CINA

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MINU DEPORTED!

The South Korean government deported Minu (Minod Moktan) to Nepal at 5pm, Friday, October 23. Minu lived in South Korea for 18 years while working in factories, singing songs and working as a media activist at Migrant Worker's Television. Many friends, comrades and supporters of Minu wrote a petition for his release, held press conferences and demonstrations in order to prevent his deportation.

The Lee Myung Bak administration began a targeted crackdown on undocumented migrant workers during October and November.

The government seems to be working in a frenzy to deport migrant worker activists like Minu. Minu's deportation is very upsetting to many people in South Korea.

No person should be illegal, especially not someone who has lived in South Korea for almost 20 years and has contributed so much to the development of multiculuralism in a nation that hides behind a mask of fabricated ideaology of cultural/racial homogeniety.

source: IMC S.K. (10.24)

But eventually today's (bourgeois) Korea Times "explains" us - in rare frankness - the real reason why Minu has been deported: "The ministry(of 'Justice') said he had attended numerous political events on issues such as the free trade agreement, U.S. beef imports and the crackdown on illegal alien protests. 'His deportation was to set an example of principle: abide by the rules,' the ministry said in a press release." (☞ Nepalese Activist Deported)

Related:
☞ 미누 씨 강제출국 규탄 성명 (MTU, 10.23)

☞ 미누와 함께 연행된 '한국인권' (MWTV, 10.25)

Protest against Minu's deportation and the ongoing Crackdown Terror!

MWTV and solidarity groups are calling for a protest rally:

When? Monday, 10.26, 11 a.m.
Where? Seoul, Gwanghwamun/gov't complex

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Somehow related report:

☞ Public Workers’ Union Under Siege (K. Times, 10.23)

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Editorial in today's Hankyoreh:

How can prosecutors blame residents

for Yongsan fire tragedy?

During the “Yongsan Tragedy” trial yesterday, prosecutors asked for a heavy sentence of five to eight years against the protesters. Prosecutors argued that protesters spread paint thinner and threw Molotov cocktails, directly causing the fire that hurt police officers and caused the loss of six lives. This claim runs both counter to the facts revealed during the course of the trial and demonstrates sheer stubbornness on the part of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

According to the facts revealed during the course of the trial alone, the prosecutors’ logic which imputes all the blame for Yongsan tragedy on the individuals protesting against eviction no longer holds. In announcing their initial investigation results, prosecutors explained that the fire broke out when the Molotov cocktails thrown by the protesters set alight thinner on the watchtower floor. Yet among the SWAT officers, not one testified that they witnessed Molotov cocktails being thrown while they were entering the building. Moreover, there was testimony from one SWAT officer that the protesters had not spread any thinner, but rather a barrel of thinner got knocked over as the officers took the guard tower. Civilian experts and specialists from the National Institute of Scientific Investigation (NISI) said they could not conclude where the fire had started and why. In fact, it is said that in a place full of flammable vapors, there is a higher probability that fire was caused by an electric generator or the police’s electric cutting machine. Experts and firefighters agree that if the police had not entered the building, the fire could have been prevented.

It was also revealed during the course of the trial that the police were unaware of these hazards. The police command on the ground at the time testified that they did not know that the guard tower was full of flammable materials. They did not expect the possibility of an explosive fire. It was basically a confession that they launched a operation in haste. There was even police testimony that prior to the operation, that they did not negotiate or meet face-to-face with protesters even once. As a result, it appears the excessive crackdown is the cause of the tragedy which took the lives of five of the residents and one police officer. Prosecutors, however, said this was an instance of exercising official duties, and cleared police officials of misuse of authority. They have in effect shut their eyes in order to not hold the party that should be assuming responsibility for this tragedy accountable.

There are many other reasons for the prosecutors’ argument to be thrown out. One is the fact that prosecutors continued to refuse to reveal some 3,000 pages of investigation notes, despite an order from the court. It makes sense that suspicions are growing that suggest prosecutors are taking the side of the police and trying to cover-up the excessive crackdown and misuse of authority of police officials. This is not just an instance where the defendants’ right to a proper defense has been denied, but also a case where the legal system is failing. We hope for a wise and brave judgment from the court.

http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/383302.html

Related article:
☞ S.K. President Lee Myung Bak Found Guilty of Murder (IMC S.K., 10.22)

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We're demanding, over and over again:
STOP! CRACKDOWN!!

 

Produced by video activist comrade "Hong Gil-dong.."(10.21)

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Today's Korea Times(K.T.) reported following:

3 Foreigners Killed During Crackdowns 
 

Three foreigners were killed and 24 injured during roundups of illegal aliens over the past five years.

