“韓 민주주의 파괴 시도 용납될 수 없다” 성명 발표
미국의 대표적인 지식인 노암 촘스키 등 진보성향 인사들이 박근혜 정부와 국가정보원이 통합진보당 국회의원, 당원들을 상대로 내란음모 조작 사건을 일으키고 있다며 규탄 성명을 발표했다.
1일 오후 공안탄압규탄 대책위는 트위터에 “세계적 석학 노암 촘스키 등 미국의 진보적 인사 57명이 대책위로 성명을 보내와 공유한다”며 ‘대한민국 내 정치탄압을 즉각 중단하라(STOP REPRESSION IN SOUTH KOREA!)는 제목의 성명을 공개했다.
미국 지식인, 학자, 교수, 인권활동가 등 57명은 성명을 통해 “대한민국의 민주주의가 위협적인 공세 하에 놓여있다”면서 “박근혜 대통령의 집권여당 새누리당과 국가정보원은 정치권에서 진보적인 목소리를 축출하기 위한 마녀사냥에 주력하고 있다”고 비판했다.
이들은 “전 중앙정보부와 마찬가지로, 국정원은 정치적 목적을 달성하기위해 증거를 날조 왜곡하는 오랜 역사를 가지고 있다”며 “지난 대선 때에는 노 대통령이 남한의 영해를 북에 넘겨준 것처럼 노무현 대통령과 김정일 위원장간의 대화록 녹취록을 왜곡하기도 했다”고 주장했다.
이어 “그 의도는 선거 캠페인에서 야당 인사들을 조국에 불충한 배신자들로 호도하고 집권당 소속의 후보자들에게 민심을 몰아가려 한 것”이라고 덧붙였다.
이들은 또 “일본 식민지 및 반공주의 이승만 정권의 잔재인 국가보안법은 아직도 효력을 발휘하고 있으며 근본적으로 ‘친북’ 또는 ‘공산주의’ 사상을 표현하는 것을 범죄화 하고 있다”면서 “법문 그대로 적용되었을 때, 국보법은 모든 국가 정책 반대의견을 탄압하는 데 주로 사용되어왔다”고 지적했다.
아울러 “한국의 시민들은 군사독재하에서 오랜 기간 힘들게 투쟁하여 민주주의를 확립하는 성과를 거두었다”며 “새누리당의 맥카시스트적 극단적 반공주의라 할 수 있는 태도와 국정원은 그 성과를 위협하고 있으나, 어렵게 이루어낸 한국의 민주주의를 파괴하는 것은 용납될 수 없다고 강조했다.
그러면서 이들은 박근혜 정부에 “통합진보당을 해산하려는 모든 시도들을 중단할 것과 대선 개입 및 증거조작의 국정원 책임자를 조사하고 법대로 처벌할 것” 등을 촉구했다.
| 다음은 성명서 전문 및 서명자 명단 STOP REPRESSION IN SOUTH KOREA! Democracy in South Korea is under attack. The ruling Saenuri Party of President Park Geun-hye and the National Intelligence Service have launched a witch hunt to purge progressive voices from the political process. On August 28, the National Intelligence Service (NIS), formerly known as the Korean CIA, raided the offices and homes of the Unified Progressive Party, which holds six seats in South Korea’s National Assembly. Three members were arrested during the raids, and lawmaker Lee Seok-ki was later stripped of immunity and placed under arrest. The NIS charged that members of the Unified Progressive Party were plotting rebellion, aiming to take up arms against the government in the event of war with North Korea. The sole evidence for these outlandish claims was a transcript said to be taken from a surreptitious filming by an informer of two meetings held by the Unified Progressive Party in May. Those arrested say that the NIS fabricated the words that it attributed to them, and an internal investigation by the Unified Progressive Party affirmed that the transcript excerpts the NIS leaked to the press did not correspond to what participants in the meetings heard being said. The NIS, like its predecessor, the KCIA, has a long history of inventing and manipulating evidence in order to achieve its political aims. In the last Korean election, it manipulated a transcript from former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun’s meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. The changes made it appear that Roh intended to turn over South Korean territorial waters to the north. The intent was to paint the liberal and left opposition parties as disloyal and provide a boost to the campaigns of candidates belonging to the ruling party. The NIS is once again fabricating evidence, this time in order to remove the Unified Progressive Party from the national scene. Lee-Seok-ki and others face the prospect of imprisonment, and the NIS is considering adding the charge of aiding the enemy, which carries with it a potential death penalty. The Unified Progressive Party spearheaded the ever-growing national protests against abuses by the NIS. Outrage has been mounting over interference by the NIS in the electoral process, and harassment and investigations against individuals for their politics, such as opponents of the Korean Free Trade Agreement. Protests increased in size and militancy, spreading throughout the nation. The National Security Law, a remnant from the Japanese colonial period and the anti-communist Syngman Rhee regime in the years following the Second World War, is still in effect, and essentially makes it a crime to express thoughts that can be construed as “pro-North” or “pro-communist.” When liberally interpreted, it has often been used to suppress dissent. The National Security Law is the weapon of choice for the NIS. Clearly, the attack on the party aims to crush the calls to reform the NIS and provide bogus justification for its continued involvement in domestic affairs. The ruling Saenuri Party is calling for Lee Seok-ki to be removed from office, even though he has yet to be tried, let alone convicted. The Ministry of Justice has created a taskforce to look into responding to petitions by conservative groups to file a request with the Constitutional Court to dissolve the Unified Progressive Party. The South Korean people suffered under many years of dictatorship and military rule. They won a hard-fought victory to bring democracy to their nation. The McCarthyist tactics of the Saenuri Party and the NIS threaten to undo that achievement. They cannot be allowed to destroy South Korea’s democracy. We, the undersigned, demand