Korean fishing vessels accused of sex crimes in international waters

Posted on : 2012-05-12 13:40 KST Modified on : 2012-05-12 13:40 KST
New Zealand government alleges range of worker abuses, and weak Korean government response
 one of the six petitioners who sued the Sajo Oyang fishing company over a range of worker abuses
one of the six petitioners who sued the Sajo Oyang fishing company over a range of worker abuses

By Ko Na-mu, Hankyoreh 21 staff writer in Jakarta

The New Zealand Department of Labor prohibited the South Korean deep-sea fishing vessel ShinJi from hiring foreign crews on March 5, citing its refusal to participate in a government survey on labor conditions. The country’s Department of Agriculture and Forestry also stripped a boat of its work permit in February, charging it with violating vessel safety standards. The ShinJi is part of a troubling trend of delinquent South Korean vessels who violate standards abroad and aren’t being punished at home.

A New Zealand government report stated that numerous allegations and reports had been made about low wages and abusive treatment of foreign crews, and that all of the complaints lodged with the inspection team had been against one country.

A controversy has been brewing overseas over that “one country,” while its own government has been asleep at the wheel.

Hankyoreh 21 obtained a New Zealand government report from February titled “Report of the Ministerial Inquiry into the Use and Operation of Foreign Charter Vessels (FCVS)”. The report makes strongly worded criticisms about abuses against foreign crewmembers and unreasonable employment conditions on the Sajo Oyang boats fishing in New Zealand’s exclusive economic zone.

Sajo Oyang is South Korea’s biggest fishing company and is at the center of accusations by the New Zealand government of South Korean vessels violating fishery management standards, vessel safety, employment and labor conditions, and abusing workers. One South Korean boat was stripped of its fishing permit in February, a first since South Korean vessels began fishing in the country’s waters. The situation could be damaging to international standings of both South Korea and New Zealand.

Documented mistreatment  

Of particular note is the report’s mention of foreign crew labor conditions and abuses in connection with a National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) petition.

Some in New Zealand were dismayed with their own government’s failure to regulate its waters and to allow such abuses to go on. In a section of Chapter 2 on “Damage to New Zealand’s international reputation,” the government stated, “During 2011 there were complaints and allegations about such issues as vessel safety, [foreign crews’] living and working conditions, physical and sexual abuse by officers, underpayment and manipulation of time sheets. . . There is no doubt that these allegations of exploitative labor practices and sub-standard working conditions have been damaging to New Zealand’s reputation as a progressive and fair-minded nation.”

The report went on to note, “Most of the incidents reported that are causing damage to New Zealand’s reputation appear to have occurred on Korean flagged vessels. The names of certain Korean vessels and owners came up repeatedly. The alleged abuse occurred mostly against Indonesian crews.”

The allegations also came from New Zealand fishermen. Many of the country’s vessel owners and fishermen reportedly told the team that they believed the practices of South Korean officers amounted to exploitation.

While noting allegations about the behavior of South Korean operators, the report states, “The Panel received no complaints about the mistreatment of crew on vessels currently flagged to the Ukraine, Dominica or Japan.”

It was South Korean deep-sea fishing boats that triggered the investigation in the first place. In 2010, the Oyang 70 capsized, taking the lives of six crews, some of them Indonesian. One of the problems mentioned was a lack of proper safety equipment.

In 2011, an entire crew of 32 Indonesian sailors fled the Oyang 75 over sexual harassment and abusive treatment. The situation became a cause celebre in New Zealand. Many local news outlets began devoting major attention to allegations of abuse on South Korean boats. The University of Auckland Business School was first to draft a report, determining that many of the allegations of abuse and low wages were verifiable.

New Zealand’s Department of Agriculture and Forestry and the Department of Labor then set up a joint investigation panel for a study that took place between Aug. 2011 and Feb. 2012. Written questionnaires were sent to industry representatives, including local and foreign ship owners, manning agents, vessel operators, and crewmembers. Thirty-two people participated in face-to-face interviews. The panel and representatives from the University of Auckland Business School’s New Zealand Asia Institute (NZAI) traveled to Indonesia in 2011 and 2012 to interview most of the Indonesian sailors from the Oyang 75.

At the front of its report, the New Zealand government states, “This publication represents the collective view of the Ministerial Inquiry into Foreign Charter Vessels,” though it adds the proviso that it “is not government policy.”

Shocking findings emerged in the November 2011 report from the NZAI, which were previously presented by some South Korean news outlets, including a January 2012 article in the Korean version of Le Monde Diplomatique on “Overfishing and Abuses: The Competitiveness of South Korean Tuna Boats.” They included substantiation of the credibility of claims by Indonesian crews about a South Korean officer embracing and attempting to kiss foreign sailors and fondling their genitals. The University of Auckland research team interviewed a total of 144 people, including Indonesian crewmembers from the Oyang 70 and Oyang 75. The report also said the human rights commissions of New Zealand and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had discussed the issue with the NHRCK.

