The 7 officers used cruel treatment, all-night questioning and fraud to compel victims’ self-incrimination
On 15 September 2003, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) decided to ask the Korean Public Prosecutor-General to undertake investigation of 7 investigative officers related to a cruel treatment of suspects incident that occurred in the course of investigating the murder of a police station chief.
The NHRC came to investigate this case in February 2003, when Jeon, Jun-hyeong—the executive director of the NGO, Jeonbuk Solidarity for Peace and Human Rights—filed a complaint against 10 investigative officers of the “Headquarters for Investigating the Murder of the Geumam District 2 Police Station Chief (hereafter, Investigation Headquarters.)” In the complaint, Jeon charged that 3 victims were subject to cruel treatment and forced to make false, self-incriminating confessions. First, victim Jo, 22, was arrested under suspicion of larceny on 15 January 2003 at 1:45, but then taken to the Investigation Headquarters, where he was subject to cruel treatment in an all-night questioning session and coerced into making a false “confession” to having murdered the Geuman District 2 police station chief and absconding with his gun at 12:30 am on 20 September 2002 with two accomplices, Mr. Park, 21, and Mr. Kim, 21. Based on this “confession,” the Investigation Headquarters officers apprehended the second victim, Mr. Park, under the “emergency arrest” provision (no arrest warrant), took him to the weight-training room and special forces team office of the Jeonju Bukbu Police Station and subject him to cruel treatment, including an all-night investigation during which the investigative officers beat and physically “punished” victim Park. Last, the investigative officers, with the cooperation of the military police with jurisdiction, apprehended victim Kim, who was serving in the military, and compelled a self-incriminating “confession” from him as well.
In the course of the NHRC investigation, the complaint respondents flatly denied having subject the victims to any cruel treatment. However, upon examining Investigation Headquarters documents, the holding cell log at the Jeonju Bukbu police station, documents recording Jo’s physical condition when being admitted to Jeonju Correctional Institution, the lawyer’s interview notes, testimony from the combat police and police officers of Jeonju Bukbu police station, testimony from the victims and respondents, and two surveys of the actual sites, the NHRC carefully weighed the evidence and concluded that from the afternoon of January 15th, Investigation Headquarters police sergeant Kim and five others, under orders of supervising investigator Kang, formed a squad in charge of investigating the victims, and that there had been investigation based on cruel treatment, all-night questioning sessions and fraud.
The respondents’ conduct violates articles 10 (dignity, pursuit of happiness) and 12 (personal liberty, personal integrity) of the Korean Constitution. However, it seems highly probable that such conduct also constitutes a criminal infringement of article 125 (Violence, Cruel Acts) of the Criminal Act; thus, the NHRC turned the cases of the 7 police investigators over to the Prosecutor General for further investigation.
