The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) has decided that it would seek an indictment against a prosecutor-in-charge and investigators in the Prosecutor-General’s offices, alleging that they committed unlawful detention and violent actions. Furthermore, the Commission will request the Korean Bar Association for legal aid for the victim (Mr. Choi: Male, 55 years old) after NHRCK received and investigated a complaint that the victim, who had been investigated by the district prosecutors’ office on suspicion of offering bribes, suffered assault and violent actions while he was in illegal custody for 4 days and 3 nights.
According to the testimony by Mr. Choi, an executive managing director of a corporation, he was taken from his home to the 00 district prosecutors’ office on suspicion of offering bribes to public servants and was subjected to violent investigation at the prosecutor’s offices and interrogation room for four days and three nights, and he was assaulted several times in the course of the investigation; his heels were trodden on by the respondent B and investigator C as he was kneeling and his ribs broken by their stamping on him two or three times when he fell down on the ground to the right as they dealt several blows to his left chest, especially on the second day of investigation. Mr. Choi asserted that his human rights were infringed after the prosecutor-in-charge forced him to make a confession and committed violent actions by putting and turning the waste copying paper in his throat to cause bleeding as a result, and he felt humiliation due to the insults and violent words used against him during the investigation. He claimed that he has continued to receive medical treatment up to now, since he had an operation for a brain hemorrhage that he had suffered as an aftereffect four months after the investigation
As a result of the investigation of the complaint, NHRCK reached the conclusion that (1) judging from the fact that there were no legal documents served on Mr. Choi, such as an urgent arrest warrant, except statements of the alleged victims of his actions, and a defense lawyer was not appointed immediately, it was clearly evident that causal relationship was established. This was based on the fact that the investigation was conducted under illegal detention for four days and three nights and this not only infringes Personal Liberty of the victim as stipulated in Paragraph 1 of the Article 12 of the Constitution but also corresponds to the crime of illegal detention as stipulated in Article 124 of Criminal Act. And also NHRCK came to the conclusion that (2) judging from the injuries recorded in the medical certificate issued by the orthopedics hospital where he received medical treatment the day after he returned home from the prosecutor’s investigation, and assaults and violent actions recorded in the medical diagnosis of the psychiatric hospital on the second day after returning home, considerable suspicion was acknowledged that investigators committed violent actions against the complainant and broke his eighth and ninth ribs. This not only infringes Personal Liberty of the victim as stipulated in paragraph 1 of Article 12 of the Constitution, but also corresponds to the crime of assault and violent actions as stipulated in Article 125 of the Criminal Act.
Accordingly, NHRCK decided to file complaints with the Prosecutor-General and to request the Korean Bar Association to provide legal aid for the victim to seek real remedy for his rights, claiming that the actions of the prosecutor-in-charge and two investigators constituted crimes of illegal detention, assaults and violent actions in accordance with Articles 124 and 125 of the Criminal Act and further constitute a crime in terms of Article of 4.2 of the Aggregative Punishment of Specific Crimes Act.
