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AI Protests Port Call by Chilean Navy Ship
By Soh Ji-young
Staff Reporter
SOURCE: The Korea Times
DATE: June 17, 2004
Human rights group Amnesty International (AI) has launched an opposition
movement against the docking of the Chilean naval vessel Esmeralda in Pusan next
week.
In a press release on Thursday, AI's Korean branch said it protests against the
``torture ship'' from entering Pusan on Monday, saying that as many as thousands
of Chileans were tortured, raped and executed on the ship under the dictatorial
regime of then Present Augusto Pinochet in the 1970s.
``The Chile government has not clarified the human rights violations which
underwent on Esmeralda and those responsible went unpunished. The ship must not
be allowed to dock until justice is served,'' the group charged.
AI also criticized the South Korean government for allowing the ship to dock,
saying that the government must put human rights ahead of all diplomatic
matters.
The group said it will stage a protest on Monday at the eighth pier of Pusan
Port, where the 3,673 ton-vessel is set to dock at 7 a.m.
Also known as the "White Lady," Esmeralda makes yearly training voyages visiting
ports around the world to act as a "roving" embassy for Chile.
But to human rights activists, it is better known as the ``torture ship,'' as it
served as the torture chamber for thousands of victims under the Pinochet
regime, which came into power in 1973.
AI has since urged the Chilean government to acknowledge the serious human
rights violations which took place on the Esmeralda and conduct investigations
into all allegations of human rights violations suspected to have been committed
on navy installations and vessels during the rule of the military government.
In 2003, the ship was unable to enter the docks of Sweden, Britain, Spain and
the Netherlands after AI pressured related governments to deny entry for
Esmeralda.
The ship previously docked in Pusan in September, 2002, and is due to arrive
once more in the port city after touring Mexico, Hawaii and Japan.
jysoh@koreatimes.co.kr
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