1

20 July 2015 Individual Complaint to - The Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders - The Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association - The Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression

Name of Defender: Mr. Lae-goon PARK

Country: Republic of Korea

Incident / Violation: Human rights defender is detained since 17 July 2015 due to his participation to protests related to the Sewol ferry incident, which

happened on 16 April 2014 where 304 people died.

Date of Fact Sheet: 20 July 2015

A. Essential Information B. Useful Information

1. Alleged Victim

Name: Mr. Lae-goon Park

Nationality: Republic of Korea

Age: 53

Occupation: Human rights defender / Co-standing steering committee

member of the 4.16 Coalition on the Sewol Ferry Disaster, Co-steering

committee member of the People’s Committee for the Sewol Ferry Tragedy

Coalition 416 on the Sewol Ferry Disaster (established on 18 March 2015)

Almost one year after the Sewol ferry tragedy, three parties (Sewol families,

People’s Committee for the Sewol Ferry Tragedy, and individual supporters)

established the “Coalition 4.16 on the Sewol Ferry Disaster (Coalition 4.16)”.

The Coalition 4.16 has three standing steering committee members, one

each from each group and Mr. Park was one of them. Since then, most

activities including protests have been organized under the Coalition 4.16’s

name to show that families, civil society organisations, and individual

supporters are jointly working towards truth of the Sewol ferry incident.

(Website: 416act.net – This is currently in Korean only but we will soon open

English site.)

People’s Committee for the Sewol Ferry Tragedy (established on 22 May

2

2014)

After the Sewol ferry tragedy happened on 16 April 2014, South Korean civil

society organizations established a network of NGOs, “People’s Committee

for the Sewol Ferry Tragedy.” This network of more than 800 NGOs

supported the Sewol victims’ families, including preparation of families’

press conferences, organizing meeting with parliamentarians with the Sewol

families to support their struggle in finding truth of the Sewol ferry tragedy.

The Committee dissolved after the Special Law for Seeking Truth of the

Sewol Ferry Disaster and Establishing Safer Society was enacted and

transformed into the Coalition 4.16.

2. Status of the victim as a human rights defender

Mr. Park is a prominent human rights defender who has been working on

seeking truth of the Sewol ferry incident since it happened. The Sewol

families and civil society organisations held series of protests, calling for an

independent and transparent investigation of the Sewol ferry disaster.

Current Situation:

Mr. Lae-goon Park has been detained since 17 July 2015, due to his

participation to the series of protests related to the Sewol ferry tragedy.

Regarding his case, pre-indictment detention warrant was issued and he is

not yet indicted by the prosecutor’s office. The Prosecutor’s Office will indict

him within 10~20 days after the detention. Mr. Parks’ lawyer is now

preparing a request for habeas corpus and will request it probably on 27 July

2015 (or a bit earlier).

After the Sewol ferry disaster happened on 16 April 2014, Sewol families and

civil society organizations continuously urge the Government to set up an

independent investigatory commission to find the truth of the Sewol ferry

disaster. The People’s Committee for the Sewol Ferry Tragedy, together with

Sewol families, collected more than 3.5 million individual petitions calling for

enacting a law to establish an independent and transparent investigation

commission on the Sewol ferry disaster and submitted it to the National

Assembly on 15 July 2014. After the submission, Sewol families and human

rights defenders including Mr. Laegoon Park, and other individual citizens

went on hunger strike, protest over nights on the street, and shaved their

heads as a sign of protest, calling for enacting the special law on Sewol. The

Special Law for Seeking Truth of the Sewol Ferry Disaster and Establishing

Safer Society (Sewol Special Law) was finally enacted on 7 November 2014.

However, the enforcement ordinance of the Sewol Special Law which was

announced by the Ministry of Ocean and Fisheries on 27 March 2015

3

negates the Sewol Special Law. Therefore, the Sewol families and civil

society organizations went on protests again, asking the government to

abolish the enforcement ordinance.

3. Alleged violation/s committed against the victim

As a co-steering committee member of the People’s Committee for the

Sewol Ferry Tragedy and later as a co-standing steering committee member

of the Coalition 4.16, he has stood in solidarity with the Sewol victims’

families and has been with them since the disaster happened. The members

of the Coalition 4.16 organised series of protests to commemorate Sewol

victims, calling for an independent and transparent investigation. During the

protests, some participants became overly emotional and violent, and

physical clashes between protesters and police happened at some point.

The police argue that Mr. Park incited sedition during the protest and

colluded with other human rights defenders to instruct participants to take

some violent actions against the police, only because he is one of the

standing steering committee members of the 4.16 Coalition, who submitted

protest application. However, no proper evidence was found about Mr.