Sexual crimes  

The NHRCK’s discrimination remediation committee ruled on Apr. 18 to dismiss a petition submitted by the Korean House for International Solidarity (KHIS) and Advocates for Public Interest Law on behalf of six Indonesian crew members from the Oyang 75, contending that they had experienced sexual harassment and other abuses. The commission did not announce its decision publicly.

Questioning of members and associates of the NHRCK standing committee found that the commission did acknowledge a “possibility” that the subject of the complaint, an individual surnamed Gang who was boatswain on the Oyang 75, did fondle the genitals of six Indonesian crew members or rub his own genitals against them.

“Given the presence of common allegations among the victims, who all pointed to Mr. Gang as the perpetrator and claimed that Mr. Gang either thrust his genitals at them or rubbed them against the victims’ bodies, embraced the victims, and chased Indonesian crew members while they were showering, it is impossible to rule out the possibility of sexual harassment,” the NHRCK said.

The commission ultimately dismissed the case due to inconsistencies, arguing that the accounts of victims and witnesses did not add up. At the same time, in a kind of “compromise,” it advised that efforts be made to prevent sexual harassment of sailors on deep-sea fishing vessels and provide aid to victims.

The commission’s members are believed to have disagreed sharply during the decision process. “We’re current revising the decision,” an NHRCK representative said. “We’re not sure when the final one will come out.”

The NHRCK also confirmed allegations that a boatswain identified as Choe had engaged in physical and verbal abuse and that Sajo Oyang had drafted two different versions of the wage contracts for Indonesian crewmembers. However, it ruled to reject the verbal abuse and wage issues as outside the scope of its investigations.

Sajo Oyang management denied all charges. The alleged sexual harassment perpetrator identified as Gang reportedly told the NHRCK that there was “no truth to the claims of sexual behavior,” without giving specifics. Choi told the NHRCK, “I have done things like shout, lightly kick, gently slap someone’s head, or pull someone’s ear, but I have never engaged in serious physical abuse.” Sajo Oyang said, “Wages were all precisely calculated and paid,” without elaborating further. Sajo Oyang declined interview requests from Hankyoreh 21.

Another issue has been a lack of diligence. Among the factors cited by the NHRCK in dismissing the petitions was the “difficulty in obtaining testimony” from four major witnesses. The Hankyoreh 21 received a brief account of these witnesses’ current circumstances after inquiring with the human rights group ATKI Indonesia. One is currently a construction worker in Jakarta, while the other three are working on a Russian fishing boat. All four were interviewed by the New Zealand government. However, the NHRCK only conducted written surveys of the six petitioners. ATKI Indonesia member Iweng said, “The South Korean human rights commission doesn’t seem to be taking this case very seriously.”

University of Auckland Business School senior lecturer Christina Stringer, who spearheaded the investigation, said in e-mail to the Hankyoreh 21 that while she was unaware how many Indonesian crew members the NHRCK had interviewed, her team’s study uncovered evidence strongly indicating that a number of Indonesian fishermen were repeatedly sexually harassed and assaulted.

Stringer also said that a copy of the report had been provided at the request of the South Korean embassy in New Zealand, but that there had been no response.

South Korean government refuses to cooperate  

Chapter 7 of the New Zealand government report includes a roundabout swipe at the lack of cooperation from the South Korean government, stating, “Information about a vessel’s risk profile is not generally shared among the relevant government agencies.”

 gazes at the Jakarta port. (by Jung Yong-il
gazes at the Jakarta port. (by Jung Yong-il

According to international practice, the New Zealand government has no authority to investigate labor and human rights issues on foreign-flagged vessels as long as they do not involve fishery management standards. Legal responsibility lies with South Korea.

Between Aug. 2011 and March of this year, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, and the NHRCK held a total of three joint meetings. While the agencies in question did have the South Korean fishing businesses under investigation attend, including Sajo Oyang, they made little effort to contact the Indonesian crewmembers. After three meetings, they have yet to take measures to improve the system.

The Hankyoreh 21 asked two of the six petitioners from the Oyang 75 whether they still harbor ill feelings toward South Koreans. One of them, named Trismanto, said, “Before, I thought all Koreans were bad. I changed my mind after meeting the KHIS members last year.”

 staff photographer)
staff photographer)

The other, Sugito, said, “I forgive them now. And I’d like to keep working on fishing boats. But I first want a resolution to this case.”

Sugito’s goal is to bring the facts of the sexual harassment to light and receive all his wages. The two young men plan to visit South Korea some time around June at the request of KHIS. They will come to Korea as free men seeking justice, not as laborers working for meager wages.

  

  ※On the Investigation: Interviews took place in Jakarta on May 4. Trismanto and Sugito arrived at ATKI Indonesia’s offices in Jakarta after a seven-hour trip by train and bus from their hometown of Tegal. Iweng, a member of ATKI Indonesia, translated their responses from Indonesian to English. The two men were asked about the sexual harassment and wage exploitation allegations, as well as personal matters such as their families, hobbies, employment contract process, and their boarding and fleeing of the vessel. The New Zealand government report, University of Auckland report, KHIS petition text, and NHRCK ruling also served as major resources.

 

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

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