평화군축센터 미분류 2013-02-26   3630

[Open Letter]Declaration of Human Right to Peace of Three Communities Affected by False Security Conflict

Declaration of Human Right to Peace of Three Communities Affected by False Security Conflict

In the Republic of Korea, civil society organizations and academics have discussed and studied on the right to peace. On 19 October 2012, academics, lawyers and peace activists who have studied right to peace organised a roundtable workshop “Discussion on the Rights to Peace and its Application to the Republic of Korea” and shared their academic findings and experience as peace activists on the ground on exercising their right to peace.
 
One of the main reasons why civil societies of the Republic of Korea are particularly interested in the right to peace is that the Government frequently people’s rights to peace under the name of security,
 
In the Republic of Korea, marginalized people have been frequently forced to sacrifice their rights under the name of the national security. People who have wished for peaceful lives maintain that people’s safety should be prioritized over the national security and has peacefully resisted against undemocratic decision-making process and violent enforcement of national policy.
 
Under the special circumstance as a divided country, some conservative media and political groups have stigmatized people who have dissent opinions against the Government as “pro North Korea” or “commies”, and violated their freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and association. 
People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) visited three villages that have struggled to guarantee their right to peace, which is a human right. From the informal meetings, villagers drafted their own right to peace declaration and the whole process was video recorded. Peace declaration based on the people’s voices justifies and reinforces their reasons for struggle to enjoy their right to peace. Moreover, it shows a possibility of how people can democratically control the Government’s arbitral decision-making process and violation of their rights under the name of national security.
 
On 10 December 2012, while commemorating the 64th anniversary of the Universal Declaration for Human Rights, villagers of three villages declared “Declaration of Human Right to Peace of Three Communities Affected by False Security Conflict”. Peace declaration based on villagers’ voices includes what efforts that the Government and military should make to guarantee right to peace of its people. This shows what the Government and society should do to protect and promote villagers’ human rights violations. PSPD also sent the declaration to the UN Human Rights Council Advisory Committee hoping three villages’ peace declaration contributes to the discussion on the right to peace. For your information, the UN Human Rights Council requested the Advisory Committee to draft a declaration on the right of peoples to peace in 2010 and it was discussed during the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Right to Peace which was held on 18-21 February 2012. 

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