On April 13 2012, the NHRCK decided to initiate an ex-officio investigation into the murder case of a young woman in Suwon. The potential violation of human rights by the police regarding their alleged inappropriate protection of a victim will be examined throughout the investigation.
On basic investigation of the NHRCK, there is an allegation that the victim called the Police indicating her exact location, however, the police did not recognize the urgency of the incident and ordered to take a measure without notifying the fact the victim was inside a house. Furthermore, the police allegedly made light of the emergency call and mumbled “maybe a domestic dispute” on the phone even though the victim’s continuous scream was heard.
In addition, the NHRCK believes that a systemic change is needed to provide better protection of victims when they call the Police asking for help. At present, a location tracing is not allowed when receiving an emergency call unless a policeman undergoes a legitimate process, which may delay time to save the victim. Moreover, a manual to respond to such calls reporting violent crimes lacks an effective safeguard framework.
In this regard, the NHRCK notes that death of the victim was subsequently resulted from the unskilled reaction of the police. The NHRCK thus decided to initiate an ex-officio investigation based on the ground that lack of sufficient protection of a victim from the police may constitute a grave human rights violation including threat to the right to life.