Park’s involvement inciting violent actions during the protests. On the other

hand, Mr. Park tried to calm participants down and asked them not to use

any violence against authorities. In fact, it was reported that excessive use of

force by the police was one of the main reasons that provoked participants.

The police requested a detention warrant because of the gravity of the

crime, possibility of destroying the evidence, and running away. However,

Mr. Park has an official address where he lives with his wife and two

As of today (20 July 2015), seven human rights defenders(3 NGO staffs, 4

individuals) including Mr. Lae-goon Park are detained due to their

participation to the Sewol ferry tragedy related protests. One person has

been detained since 10 June 2014. For more details, please see the annex of

this communication. (page 8).

Police argue that many police officers were injured by protesters during the

protests as well as many police equipment was broken. However, many

participants to the protest also suffered from severe injuries but no police

officers were indicted for excessive use of force.

Police violation reported during the Sewol ferry disaster related protests

- For more details, please see communication sent on 4 May 2015. These are

common violations found in many protests related to the Sewol ferry

disaster.

1) Police Bus Barricade to block protesters

The police used buses to block protesters even before protest started.

4

daughters, therefore, there is very little possibility of him running away.

Also, the police authorities already searched his house, car and office (with

search warrant), and collected all the evidence. Therefore, Mr. Park does not

have any further evidence to destroy.

He is charged by organizing below five protests related to the Sewol ferry

disaster:

24 April 2014: Protest remembering 100-day after the Sewol ferry disaster

11 April 2015: Protest calling for the rise of the Sewol ferry (As of 18 July

2015, still 9 victims’ bodies are not found yet, and the families are calling for

the rise of the ferry)

16 April 2015: Protest remembering 1-year anniversary of the Sewol ferry

disaster

18 April 2015: A pan-national protest calling for truth-seeking of the Sewol

ferry disaster

1 May 2015 ~ 2 May 2015: Overnight protest calling for truth-seeking of the

Sewol ferry disaster

As of 18 April 2015, Mr. Lae-goon Park is being charged under the violation

of below laws.

1) Act on Assembly and Demonstration

2) General Obstruction of Traffic (Article 185 of the Criminal Code)

A person who damages, destroys or blocks a road, water-way, or bridge, or

obstructs traffic by other means, shall be punished by imprisonment for not

more than ten years or by a fine not exceeding fifteen million won.

On 16 April 2015, police set up police buses as barricade even before the

protest started.

It was found that during the protest on 18 April 2015, the police used 477

police buses including specially designed 18 trucks, and 101 security fences.

In addition, a large police force of about 13,700 personnel from 172 units

was mobilized for the crackdown.

5

3) Special Obstruction of Public Duty (Article 144 of the Criminal Code)

(1) A person who commits the crimes specified in Articles 136, 138, and 140

to the preceding Article through the threat of collective force or by carrying a

dangerous weapon shall be punished by increasing one half of the

punishments specified in the relevant Articles.

(2) A person who commits the crime of paragraph (1) to injure a public

official shall be punished by imprisonment for a limited term of at least three

years. If it results in the death of a public official, the perpetrator shall be

punished by imprisonment for life or for a limited term of at least five years.

4) Invalidity of Public Documents, etc. and Destruction of Public Goods

(Article 141 of the Criminal Code)

(1) A person who damages or conceals documents or other goods, or special

media records, such as electromagnetic records, etc., used by a public office

or spoils its utility by other methods, shall be punished by imprisonment for

not more than seven years or by a fine not exceeding ten million won.

(2) A person who destroys structures, vessels, trains, or airplanes, used by

public offices, shall be punished by imprisonment for at least one year up to

ten years.

Not only participants to the protest as well as passerby’s right to movement

were completely blocked by the police buses. 1 May 2015.

2) Violent roundup and crackdown

Many of the persons taken to the police station suffered bruises and injuries

on their arms and legs from being lifted or pulled by force in the process.

The water cannon spray containing capsaicin and tear liquid left a number of

people suffering keratoconjunctivitis and skin lesions. Hundreds of people

who had no way out completely surrounded by bus barricades were

helplessly exposed to the water cannon spray. Police used 0.03% pava

capsaicin against protesters on 18 April and 1 May 2015. According to the

Korean Health Medical Workers' Union, this can be very dangerous if a

person is exposed to this for a long time.

