Amnesty chief urges Korea to abide by int'l standard in policing protests

By Kim Eun-jung and Lee Sung-yeon
SEOUL, Nov. 24 (Yonhap) -- The chief of Amnesty International Tuesday called on
South Korea to launch an independent investigation into allegations of excessive
use of force by the police during controversial anti-government protests.
"Our report last year on the Candlelight protests documented violence used by
protesters but it also documented excessive use of force on the part of police
officials," Secretary General Irene Kahn said during a news conference. "We
believe it is the responsibility of the government to conduct investigations."
Kahn arrived in Seoul on Sunday and met with senior government officials and
civil activists on her four-day visit to address human rights issues in South
Korea.
The London-based non-governmental group sent an inspector in July last year to
investigate allegations of excessive use of force by police cracking down on
demonstrations against U.S. beef imports, a rare dispatch of a researcher to look
into a particular issue.
Kahn said there are "worrying signs" about the current government's handling of
demonstration and public protests, citing the anti-U.S. protests in summer in
2008 and Yongsan incident earlier this year. On the first day of her visit, she
met with families of protesters killed in a clash with riot police in Seoul's
redevelopment district Yongsan. Six people, including a police officer, were
killed in a blaze that erupted during the pre-dawn raid.
"One issue that has become extremely controversial is the Yongsan incident. The
families feel that their voices are not being heard and we call on the government
to open a dialogue and negotiate a solution so that this issue can be closed in a
fair manner," Kahn said.
As a strong opponent of the death penalty, Kahn urged the South Korean government
not to resume the use of capital punishment, on which there has been a de facto
moratorium for more than a decade. In February, she wrote a letter to President
Lee Myung-bak to express her concern about lobbying by South Korean politicians
to resume the use of the death penalty as part of their efforts to significantly
toughen punishment for brutal crimes.
"Maintaining the death penalty doesn't deter crime," Kahn said. "We welcome the
fact that South Korea has not executed anyone since December 1997 and call on the
government to retain that position. Any retrogression on this issue would be
extremely damaging for South Korea's reputation."
Since its foundation in 1948, South Korea has executed a total of 920 people,
according to a ministry report. The last execution was carried out in December
1997 and there has been an unofficial moratorium on the death penalty since
February 1998, when then President Kim Dae-jung -- who himself was sentenced to
death in 1980, but was later pardoned -- took office.
A convicted serial murderer on death row committed suicide Sunday in his prison
cell, apparently taking his own life out of anxiety over public opinion urging
the enforcement of death sentences. The 40-year-old inmate left a memo saying the
government has no intention of abolishing capital punishment.
"South Korea has made a long journey on human rights over the decades," Kahn
said. "But there is still room for improvement."
ejkim@yna.co.kr
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