Australia mourns for Ji In Gu

 
By Marilie Bomediano
Sydney-Australia
January 15, 2019
 


Sydney: PINOY Aussies (PinOz) mourned at dusk along with over a hundred Korean and multicultural Australians during the first annual memorial service of 27-year old  Ji In Gu that was held last January 12  at  Hyde Park of Sydney CBD.



Before Gu’s death, she had written a petition to the president of South Korea requesting for the coercive conversion pastors to be subject to penalty by law. Gu’s family belonged to a church that joined the council.

Human Rights Association for Victims of Coercive Conversion Programs (HAC) has conducted a memorial event in the memory of Ms. Ji In Gu, a victim of forced conversion, a religious undemocratic suppression that raises human rights concerns in democratic South Korea.



Sharing People’s Post of News24: South Africa’s report during its incident in February 2018:

“In February 2018, about 1000 people from across the country gathered in Church Square on Thursday as part of a memorial service and protest in memory of a South Korean girl, News24’s online report states.

Pastors incite family breakdown:

A New York Times news article on November 28 2018 showed a wolf in sheep’s clothing holding money and chain in his hands while a woman is bound and persecuted.

Titled “Ban Coercive Conversion”, the non-profit  plackards waved is to try to raise awareness of a South Korean woman kidnapped by her own family and came to die when she was forced to dissuade herself from abandoning her religious faith.

As a Filipino-Australian journalist, I was born and raised in Mindanao, Philippines, a place that’s really needing more religious harmony and cohesion between the Bangsamoro Islamic and Catholic and other ethnic tribal local population.



In 1996, this writer’s younger brother Јessie Bomediano who was born on Christmas Eve, died at the age of 22 due to inјustices of coercion in socio-religious conflicts.

They deprived him of his human rights as a court witness, as they silenced his voice by killing him with a point blank shot on his mouth by the Philippine Police Constabulary (PC) at a checkpoint in Tarlac, of Northern Luzon, Philippines.

That tragedy intensely outraged me, my heart was filled with hatred and revenge.... in a twist of faith I became a journalist. That’s when I realised that I have already started searching for the ‘true meaning of life!’....

I then follow a strict code of conduct that requires a journalist:

+ To write, speak, and picture the truth.

+ To make sure that a story is of public interest.

+ To be responsible about reporting sensitive news.

+ To resist reporting for reward.

First I will encapsulate my views on journalism based on my experience as a journalist for over 30-something years.



When the internet and social media became society’s trendy tools of mass communication, many observers began to point to the day when traditional media, especially those in print such as newspapers and magazines, would disappear.

And, with them, the journalists as we know them today.

Mind you, traditional journalists use social media such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and others; but they use social media as new tools of their craft. The craft of storytelling.

My mind was enlightened by my 84 yr old mentor, a veteran photojournalist Јaime Kelly Pimentel graduate from Northwestern University, Illinois USA who explained that:

“At the end of the day, journalists are nothing more than storytellers, publisher-editor  Mr Pimentel said.

“Journalists use media to put their stories across to their readers and audiences, not dissimilar to storytellers who etched their stories in caves of the Stone Age; not unlike the town criers who delivered daily news in public plazas from town to town; not unlike 19th Century storytellers sending their stories via telegraph cables, and later via wireless coding and decoding.

 “Indeed, storytellers’ means of passing on their stories to their mass audiences changed through the centuries, decades and years. But the storytellers’ roles have not changed in all that time. Only the language and structure of storytelling changed.

“On the other hand, to put it perhaps a bit too simply for argument’s sake, there is journalism - storytelling on current affairs; storytelling it its simplest form; storytelling that is controlled by a self-regulated code of conduct that sets it apart from stories told anything-goes on Twitter, Facebook, and other forms of social media.

“That, to me, negates any suggestion that journalism and journalists will fade away in generations to come, he added.

Therefore, I am in no compunction to speak about the truth based on the code of journalism that I have decided to strongly follow, thus I am compelled to report this specific news above:

Many people are advocating this message across Korea that the Christian Council of Korea (Presbyterian denomination), the pro-Japanese group, who was an agent in leading our country to be trampled and destroyed, leave Korea!

Christian Council of Korea (CCK) is anti-nation, anti-society, anti-religion, and anti-peace. Can they say No? Will you still be one with CCK? Who can talk about heresy?

Though the religious background of the family is a Presbyterian church, major denomination in Korean Christianity, the Catholic space with the approval from the Catholic members was used for anti-human rights crime.

This type of forceful conversion exceeds 1,000 victims with deaths and war-like mental traumas.

To restore justice, a public rally with 120,000 participants in Seoul back in January requested a legal punishment on this criminal activity by Christian pastors who make the “Coercive Conversion Program” to encourage parents to kidnap their children and forcefully threaten them to convert.

Without being exposed to direct involvement into the physical violence, the pastors avoid the criminal law and financially benefit from the parents. Since today, the Korean government has not released an official statement.

120,000 people raised their voice at the center of Seoul to ban the coercive conversion program.

Korea's Mainstream Christianity Becomes hotbed of crime.

The social and political influence of Christianity in South Korea has made the civil rights ignored. The Christian Council of Korea (CCK) was established in 1989 as a unified organization of Christian churches with the majority of the Presbyterian denomination.

With millions of church members, the CCK exerted its influence in presidential elections and leveling heresy for firm control over social and economic power. For the last 10 years, Korean media frequently have reported the corruption of the CCK.

The CCK’s controversies have raised concerns over not only social division in the country but global conflict. During the Japanese colonial period, the Presbyterian church encouraged Korean youth to participate in the war waged by Japan in Asia and the Pacific. 

-----------------------------------

Author’s related story:  muntingnayon.com/105/105405/

----------------------------------

I must reiterate the recognition of human right Article 18 of the universal declaration of HR declares the freedom of religion in the following terms:

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practicing, worship and observance.



Article 18 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ensures the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

It reads: Art 18:

1. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his own choice and freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching.

2. No one shall be subject to coercion which would impair his freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice.

3. Freedom to manifest ones religion or beliefs may be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health, or morals or the fundamental rights and freedom of others.

4. The States parties to the present Covenant undertake to have respect for the liberty of parents and, when applicable, legal guardians to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions.

Almost 70 years later Australia reaffirmed its commitment to a strong multilateral human rights system and to advancing human rights globally in the Foreign Policy White Paper. This commitment also underlies our membership of the UN Human Rights Council.

Australia's commitment to the aims and purposes of the Declaration reflects our national values, and remains an underlying principle of Australia's engagement with the international community.

Human rights, security, peace and prosperity go hand in hand. Respecting fundamental human rights and freedoms, and building them into the fabric of a society, makes us safer and more secure.