Saturday, May 30, 2009

INVITATION TO THE DANCE



Dear Friends, Family and Colleagues:

I am off to Asia this weekend on a major peacemaking trip. Meeting in Japan with lawyers and Article 9 Peace Constitutions advocates. Then I go for a week in South Korea to spread the word about our US national Campaign for a Peace Treaty and to learn about peacemaking and human rights in Korea. I am also filming scenes and interviews for a film I am working on called Land of the Morning Calm. Below is my schedule so you can see how exciting it will be. I will share things as often as possible on the blog in both words and video.

Then onto Vietnam. Hanoi. A healing journey as an American and peacemaker. A few days to fit in and then attending the International Association of Democratic Lawyers Congress where I'll be presenting a paper on The Right to Peace in Korea. The sessions I will mainly attend, other than the address by the President of Vietnam, relate to a right to peace.

So add this below site to your RSS FEED on your browser and you will get updates when I post things or just visit the blog to join me on this trip.

Go to http://www.ubuntuworks.com/ubuntuworks/Erics_Blog/Erics_Blog.html.

You can also watch them on the NOTES section of my facebook page. Let me know if you see it there so I can tell its working.

Join the trip!!!

Love and peace

Eric

SUNDAY MAY 24, 2009

10-12 – Tokyo Japan – Meet with lawyers and activists who are working to preserve Article 9 – the peace constitution in Japan.

MONDAY MAY 25, 2009

Meeting with peace and human rights activists

LOCATION: People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD)
TIME: 3 PM

Organizers: Dr. Suh Bohyuk Center for Peace Studies
Kyungmee Kim Women Making Peace

Participants include many organizations including:
Women Making Peace1 - http://www.peacewomen.or.kr/
Peace Network 2- http://peacekorea.org/
People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD)3 -
http://blog.peoplepower21.org/English
Sarangbang Group for Human Rights -
http://www.sarangbang.or.kr/kr/new/

TUESDAY MAY 26, 2009

Meeting with John Cha and Professor Lee Ki-ho and other peace activists followed by dinner.

WEDNESDAY MAY 27, 2009

Meeting with Minbyun,(Progessive Lawyers Association) lawyers Sang-Hee Lee, Chairman of the Past Reconciliation Committee and Hee-Soo Kim, who participated in TRCK projects, June Yang translating

Seochodong area.

Giving a Lecture on the RIGHT TO PEACE (3-5 pm) at Icha University Law School - Professor Seokwoo Lee and meeting and dinner with faculty.

THURSDAY MAY 28, 2009

11:00 am - Meeting with Truth and Reconciliation Commissioners

4-6 pm Meeting with Pan Korean Truth Commission on Civilian Massacre in Korea War Mr Sirotkin speaking on US-government's legal responsibility and accountability over several South Korean civilian massacres by US forces before and during Korean war and his experiences with South AfricanTRC.
Organizer: Lee Changsoo Executive Director,
6 pm DINNER members of steering committee and heads of some related victim family groups


FRIDAY MAY 29, 2009

All day trip - Travel by Train to South of Korea to visit to the excavation site at Gyeongsan Cobalt Mine and the meeting with relevant civic groups and members of bereaved family union.

With U.S. military officers sometimes present, and as North Korean invaders pushed down the peninsula, the southern army and police emptied South Korean prisons, lined up detainees and shot them in the head, dumping the bodies into hastily dug trenches. Others were thrown into abandoned mines or into the sea. Women and children were among those killed. Many victims never faced charges or trial.

The mass executions — intended to keep possible southern leftists from reinforcing the northerners — were carried out over mere weeks and were largely hidden from history for a half-century. They were "the most tragic and brutal chapter of the Korean War," said historian Kim Dong-choon, a member of a 2-year-old government commission investigating the killings.

Hundreds of sets of remains have been uncovered so far, but researchers say they are only a tiny fraction of the deaths. The commission estimates at least 100,000 people were executed, in a South Korean population of 20 million.

That estimate is based on projections from local surveys and is "very conservative," said Kim. The true toll may be twice that or more, he told The Associated Press.


SUNDAY MAY 31st - JUNE 13th

On to Vietnam – Two weeks in Vietnam including the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL – www.iadllaw.org) Conference
I am presenting my paper on THE RIGHT TO PEACE IN KOREA as part of their Right to Peace segment. President of Vietnam coming to address our conference.

During the Conference watch my site but we will be having many people speak and share at the NLG International Committee BLOG
Go to www.nlgic.blogspot.com

Here we go.

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