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Help MTU have its demands met!
Prevent more MTU leaders from being arrested!
On Monday, December 5, 2005, migrant workers from the Migrants' Trade
Union began occupying the offices of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC, actually a part of the government) in protest of a recent decision to uphold the unlawful detention of MTU's president, Anwar Hossain. MTU members and some of their supporters entered the building about about 10am, demanding to speak with the Chief of the NHRC. They held a rally in his office for about 12 hours, until the Chief agreed to speak with them. In this meeting, MTU members demanded that the NHRC change their ruling and recommend that the Korean government grant the full release of Anwar Hossain. This meeting was fruitless and went long into the night. Since there was no agreement, MTU has decided that they will stay in the NHRC indefinitely.
Currently, 10 MTU leaders are occupying the NHRC offices, and many supporters are there with them. On Tuesday night, they held a small rally
in the main office of the NHRC, with about 50 supporters inside the
office with them. The MTU leaders are in an extremely precarious
situation. It is possible that without your support, the NHRC could hand
them over to Immigration officials at any time.
Please take a moment to send a letter to the chief of Korea's National Human Rights Commission, Cho Young-hwang:
cyh@humanrights.go.kr
Sample letter:
Dear Mr. Cho,
It has come to my attention that Anwar Hossian, President of the
Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon Migrants' Trade Union is still in detention at the
Cheonju Detention Center just south of Seoul. While in detention, his
health has been steadily deteriorating and he has been denied association with people he can communicate with. This isolation is making his mental health suffer in addition to his physical health, and is a form of torture. Furthermore, you found through your own investigation that his arrest was actually illegal because an arrest warrant was not issued within the legal time frame set forth by Korean immigration law.
Mr. Hossain is not a criminal and it is not just treat him like one. I
implore you to release Mr. Hossain immediately, pending the outcome of his lawsuit. To do otherwise is clearly politically motivated and an
obvious ploy meant to thwart the Migrant' Trade Union organizing efforts.
Yours sincerely,
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Victory! MTU Ends Occupation of KNHRC 
