hankyoreh

Gyeonggi Province

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK), headed by Chairperson Hyun Byung-chul, made a request to prosecutors to open an investigation for charges of police brutality during the police suppression against striking union members of the Ssangyong Motor strike. The commission also recommended that the police establish measures to prevent future violations of human rights and forgo the use of equipment of disputed safety.

In a decision released Tuesday, NHRCK stated that over the course of the 77-day Ssangyong strike, which lasted from May 21 to Aug. 6, the police violated the Constitutionally-guaranteed right to security of person by preventing those carrying water, food and medical supplies from entering the facility. The commission also made a recommendation to Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency Chief Cho Hyun-oh that measures be set in place to prevent similar occurrences in the future.

NHRCK also made reference to the police use of equipment that has been subject to continued dispute over its safety, including tasers and multipurpose launchers. They wrote in their decision, “Even if the striking union members are waging a labor dispute using illegal means and the protection of facilities and dispersal of the strike are deemed necessary, legal procedures and related regulations to guarantee human rights must be observed in the process of using public authority to suppress the strike.”

The commission also wrote, “The citizens’ right to life and freedom of person must not be infringed upon, and public authority should be exercised within the justifiable scope of what is minimally necessary to achieve its goals, from the exercise of police authority to any subsequent measures.” The NHRCK made a recommendation to National Police Agency Commissioner General Kang Hee-rak that police officers be restrained from using the security equipment.

Prior to this, some 57 Ssangyong Motor union members and their family members, including one identified by the surname Han, filed a total of 55 appeals in which they alleged that their human rights were violated during the 77-day strike when the site of the strike was closed off by company security guards, employees and large police forces. In their appeals, they requested that measures be created to prevent similar occurrences in the future and also requested punishment for those responsible.

In reference to the NHRCK’s request that prosecutors investigate police officers’ use of violence at the Ssangyong Motor assembly plant on Aug. 5, an NHRCK official said, “It was concluded that the violence and brutal acts inflicted upon striking union members incapable of resistance after the suppression effort had ended went above and beyond the scope of what was minimally necessary, and cannot be viewed as legitimate defense, which makes it an violation of the victims’ right to security of person.” The official added that the NHRCK decided to ask the the Public Prosecutor General to investigate because while there are video materials documenting the situation, the responsible parties cannot be identified.

In response, the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency gave a reply addressed to the NHRCK in which it said, “The effort to suppress the strike was carried out appropriately, and with a precise determination of the degree of resistance at the time, police forces were introduced and deployed in systematic stages.”

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