Sewol families embark on hunger strike

Posted on : 2014-07-15 17:37 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
With special Sewol bill in the works, families asking to participate in the parliamentary debate
 victims’ families hold an outdoor sit-in demonstration at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul
victims’ families hold an outdoor sit-in demonstration at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul

By Lee Seung-jun, staff reporter

Family members of the victims of the Sewol ferry accident, who are in the third day of an outdoor sit-in demonstration at the National Assembly and at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, began a hunger strike on July 14. The strikers are demanding that the special bill for the Sewol be passed quickly and that a separate deliberative body be created through which the families can participate in the discussion of that bill.

Though both the ruling and opposition parties have promised to pass the special Sewol bill during the regular session of the National Assembly on July 16, the two sides have been unable to narrow their differences. In addition, the bereaved families are not being allowed to officially participate in the deliberations on the bill due to opposition by the ruling Saenuri Party (NFP).

Two committees launched in response to the accident - the Committee for Families of Victims, the Missing and Survivors of the Sewol Accident and the Committee for Bereaved Families and the General Public (Family Committee) - held a press conference in front of the National Assembly on Monday. “Fifteen family members are going on a hunger strike because the government is not acknowledging its responsibility and the National Assembly is not doing its best. Now we need an answer from the president,” the committee said during the conference.

What the families want is for the opinions of the victims of the Sewol accident to be faithfully reflected in the special Sewol bill. They are asking that at least half of the experts recommended by the families participate in the special committee that will investigate the causes of the Sewol tragedy and the problems with the rescue efforts, and that this special committee be granted independent authority to investigate and to prosecute.

To this end, the Family Committee signed an agreement with the Korean Bar Association on May 16. On July 9, after a series of hearings and meetings, the committee submitted a legislative petition on a version of the bill that they drafted themselves. The official name of the bill is the “Special Act for Learning the Truth of the April 16 Tragedy and Building a Safe Society.”

The families of the victims have collected signatures from 3.5 million South Koreans who want the special bill to be passed, which they submitted to the National Assembly on July 15. The opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy has responded positively to the request of the families, but the Saenuri Party has remained opposed, arguing that the bill would undermine the foundations of the judicial system. This is why the bill might not be passed during the general session of the National Assembly on July 16.

The families of the victims have been unable to participate in the proceedings since July 12, when they attended the Task Force for the Special Sewol Act to express their opinions. The task force is a deliberative body with representatives from the ruling and opposition parties that was created to help the Sewol bill pass in the National Assembly. The issue is that the Saenuri Party is uncomfortable with the idea of the bereaved families watching the debate about the bill.

“We are not here to do a demonstration or a sit-in. We just want to see whether the legislators are doing a good job on the special bill. The victims are here, as you can see. Surely the ruling and opposition parties don’t mean to discuss the bill and pass it all by themselves!” Kim Byeong-gwan, chair of the Family Committee, said during the press conference.

“So much for the president’s promise to spare no support to ensure that the views of the bereaved families would be included in the special law. If the National Assembly cannot give us the answer we need, we will have to ask the president to help us herself,” a representative of the families said at the press conference.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

 

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