, and we
are outraged at the injustice of having almost 300 people arrested under the
NSL already this
year.
 We feel that the current South Korean government is not different from past
dictatorships and the 'human rights policy' maintained by the current
president is merely a
political slogan. Because half a century has already passed, and we cannot
wait any longer for
the abolishment of the National Security Law.

Demands:
   We, the undersigned, demand that the National Security Law in south Korea
be repealed,
  We demand the abolishment of national security laws and other injust laws
in Asia and
the world, reconfirm our efforts to struggle in solidarity to attain these
goals,
 We demand that the current government in South Korea immediately release all
political
prisoners who were arrested by the National Security Law and the reform of
investigative
agencies empowered by the National Security Law.

_____________
Korea Human Rights Network
592-7 Changshin 2-dong, Jongro-gu, Seoul, Korea  110-542
TEL 822-763-2606  FAX 822-745-5604
gomb at chollian.net