Rep. Roh Chul-rae of the minor opposition Pro-Park Geun-hye Alliance said the three deaths and 24 injuries occurred during a crackdown on undocumented expatriates from 2005 to August 2009.
Roh said that the deaths were classified as accidents.
No immigrant officials were punished for the casualties.

In 2005, an official of the Seoul Immigration Office was booked on manslaughter, but escaped conviction. Two employees of the Daejeon Immigration Office were released without being arraigned...

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/10/117_53815.html

Of course(!!) the bourgeois K.T. did not mention the dozens of migrant workers who were killed in the horrible "accidents" resulted directly or indirectly by the annual waves of CRACKDOWN TERROR! Just remember the Yeosu Massacre (Feb. 2007), where 9 detained migrant workers were burned to death in the Deportation Center there!
☞ 2.11: The Lethal End of the "Korean Dream"

K.T. - of course(!!) - did also not mention the numerous migrant workers who were/are forced - by the  direct threat of CRACKDOWN TERROR - to commit suicide...

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From today's Hankyoreh:

Free Minu, Stop Crackdown petition

Migrant workers and human right activists hold up signs during their signature collection campaign launched at the Migrant Workers Fall Festival in Maseok City located in Gyeonggi Province that say, “Free Minu!,” Oct. 18.
     The South Korean government has arrested and detained cultural and human rights activist Minu (real name Minod Moktan) from Nepal, which has led to public criticism over its current migrant worker policy.

Also today The Hankyoreh published following editorial:

☞ Addressing abuse of migrant workers

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Two days ago(10.16) MTU(Migrants' Trade Union) released following:

Another Migrant Activist Arrested in South Korea!

        On October 8 the South Korea Immigration Authorities arrested Minod Moktan, a well-known cultural activists who has fought tirelessly for the human rights of migrants in South Korea. His arrest is the latest incident in series of targeted crackdowns against migrant activists, a pattern of repression that has drawn international condemnation. We urge you to show your solidarity by faxing a message of protest to the South Korean Ministry of Justice making the following demands:

•        Free Minod Moktan!
•        Stop the crackdown against undocumented migrant workers!
•        Stop the targeted repression against migrant activists!

I. Background of the Arrest
         At 10:00am in the morning on October 8, Minod Moktan (38, Nepal) was arrested by immigration officers in front of the office of Migrant Workers Television (MWTV), where works as the Director of the Film Production Team. He is currently imprisoned south of Seoul at Hwaesong Detention Center and could be deported at any moment.
Although Immigration Authorities claim Minod was arrested in the course of a normal raid, the manner in which the arrest was carried out shows this is clearly not the case. The immigration officers had been waiting in hiding in front of the MWTV office demonstrating that the arrest was pre-planned. Moreover, normal immigration raids are made at factories or residential areas where migrant workers are congregated, making the location of the arrest—the office where Minod does his cultural and human rights work—highly conspicuous. It is all too clear that the arrest was made in an attempt to stop Minod’s activities in defense of the human rights of migrants. What is worse, Minod’s arrest must be seen as a declaration on the part of the Lee Myeong-bak administration that it plans to go after all migrant activists fighting for migrants’ human rights in South Korea.

II. Minod’s Work as a Cultural Human Rights Activist
        Minod came to South Korea in 1992 and worked for several years as a manual laborer. During this time he experienced personally the oppression and discrimination migrant workers face at the hands of the government, employers and Korean society at large. He became convinced that cultural work and cross-culture exchange were necessary for addressing these problems.
        In 2003, during a historic sit-down protest against the crackdown on undocumented migrant workers, Minod founded the first multicultural migrants’ band in South Korea—“Stop Crackdown Band.” In 2005 Minod also helped to found MWTV, a television station that provides a ‘voice’ to migrants through which to speak about their lives and experiences. He has served as MWTV’ Co-Representative and Director of its Film Production Team. He has also produced two documentaries that look at the lives of migrant workers in South Korea. All of Minod’s cultural activities have been carried out with the goal of raising awareness about the discrimination and human rights abuses faced by migrants in South Korea and creating cross-cultural dialogue as a means to address these problems. His work is of infinite important to the movement for migrants’ rights and South Korean society as a whole.

