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Human Rights violation during the Candlelight Vigils [2008] KRNHRC 24 (1 May 2008)

The Commission asked the police and participants of the Candlelight protests, which
began in mid-May 2008, to respect the freedom of assembly and restraint from using force,
and it dispatched Human Rights Monitoring Team to the demonstration site. However, a
total of 130 complaints were filed with the Commission during the demonstration. There
were some serious human rights violations committed during the demonstration not reported
to the Commission, but covered by the media. The Commission had difficulty investigating
the police actions against the protesters based only on the complaints filed with the
Commission. Therefore, the Commission decided to conduct a suo moto investigation into
the police's overall response to the Candlelight Demonstration on July 11, 2008.

For two months until mid-September, six investigators of the Commission investigated
more than 256 individuals including victims, witnesses, police officers, riot policemen, and
other parties concerned using face-to-face meetings and written statements to collect
hundreds of pieces of evidence including 154 questionnaires, medical certificates, videos,
and pictures. Based on these evidences, the Commission investigated whether the police
complied with legal procedures to respect the human rights in the process of using force to
disperse and suppress demonstrators and whether the use of force by the police was legal.
The Commission made the following recommendations:
For the Minister of Public Administration and Security to give warning to the
Commissioner General of the Korea National Police Agency, as it is acknowledged that the
police used disproportionate force in dealing with some demonstrators during the
Candlelight Demonstration, and should be held responsible for injuring some of the
demonstrators and violating their human rights;

For Commissioner General of the Korea National Police Agency to strictly comply
with the defense-oriented security principle that puts the safety of the public first in order
to prevent recurrence of human rights violations by the police in assemblies or
demonstrations;

For Commissioner General of the Korea National Police Agency not to limit traffic
unless a certain area is proven to be used for a demonstration, as it was found that the
police blocked traffic in too many areas prohibiting not only demonstrators but also
residents and pedestrians from accessing the demonstration site;

For Commissioner General of the Korea National Police Agency to establish legal
provisions on the detailed conditions for the use of water canons that might cause serious
injuries to demonstrators such as the maximum water pressure or the minimum distance
from the canon;

For Commissioner General of the Korea National Police Agency to stop forcing
confessions from citizens who are being investigated on a charge of violation of the Act on
Assembly and Demonstration;

For Commissioner General of the Korea National Police Agency to order the riot
police to attach an identity mark or tag on their uniforms while they are on duty so that
others can easily identity the riot police.