"The Police Response Causing Injury to the Representative of Jeonjangyeon Violates the Principle of Proportionality"

Human Rights Commission: "Use of Public Authority in Disabled Persons' Assemblies Must Be More Cautious"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) judged that the police's sudden retrieval of a smoke bomb from Park Kyung-seok, the representative of the National Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination (Jeonjangyeon), at a rally and demonstration site last November without any protective measures, causing injury, was a violation of the principle of proportionality and an infringement on physical freedom.

On the 13th, the NHRCK recognized the complaint regarding the police's excessive response to the rally and demonstration, with Park as the victim, as a human rights violation. It announced that it recommended the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner to prepare measures to prevent recurrence and to conduct human rights education for the affiliated police officers. The NHRCK stated, "Rather than taking action against individual police officers, it was deemed more appropriate for higher authorities to establish measures to prevent similar cases in the future."

Earlier, in November last year, the NHRCK received a complaint from Park, claiming that during a rally demanding full guarantee of educational rights for the disabled, he suffered human rights violations due to the police's excessive response, which caused his electric wheelchair to tip backward and hit the asphalt ground. The police explained, "We retrieved only the smoke bomb with minimal contact and without physical force, and during this process, Park fell backward," adding, "We became aware of the fall only after extinguishing the smoke bomb, and it was neither intentional nor an excessive response."

Regarding the police's claims, the NHRCK pointed out, "While the retrieval of the smoke bomb itself cannot be deemed illegal, rallies and demonstrations involving disabled persons carry a higher risk of injury in case of accidents, thus requiring greater caution in the use of public authority." It also stated that the accident during the smoke bomb retrieval process was "a failure by the police officers to fulfill their duty of care for the life and safety of citizens."