2005-12-30
From: Dae-oup Chang
Dear Friends
Hope that you're having a peaceful Christmas and new years.
In Hong Kong, struggle to release the 14 detainees continues. Although they have been bailed out and are in a much better condition now, we are askng HK government to drop all the charges and let them go back to their own countries, so that they can spend the new years day with their loved ones and families. So far, showing no sign of dropping charges, the HK police keep repeating that they will be treated according to Hong Kong law.
In Hong Kong, there will be more action on 29th and 30th. On 29th, we will march from HSBC building, Central to Central Government office. It will start at 4PM. We will deliver protest statement and peititions from the family members of the HK14 to the chief excutive. After the march, we will again gather in the Tsiam Sha Tsui Star Ferry (near the flag poles) at 7PM for candlelight vigil. On 30th, we have protest in front of Kwuntong court, supporting the detainees in trial, from the noon time.
Since 22nd December, a lot of friends in different countries and international organisations, such as Korea, Thailand, Belgium, Indonesia, Austrailia, New Zealand, US, UK, IUF, UNI and many others, have participated in protest action and sent condemnation letter to the hk government and police. Please continue to do so. International pressure will help the hk 14 to be released without charge.
the following is protest letter from HKPA.
Cheers
Dae-oup
Dear friends,
Below is the letter from Elizabeth Tang, the Chairperson of the HKPA. Please sign on the letter to pressure the HK government to release the 14 protesters without any condition.
Thank you for your attention and looking forward to your reply soon.
In solidarity,
Khai Loon
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Dear friends,
The 14 protestors are now being released on bail until December 30 in Hong Kong.
According to the prosecutor, the police has asked for more time to wade through all their videotapes and photos to identify more evidence as they are considering to add more serious charges onto the 14 protestors. Therefore it is very important for us to keep the pressure on to demand for their release before the upcoming trial on December 30.
Please sign on the following letter soonest. Please also invite all those you know to sign on. We need to have many people or organizations signing on to make this letter powerful.
Meanwhile the Taiwanese protestor has returned to Taiwan after paying an additional cash surety of HKD100,000. The other 13 are residing at a local church. The HKPA together with a number of other organizations are helping to fundraise to cover their needs for their stay in Hong Kong. There will be a demonstration on December 29 at the Central Government Office before the trial on the following day.
In solidarity,
Elizabeth Tang, for the HKPA
Letter to Donald Tsang, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong
December 26, 2005
The Honourable
Donald Tsang Yam-kuen
Chief Executive
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Peopleâs Republic of China
Dear Mr. Tsang
Appeal for the Release of MC6 Protesters in Hong Kong
We are deeply concerned about the 14 protestors currently released on bail in Hong Kong and are still facing charges of unlawful assembly. Furthermore we understand that they may face more serious charges such as that of assaulting police when they attend trial on December 30th.
These 14 protestors were just amongst many others who took part in the demonstration on December 17th. Knowing that the MC6 had just 2 days to end and no concrete steps had been taken to end rural poverty, the farmers and other NGOs representatives felt the need to intensify their action to ensure that their voices be heard. The sole objective of their action was to get as closest as possible to the venue of the MC6. It had been clearly demonstrated throughout the course of their actions involving all those targeting to break the police defense line and nothing else. As suggested by the lawyer representing these 14 protesters, this is an unusual prosecution in regard to the history of the WTO and we demand for their immediate release.
We are in particularly concerned at the excessive use of police force in this instance resulting in many injuries. Furthermore we are indignant to learn of the many cases of inhumane treatments while they were held in police custody.
Many of them constitute violations of international laws and standards.
Therefore we call upon your government concerned to take immediate action to rectify this situation.
We will continue to closely monitor the situation of the 14 protestors and the actions of the Hong Kong authorities.
Thank you for your attention to this extremely urgent matter.
Yours sincerely,
(list of signatories)
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Dear Friends
How are you? Hope that those who had been in hk for WTO got back home safely. Here in Hong Kong the struggle has never finished. Now, there are still 14 people detained, charged with unlawful assembly. In 20th court hearing, bail-out of these 14 detainees has been rejected. These people are randomly selected out of about 900 arrested on 17th in Wanchai by hk police without any clear evidences and so far they haven't got any clear idea of what they did or where they were.
