Following the Seoul District Public Prosecutor, Seoul High Public Prosecutor dismisses NHRC appeal;
NHRC to appeal to Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has decided to ask the Korean Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office to investigate former Seoul District Public Prosecutor Hong and the detectives under his charge in relation to the October 2002 death of a suspect held in the custody of the Seoul District Public Prosecutor’s Office (hereafter, Seoul-DPPO). Previously, the NHRC had pressed charges against Hong and the detectives involved, and had asked the Seoul-DPPO to investigate possible wrongful use of authority. However on 23 June 2003, the Seoul-DPPO notified the NHRC that it had found former Public Prosecutor Hong and his detectives “not guilty” and decided not to indict them. The NHRC then appealed to the Seoul High Public Prosecutor’s Office (Seoul-HPPO) to ask for a complete investigation; however, on 10 October 2003, Seoul-HPPO notified the NHRC that it had decided to dismiss the NHRC appeal. Thus, the NHRC has decided to appeal to the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office for a full investigation.
Disregarding the NHRC reasons for seeking a thorough investigation, the Seoul-HPPO simply cited, as the reason for dismissing the appeal: “the original District Public Prosecutor’s Office had decided against indictment, and there is no material—that we recognize—showing that their ruling was unjust.” The NHRC cannot accede to this Seoul-HPPO reasoning and has asked the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office to investigate the case in order to push the question of whether former Prosecutor Hong and his detectives’ extra-legal conduct can be considered lawful or is, indeed, wrongful use of state authority.