III. Concentrated Crackdown against Undocumented Migrant Workers
        Minod’s arrest comes just as the government has declared a concentrated crackdown against undocumented migrant workers, which is scheduled to continue from October to December 20009. In the past, countless migrant workers have been injured and killed in the course of such crackdowns, during which immigration officers conduct surprise raids on factories and residences, breaking down doors and windows and dragging people out. One of the most shocking incidents occurred last November, when police blocked of the entrances and exits to an industrial complex in Maseok and immigration officers ransacked the factories and houses inside. 130 people were arrested and 10 hospitalized for injuries. 
        Far from thinking about their human rights, the right-wing administration Lee Myeong-bak has declared an all-out war on undocumented migrants. In the first half of 2009 alone the government has deported 17 thousand people; 32 thousand were deported in 2008. This is roughly twice the number of people deported during the entire term of the previous administration, which was by no means friendly towards migrants.
Like other migrants’ rights activists, Minod recognized the brutal nature of the crackdown, strongly condemned it and called on the government to implement a more just and humane policy, including a program of legalization program. 
       
IV. Pattern of Targeted Crackdown against Migrant Activists
        Minod’s arrest is not the first of its kind, but rather the latest incident in a series of targeted crackdowns against migrant activists in South Korea. Since 2002, immigration officers have used the cover of their authority to arrest undocumented migrants to target those involved in work to defend human and labor rights. The international community will remember when the government arrested and deported the president, vice president and general secretary of the Migrants Trade Union (MTU), a union founded for and by migrants, at the end of 2007 and then did the same thing to the newly elected president and vice president in May 2008. These arrests were carried out in the same manner as Minod’s, with immigration officers waiting in hiding in front of homes and workplaces in order to ambush the activists.
        This pattern of target crackdown has become so obvious that it has induced intervention on the parts of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders, the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants and the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association. It has also been widely condemned by human rights and labor organizations around the world.

Not only do we need your help to free Minod, if we do not make a strong show of force now, the government will take it as license to continue targeting migrant activists and persist in its crackdown against undocumented migrants. Please show you rage at the government and support for our struggle by sending a protest message to the fax numbers given below.

Your solidarity is more important now than ever!

A sample protest letter and adresses for your protest you'll find here.

Related article:
☞ Well-known 'illegal' Nepali immigrant faces deportation (Republica, 10.17)

☞ Voices raised against target crackdown.. (Hankyoreh, 10.16)

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Imperialist Pigswill, Made in DPRK...

...you can get here:

In "Samtaeseong" (Three Big Stars), Pyongyang's first public pig trough - err.. fast food "restaurant" - where you can "enjoy", together with N.K.'s nouveaux riches..

.."Meat and Bread", resp. the "Burgers"

Bon appétit!^^

Related contributions you can check out here:
☞ Fast food becomes popular in Pyongyang (Korea Vision, 10.14)

☞ Samtaesong fast food restaurant in P'yang (NK Economy Watch, 10.13)

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Yesterday in front of Seoul's Immigration Office in Mok-dong: during a press conference representatives of more than 20 (political, labour, civic & solidarity)organizations and groups, such as MWTV, KCTU, MTU, DLP etc., informed about Minod 'Minu' Moktan's (a Nepalese migrant worker, media activist and anchorman of MWTV, arrested last Thursday by immigration officers in Seoul) current situation and demanded his immediate release from Hwaseong Detention Center.

Related reports:

☞ 이주노동자 문화활동가 미누 석방을 촉구하는 기자회견 열려 (MWTV, 10.14)
☞ "미누에게 자유를..." (MTU, 10.15)

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“00형사를 믿은 내가 바보였다. 살려준다는 말에 복직시켜준다는 말에 너만큼은 빼줄 수 있다 … 가정을 살려야 한다는 생각에 내가 동료를 팔아먹은 죽일 놈입니다. 보지도 않은 것을 보았다고 진술을 한 것입니다. 내 진술서에 3명의 진술은 거짓 진술입니다.” -유서 가운데

8월 22일, 77일 파업에 참가했던 쌍용자동차 노동자가 경찰의 허위자백 강요에 견디지 못하고 자살을 시도했다. 노조와 회사가 ‘대타협’ 정신에 입각해 쌍용자동차 정상화를 위해 노력하겠다고 합의한 지 불과 15일만의 일이다.

아직도 경찰 헬기 소리가 귀에 맴돌아 잠을 이루지 못하겠다는 노동자. 음식물 차단으로 매일 먹던 주먹밥은 생각하고 싶지도 않고, 단수, 소화전 차단 조치로 한 여름에 씻지 못해 피부병에 걸렸고, 의료진 차단으로 외상은 곪았던 그 기억의 상흔…

아무도 원망하지 않는다는 노동자들은 그렇게 몸과 마음의 병을 치유할 시간도 없이 다시 회사와 맞서고 있다. 그들의 싸움은 아직 끝나지 않았다.

-본문 중에서

미디어충청 지음 / 메이데이 발행 / 2009년 10월 12일 / 컬러 / 208쪽 / 18,000원