A specially trained Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team consisting of 1,700 professional police officers was formed on July 30, 2008, just days was before the visit of President Bush, of the United States to South Korea on August 5. Furthermore, a newly appointed commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced on August 1, “Since now on, the police will actively use water cannon containing tear liquid when necessary.” This is alarming as no equipment containing tear gas had been used since 1999.
The Korean Civil Society has criticised it as a new type of ‘white skull group’, which caused numerous human rights violations during the regime of the military government. Students were allegedly beaten to death by members of that group at the time of arrest.
Several violations have been reported during candlelit rallies, in particular arbitrary arrest and detention, unnecessary use of force in the process of dispersal and total ignorance of the Miranda principle since the rallies started on May 24. Even though these violations, which have resulted in protestors being injured in the process of dispersal have been repeated, to date, only one police officer has received disciplinary action after video-graphic evidence revealed that he kicked the head of a female student.
The commanders of these incidents and the auxiliary police consisting of young men conscripted to do their duty in national defence have never been properly prosecuted according to law. No investigation has been conducted to ascertain as to whether those commanders ordered the young men to use violence against the protestors when engaged in the process of dispersal. Thus, under the circumstances, those responsible have enjoyed impunity due to the lack of will by the government to prevent it. On the other hand, some of them have awarded on the grounds that they have effectively suppressed illegal protestors. However, no member of the government of the disciplinary forces has responded to the allegations of human rights violations caused during the process of dispersals.
The Asian Human Rights Commission urges that the mobilisation of young men conscripted to suppress the demonstrators must cease. Since the unit has been formed and dispatched to the place where illegal assemblies are held, all members of the unit including commanders should wear uniforms clearly showing their identification to the public so that the arrestees can take further action if their rights are violated at that time of arrest.
The AHRC would like to remind the government of South Korea of the fact that the police force should be clearly controlled by the law and even when the protests are held without permission from police station, they have no authority to disperse protestors by beating them with their shields and batons. In this regard, the AHRC points out that it is the duty of the court to decide the illegality and punishment of holding an assembly, not the police.