I have been with them, translating for lawyers and also helping them organising sitting in struggle in HK. I went to Kwuntong Court with lawyer to know who were in the court prison. We only knew approximate number of detainees, which was about 80-90.The condition of these detainees, was really bad. The prison cell was very small and cold. One cell had 10-20 people. After spending 12 hours on the street surrounded by police who did not even allow the protestors to go to toilet, they did not have chance to wash for almost 3 days. Exhausted and frustrated, these Korean detainees did not even trust me, looking at me with scary eyes and keep asking me 'are you really with lawyer?'...It took me for a while to convince them that I was with KCTU and lawyer. Once they trusted me, all complaints and requests came out at the same time, it was impossible for me to collect all of them. All of them wanted to know what was going on outside desperately. Many of them asked to contact their family. Asking water, giving me a comrade's name to check whether they are ok or not.....tens of request at a time...
I was in police station with them when they were finger printed and charged. The attitude of hk police was really rude and violent. They wanted to force the detainees physically first, rather than asking them to do so verbally. One farmer was trying to talk to me desperately, wanting to know whether it was possible to have a little break. Police shout at this detainee even when he talked to me for translation. As I complaint by saying that they don't have to shout at him, he also approached and looked at me as if he would arrest me immediately. One farmer refused to speak Korean to me, only repeating a lawyer's English name who had visited them the first day in police station. It took me about 20 min to persuade him to talk to me and trust me. One word came out from him, 'why should this world this unfair...?'. His wife gave birth only a few days before he left for anti-WTO struggle in HK. In front of the court, the arch bishop of Hong Kong was complaining about inhumane treatment of the detainees by hk police, one superintendent came out and pushed him back, he nearly fell down. And the police disappeared behind the door. They do not respect anyone involved in this struggle. On the contrary, hong kong people's support to the protestors are still there, not to mention the full-hearted support from young activists of HKCTU and other small organisations. Last night we launched sit-in strike in front of Kwuntong court. It was coldest night in this year. Nevertheless, many locals visisted the site with food and clothes. A school girl with her mom visited us with a drawing of the little girl which showed a big heart in between Korean farmers and hong kong people. An elderly woman came with sleeping bag. As we told her that we have enough, she said she wanted to bring a big umbrella so that we could shield the wind. She said she think the farmers are all her family and chanted the slogan 'down down WTO'. A middle age hong konger visited us with a whole set of meal and hot soyabean soup, told us 'you taught us a lot about how to fight for our rights in hong Kong. He was in candle vigil for democracy just before he came to us to support. Visits continued till 2AM. By the time we went to sleep, we, except the one in hunger strike, were all completely full....with the food and the warm heart. It was a very cold day; however, no one there felt that we were alone.
We need more support from all over the world to release those detainees. The trial is completely political. In the court hearing, the prosecutors' statement was really poor, sounded not convincing at all, as if they just cut and paste some news paper articles describing the demonstration. It is very unusual that bail out is rejected for the charge of unlawful assembly. It is time for solidarity action, every single protest letter will be great pressure to hk government who is trying to manipulate public opinion as if this conflict is beween hong kong and foreigners. Let them know that the unlawful assembly was not people's demonstration but the WTO ministerial. Let them know they cannot keep violating human right.
Please take action according to the following
Dae-oup Chang
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Urgent appeal by the Hong Kong support group for Anti-WTO protest detainees
20th December 2005
Dear friends,
We write to request your immediate solidarity action against the Hong Kong governmentâs mass arrest and violence against the anti-WTO demonstrators on the 17th and 18th of December 2005.
Currently, 14 male demonstrators including 11 Koreans, 1 Japanese, 1 Chinese, and 1 Taiwanese are still held in police custody and will be up for trial this Friday, the 23rd of December.
As members of various international and local Hong Kong civil society groups, we strongly condemn the mass arrests and crackdown against WTO demonstrators. We assert the legitimacy of protest, and continue to support and call for the unconditional release of those who are still detained. We call for better treatment of detainees, and demand an apology from the Hong Kong authorities for their actions.
Various solidarity actions, listed below, have been planned for Hong Kong. We call for international solidarity actions on and before the 23rd of December. Please find below background information and further suggested actions including a sample email. We urge you to contact the Hong Kong authorities today and call for the detainees to be released and the charges to be dropped!