6

Water cannon and tear liquid used against human rights defenders including

victims’ families during the protest. It was very dangerous as human rights

defenders were isolated and cannot even escape from water cannon. The

photos were taken on 1 May 2015. (c) OhMyNews

4. Alleged Perpetrator

The Government of the Republic of Korea

Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency

Supreme Prosecutors’ Office

Witness

N/A

5. Actions by Authorities

Mr. Lae-goon Park has been detained since 17 July 2015. Regarding his case,

pre-indictment detention warrant was issued and he is not yet indicted by

the prosecutor’s office. The Prosecutor’s Office will indict him within 10~20

days after the detention. Mr. Parks’ lawyer is now preparing a request for

habeas corpus and will request it probably on 27 July 2015 (or a bit earlier).

Actions taken by the victim or by human rights organizations

Sewol families are those who first visited Mr. Lae-goon Park at the detention

center. This shows that Mr. Park has been always on the side of the Sewol

victims’ families.

Civil society organizations of the Republic of Korea issued series of

statement condemning Mr. Park’s detention, held press conference and

protest calling for his release, and are organizing campaign, opening a

7

website on Mr. Park.

6. Link between the violation and human rights work

Mr. Lae-goon Park was arrested and detained due to his work as a human

rights defender. He has been defending Sewol families’ right to truth,

freedom of opinion and expression, as well as the right to peaceful

assembly.

Previous Incidents

Mr. Lae-goon Park is one of the most prominent human rights defenders in

the Republic of Korea. Therefore, his arrest and detention is a significant

meaning to civil society of the Republic of Korea as well as to Sewol families.

Crackdown on Mr. Park means a crackdown on the overall Sewol

movements and all human rights defenders. As soon as Mr. PARK was

detained, Sewol families and Yongsan families were the first ones who

visited the detention center to meet him. This shows that he has been

always with human rights victims in his life.

Mr. Park was detained in 2006 during his peaceful protest against expansion

of the US military base in the Republic of Korea. For further details, please

see FORUM-ASIA's statement on 19 July 2006. Open letter on arrest of

human rights defender by Korean authorities http://bit.ly/1fdS7mb

He was also detained during the Yongsan incident in 2009, where five

residents and one police officer were killed during the forced eviction. At

that time, he stood in solidarity with Yongsan victims' families and was

detained while he and Yongsan families requested for ending impunity and

punish the main responsible person of the incident. Civil society

organisations sent several communications to the UN Special Rapporteurs

on Mr. Park's detention as well as Yongsan incident.

1) A/HRC/13/22/Add.1, para. 1836 – Yongsan incident http://bit.ly/1CJePOa

2) A/HRC/16/44/Add.1, para. 1993 – Mr. Lae-goon Park’s case

http://bit.ly/1CJeSJZ

8

7. Who is submitting this information?

This letter is submitted by

Ms. Gayoon Baek

The Coalition 4.16 on the Sewol Ferry Disaster

People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD)

Tel. +82 2 723 5051, Fax: +82 2 6919 2004

Email: pspdint@pspd.org

9

ANNEX. List of Human Rights Defenders who are detained due to their participation to the Sewol ferry disaster related protests (as of 20 July 2015)

# Name Arrested Detained Alleged violations Current Situation

Member of human rights NGOs / The 4.16 Coalition / People’s Committee for the Sewol Ferry Tragedy

1 Mr. Hyung-jae HAM

11 April 2015

30 April 2015

- Staff of the the People’s Committee for the Sewol Ferry Tragedy - On 11 April, during a peaceful protest seeking for the truth of the Sewol ferry

tragedy, the police requested organizers to dissolve a march after a long confrontation between the police and protesters. Organizers agreed to announce ending of the protest. For this, it was necessary to move the car, which was used to make announcement to participants. Organizers made a negotiation with a police officer who was in charge (Officer Sung-hyun PARK, Jong-ro Police Station, Seoul) and asked Mr. Ham to move the car since they knew well nearby areas to park the car. Since the car was surrounded by the police, he had no choice but to move the car to different direction, but then when he moved the car towards opposite direction, the police surrounded them and arrested him.

- The first detention warrant requested by the Prosecutor’s Office was denied but search warrant was issued. The Prosecutor’s Office searched his phone and argued that they found additional information that Mr. Ham was one of main responsible persons for the protest. They reapplied for the detention warrant and the court approved it on the second time.

- Charges of violating General Obstruction of Traffic (Article 185 of the Criminal Code)

On 14 July 2015, the prosecutor’s office indicted him with 3-year imprisonment. On 6 August 2015 at 10am (Korean Time), the judge will make a final decision.

2 Mr. Hyun-sik KIM

11 April 2015

30 April 2015

- Staff of the the People’s Committee for the Sewol Ferry Tragedy - On the same occasion mentioned above related to Mr. Hyung-jae HAM, Mr.

