On December 4, 2006, three petitioners at the Korean Alliance against KorUS FTA (KoA) made a request for urgent relief measures with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea against the Commissioner General of the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA). According to the complaint, the Unification Solidarity for the Attainment of the 6.15 Joint Declaration and Peace on the Korean Peninsula (hereinafter referred to as the " Solidarity for Unification" ), a member group of KoA, had reported that it would hold a large-scale public assembly to protest a Korea-US free-trade agreement for the third time in the Seoul Station Square and Seoul Plaza outside City Hall on December 6, 2006. However, the Commissioner General had held firm to a decision to ban the assembly. The petitioners said in the complaint that the decision to ban the rally was expected to violate the basic human rights of those hoping to attend the anti-FTA protest, and for that reason they filed the complaint with the NHRCK to request that the Commission implement urgent relief measures so that the General Commissioner of the KNPA would stop committing such a violation. On December 5, the day following receipt of the complaint, the NHRCK opened an ad-hoc Standing Committee meeting to deliberate on the request. As a result of the meeting, the NHRCK issued a recommendation to the Commissioner General of the KNPA that it take remedial measures including the withdrawal of the ban on the gathering in Seoul Station Square. More specifically, the recommendation advised the respondent to take all necessary actions, including the cancellation of the ban, to ensure the gathering would proceed smoothly. But the recommendation came with a condition. In exchange for the KNPA" s withdrawal of the ban, the petitioners were to ensure that rally in Seoul Station Square be held peacefully.
As for the gathering in Seoul Plaza, the Commission reached a different decision. Freedom of assembly serves dual constitutional functions as an element of individuals" self-fulfillment and as an element of democracy. Along with freedom of speech, freedom of assembly is one of the indispensable elements to a properly functioning democracy. Among the constitutional basic rights, it is an inherent right related to the expression of political opinions. In this vein, the NHRCK judged that it was inappropriate to adopt an urgent relief measure toward the Seoul Plaza rally, which the petitioners had reported they would hold on December 6, 2006, because on November 7, 2006 a third party had already reported it would hold a gathering in the same place and day.The Commission also clarified the reason behind the recommendation: A deliberation on the complaint about the Seoul Station Square assembly, which the Solidarity for Unification had reported it would hold on December 6, 2006, led the NHRCK to judge that in order to uphold the spirit of the constitution that ensures freedom of assembly, the respondent should take necessary measures, including the cancellation of the ban on the gathering, so that the public meeting can take place as planned, with the condition that the petitioners guarantee the peaceful organization and progress of the protest by signing a memorandum of understanding or holding a joint press conference together with the respondent.
Therefore, to guarantee the right to peaceful assembly and in accordance with the National Human Rights Commission Act of the Republic of Korea Article 48, Paragraph 1, the NHRCK decided to take an urgent relief measure against the ban on the Seoul Station Square assembly, and announced that, if the recommendation by the Commission is accepted by both parties?the petitioners and respondent?it would monitor whether the assembly progresses peacefully.