the Park Geun-hye administration- • Free Lee Seok-ki and other members of the Unified Progressive Party arrested under false charges. • Free members of the Beomminryeon unification organization, arrested in a raid by the NIS in June. • Halt the effort to remove Lee Seok-ki from office. • Stop the move to dissolve the Unified Progressive Party. • Abolish the National Security Law, instrument of repression. • Ban the National Intelligence Service from engaging in domestic surveillance and investigation of citizens. • Bring to justice those in the NIS who were responsible for interfering in the last election and in fabricating evidence. <성명서 서명자> 1. Noam Chomsky, Professor of Linguistics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston MA 2. James V. Albertini, President, Malu 'Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action, Ola'a (Kurtistown), Hawaii 3. David K. Armiak, Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsins 4. Brian Becker, National Coordinator, ANSWER Coalition, Washington, DC 5. William Blum, Author, "America's Deadliest Export: Democracy - The Truth About US Foreign Policy and Everything Else," Washington, DC 6. Nile Bowie, International Movement for a Just World, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 7. Steven Brion-Meisels, Ph.D., Board of Directors, Massachusetts Peace Action, Boston MA 9. Christine Ahn, Board Member, Korea Policy Institute, Honolulu, Hawaii 10. Michel Chossudovsky, Professor of Economics, University of Ottawa; Editor and Director, Center for Research on Globalization, Montreal Canada 11. SaeHee Chun, National Korean American Service and Education Consortium, Fairfax, Virginia 12. Dr. John B. Cobb, Jr., Co-Director, Center for Process Studies, Claremont Lincoln University, Claremont, CA 13. Jane Cutter, Website Editor, Party for Socialism and Liberation 14. Suzanne Majo De Kuyper, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom 15. Gregory Elich, Jasenovac Research Institute and Korea Policy Institute, Columbus, Ohio 16. Pejmann Fallah, Columbus Ohio 17. Henri Feron, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China (PRC) 18. Bernice Fischer, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom Peninsula Chapter, Palo Alto, CA 19. Bill Fletcher, Labor activist and journalist, Washington D.C. 20. Sara Flounders, Co-Director, International Action Center, New York NY 21. Margaret Flowers, MD, PopularResistance.org, Baltimore, MD 22. Bruce Gagnon, Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space 23. Joy Lee Powell Gebhard, Washington, DC 24. Mike Gimbel, Retired Executive Board member, Local 375, AFSCME, AFL-CIO 25. Paul Gottinger, Editor, The White Rose Reader, Madison, WI 26. Rev. S. Michael Hahm, New York, NY 27. Herbert J. Hoffman, Veterans for Peace, Albuquerque, NM 28. Christine Hong, Professor of UC Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 29. Joon Ki Hyun, Los Angeles, CA 30. Ron Jacobs, Writer, Burlington VT 31. Milina Jovanovic, Sunnyvale, CA 32. June Kelly, People Against War Network, Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland 33. Daniel Kim, Nodutdol for Korean Community Development, New York City, NY 34. Haeyoung Kim, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 35. Sang Eui Kim, Los Angeles California 36. Soobok Kim, Closter, NJ 37. David Laibman, Science & Society, New York, NY 38. Judith Leblanc, Peace Action, Silver Spring, Maryland 39. Ramsay Liem, Channing and Popai Liem Education Foundation, Brookline, MA and Berkeley, CA 40. Louise Morris, Edgehill United Methodist Church (Former missionary to South Korea), Nashville, TN 41. Sean Mulligan, Johns Creek, Georgia 42. Michael Munk, Portland, OR 43. Leah Obias, Damayan Migrant Workers Association, New York, NY 44. Andrew S. Park, Ph.D., Professor of Theology and Ethics, United Theological Seminary, Dayton Korean American United Methodist Church, Dayton OH 45. Andrew Kisik Park, Boston, MA 46. Tim Shorrock, Author, "Spies for Hire - The Secret World of Intelligence Outsourcing," Washington, D.C. 47. Jack A. Smith, Editor, Activist Newsletter, Hudson Valley, New York 48. Mark Stansbery, Community Organizing Center, Columbus, Ohio 49. Dr. Harold Sunoo, Los Angeles, CA 50. JT Takagi, National Campaign to End the Korean War, New York, NY 51. Walter Trkla, Kamloops British Columbia, Canada 52. Chela Vazquez, Oakland CA 53. Cindy Wiesner, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, United States 54. Helena Wong, CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities, New York, NY 55. Renie Wong Lindley, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Honolulu, HI 56. Rev. Kil Sang Yoon, Director, Korea Project, Center for Process Studies, Claremont Lincoln University, Claremont, CA 57. Kevin Zeese, JD, PopularResistance.org, Baltimore, MD |