Hyun-sik KIM was sitting next to Mr. HAM when he moved the car. - The first detention warrant requested by the Prosecutor’s Office was denied

but search warrant was issued. The Prosecutor’s Office searched his phone and argued that they found additional information that Mr. Kim was one of main responsible persons for the protest. They reapplied for the detention

On 14 July 2015, the prosecutor’s office indicted him with 2-year imprisonment. On 6 August 2015 at 10am (Korean Time), the

10

warrant and the court approved it on the second time. - Charged of violating General Obstruction of Traffic (Article 185 of the Criminal

Code)

judge will make a final decision.

3 Mr.. Lae-goon PARK

17 July 2015

17 July 2015

- Co-standing steering committee member of the 4.16 Coalition on the Sewol Ferry Disaster, Co-steering committee member of the People’s Committee for the Sewol Ferry Tragedy

- The police argue that Mr. Park is responsible for series of violent clashes between the protesters and police in the past protests related to the Sewol ferry disaster.

- Charged under the violation of Act on Assembly and Demonstration, General Obstruction of Traffic (Article 185 of the Criminal Code), and Invalidity of Public Documents, etc. and Destruction of Public Goods (Article 141 of the Criminal Code)

A pre-indictment detention warrant was issued and he is not yet indicted by the prosecutor’s office. The Prosecutor’s Office will indict him within 10~20 days after the detention. Mr. Parks’ lawyer is now preparing a request for habeas corpus and will request it probably on 27 July 2015 (or a bit earlier).

Individuals who joined the protests related to the Sewol ferry disaster

1 Mr. Chang-gun KIM

10 June 2014

10 June 2014

- Individual who participated in the Sewol protest on 10 June 2014. At the time of arrest, Mr. Kim was raising his voice against the police as the police blocked the road with police shield and prevented people from crossing the road.

- He had other charges related to previous protests related to other issues, not on Sewol, and therefore, was charged on various issues, not only on Sewol.

Was sentenced 2-year imprisonment. His lawyer appealed to the 2nd court but the appeal was denied.

2 Mr. Jang-hee KWON

18 April 2015

18 April 2015

- Irregular worker, Member of Justice Party - On 18 April 2015, the protesters and police were facing at each other and one

police officer used abusive language and it provoked protesters. Lawyer Kwon Young-gook tried to stop violent clashes and asked police officer to stop using those languages by holding his arm. When physical conflicts between the police and protesters were intense, Lawyer Kwon was arrested by the police and later released. Mr. Jang-hee Kwon was also arrested when he was with Lawyer Kwon.

Mr. Kwon’s lawyer requested for a bail on 20 July 2015.

11

- The court issued a detention warrant because Mr. Kwon is a irregular worker and assumes his residence is not exact.

- On his second trial, the only witness who argued that he saw Mr. Kwon was using violence changed his words and saying in fact, he did not see Mr. Kwon was using the violence.

- At the time of arrest, the charges were violating the Act on Assembly and Demonstration, and General Obstruction of Traffic (Article 185 of the Criminal Code). Later, the Prosecutor’s Office added Special Obstruction of Public Duty (Article 144 of the Criminal Code).

3 Mr. Kwang-chul KANG

18 April 2015

18 April 2015

- Irregular worker (street cleaner) - The police argue that during the protest, Mr. Kang used physical violence

against police officers, broke police fences, and took police shield from them and threw it to other protesters. However, according to the video shown during trial to decide issuing a detention warrant, there was no evidence found regarding physical violence nor breaking police fences. Regarding the police shield, the video showed that police left the shield while confronting with protesters, and Mr. Kang picked it up from the floor and gave it to protesters, so did not forcibly take it from the police.

- Charged under the violation of Special Obstruction of Public Duty (Article 144 of the Criminal Act)

On 22 July 2015 at 2pm (Korean time), the Prosecutor’s Officer will announce its sentence.

4 Mr. Gi-ho LEE 2 May 2015

2 May 2015

- A member of General Trade Union - On 2 May morning, he participated in the Sewol protest and was crossing the

road near Anguk subway station which was blocked by the police bus barricade. He raised his voice against the police to complain about road blockade and got into a light physical fight, then arrested on the site. He was charged with similar cases in the past protests related to other issues, and therefore, the prosecutor’s office requested an arrest warrant.

- Charged under the violation of Assembly and Demonstration Act, General Obstruction of Traffic(Article 185 of the Criminal Act), and Obstruction of Performance of Official Duties (Article 136(1) of the Criminal Act).

12

* Mr. Gil-soo AHN who was arrested and detained on 1 May 2015 was released on 9 July 2015 after the final decision was made by the court. The court sentenced 10-month in prison with two years of probation. Therefore, as of today (20 July 2015), six human rights defenders are detained due to their participation to the protests related to the Sewol ferry disaster.