Updates and more information can be found the website of the Hong Kong Peoples Alliance on the WTO: http://www.hkpa-wto.org/
For more information, please contact:
HKPA Documentation Team
hkpa.documentation@gmail.com
Further Local Action:
Starting at 4:00pm on the 21st of December a member of the Korean Peasants League will bow 3000 times in front of Kwun Tong District Court, Kowloon.
Local activists will continue a hunger strike, started upon initial arrests on the 18th of December.
Symbolic visits to the three detention centers where detainees are being held will take place during the day of 22nd of December for Winter Festival. Tong Yuen desserts will be brought as a gesture of reunification.
A candlelight vigil will be held on the evening on the 22nd of December at SOGO pedestrian zone from 9:00pm ��" 11:00pm.
A solidarity demonstration outside of Kwun Tong District Court will be held on the 23rd of December starting at 11:00am.
Suggested International Action:
Please contact the Hong Kong authorities to demand that those in custody be released, and that the charges be dropped.
Please send Hong Kong Peoples Alliance, at hkpa.documentation@gmail.com, your message of solidarity to be used during the local demonstration at Kwun Tong District Court on the 23rd of December.
Please arrange international protests on or before the 23rd of December at your local Chinese embassy.
Background:
On December 17 the Hong Kong police arrested hundreds of activists who were trying to reach the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in a demonstration to protest against the policies of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). At around 5:00 pm, they were stopped by the police, who used pepper spray, water hoses and eventually, tear gas, to disperse them. Many demonstrators were injured and some were hospitalized.
Reports from the legal support group and those arrested reveal that many have been mishandled or beaten by the police and were denied medical aid, food, water and bathroom facilities.
By now most arrested have been released, but the HK government sent 14 demonstrators to court on 19th of December charging them with unlawful assembly under the HK Public Order Ordinance. These people include 11 Koreans, 1 Taiwanese, 1 Japanese and 1 mainland Chinese (names listed below). The judge rejected bail out requests. They are now in police custody pending trial on the 23rd of December. The police might charge them with more serious offences.
Those persons still detained:
HWANG, DAE SUB Korean Catholic Farmers Association
YANG, KYOUNG KYU Korean Confederation of Trade Unions
KANG, SEUNG KYU Korean Peasants League
LEE, YOUNG HOON Korean Peasants League
PARK, IN HWAN Korean Peasants League
YOON, IL KWON Korean Peasants League
NAMGUNG SUK Korean Peasants League
LIM, DAE HYUK Korean Confederation of Trade Unions
KIM, CHANG JOON Korean Peasants League
HAN, DONG UNG Korean Peasants League
LEE, HYUNG JIN Korean Peasants League
LEE CHIEN CHING Taiwanese student
MAKAKIRI KOSUKE Japanese journalist, People Newspaper
1 mainland Chinese
It is extremely important to contact the Hong Kong police and authorities as
soon as possible, before the hearing of the 23rd, and call for those kept in custody to be released, and for the charges to be dropped. Find below a sample email with contact addresses (you are encouraged to adapt this to your own words).
SAMPLE EMAIL
To:
Chief Executive of HK: Mr Donald Tsang ceo@ceo.gov.hk
Head of the Security Bureau: Mr Ambrose S.K. LEE at sbenq@sb.gov.hk
Dear Mr Tsang / Mr. Lee
I/we (my organisation) am deeply concerned about the 14 demonstrators still held in police custody in Hong Kong, following the rally of December 17, 2005. I/we (my organisation) call upon you to immediately release them, and drop all of the charges.
Over the past few weeks, dozens of peaceful rallies were organized in Hong Kong. Furthermore, the local and international community was deeply moved by the sincere actions of demonstrators and expressed their strong support to the Korean peasants.
During the whole demonstration, there was no damage to private shops or public property. Police labeling of this incident as a ���riot��� is totally misleading and completely untrue.
I/we (my organisation) regret that the police force used unnecessary excessive force during the rally, on December 17, 2005. Tear gas was applied without prior warning to the public and reporters on the spot. We regret the fact that considerable numbers of demonstrators and Hong Kong citizens were injured by water cannon and tear gas and express our deepest concern to all injured people.
Many international NGO and trade union representatives were present in Hong Kong during the WTO conference, and joined in the rallies and actions together with those presently kept in custody. The international community will continue to closely monitor the situation of the detainees and the actions of the Hong Kong authorities. We sincerely hope you will hear our call and release all detainees unconditionally and without pressing charges.
Sincerely,