3. Case Studies
1) Suo Moto Investigation: Torture and Mistreatment by the Policy
Mr. Lee (age 45) filed a complaint with the Commission alleging that in "A" police
station in March 2010 a police officer gagged him, urging him to confess his crime and
beat him after wrapping his face with tape. The Commission confirmed that three similar
complaints were filed and initiated an investigation. As a result, the Commission
concluded that it was highly probable that torture had taken place, given that there was a
blind area not covered by a CCTV in the office of the police station where victims alleged
that they had been tortured. The identical accounts were filed on the place of torture, the
identity of the accused, and methods of torture in consistent and detailed manner.
Accordingly, the Commission decided to launch a suo moto investigation on May 20, 2010
for total inspection of 32 suspects questioned in the "A"police station.
According to the investigation, the 22 victims alleged that they were forced to falsely
confess their criminal activities and other crimes and suffered severe beating and torture
such as head treading and snapping of their handcuffed arms from the back, while being
gagged with rolled tissues or towels inserted into their mouths in the course of being
questioned at "A" station.
The Commission also discovered evidences of torture from the victims kept at the
police station cells, daily work log of protection officer of detainees, and medication
payment inventory list. It also confirmed the statements from a number of the torture
victims during their detention in the "A" police station. Their lawyers witnessed bruises
from torture on their clients and informed it to the prosecution. It was further confirmed by
another victim claiming that the scene of his being tortured from the CCTV footage
confiscated by the prosecution, the medical examination records of the victim indicated a
fracture of his elbow bone; and the pictures showing that a tooth of the victim, which had
received recently prosthetics, was broken and another tooth was missing.
The Commission concluded that the action of the police officers was committed outside
Chapter 3. Investigations and Remedies: Civil Rights Violations
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