Welcome to BASE21

By John Park
(ctgod@chollian.net)

On October 23rd, 2001, 93 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) launched the "Joint Conference for Free Assembly and Demonstration Free" at Cafe Neutinamu in Seoul, which is run by the People's Solidarity For Participatory Democracy (PSPD) and Korean Federation For Environmental Movement (KFEM). The Joint Conference declared that they would tackle the problems concerning the "Law on Assembly and Demonstration" (A&D Law) as well as the police's unreasonable excercise of the law.

The Joint Conference was mainly directed at Codes 5 (Pre-Ban of Assembly) and 11 as typical examples of the problem. Participants of the Joint Conference stated, "The government uses their own judgement and follows these codes in prohibiting assemblies." They added, "There were lots of cases of assemblies organized by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) or the Korean Student Union Federation (KSUF) being banned, only because they once had a violent rally." The Joint Conference asserted also that the conditions stated in Code 5 completely contrasts that of Code 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of assembly and demonstration. The Joint Conference demanded to rescind the A&D Law.

The other main problem of the A&D Law is Code 11 that prohibits any assembly within 100 meters of all foreign embassies or the National Assembly. "If any assembly is to be banned only because it is held within 100 meters of a foreign embassy, it doesn't make any sense," said the Joint Conference. For "chaebol" corporations, a way to avoid labor union rallies is to lend rooms to foreign embassies in their building so that they block any possibility of an assembly. Furthermore, the Joint Conference blames the police for the unfair execution of the law by using excuses of traffic flow.

KCTU Vice-President Young-goo Huh said, "Prohibition of assemblies on main streets takes place under the police's own discretion. This manner of application of the A&D Law causes misunderstanding that any person who plans to have a rally needs to acquire a permit from the government or the police, but this is not true. The real essence of the A&D Law is not to limit the right of assembly but to allow assemblies after declaring to do so."

The Joint Conference announced that it will fight for the right of assembly and demonstration through workshops and public hearings for the amendment of the A&D Law. It will also prepare a revision of the A&D Law, hold single person demonstrations in front of embassies, demand compensation claims for damages caused by fake-reported assemblies, and file lawsuits against the unfair prohibition of various assemblies by the police.

by John Park (ctgod@chollian.net)