Suspects and litigants are still, in some cases, subject to rough-and-tumble treatment from prosecutors, the National Human Rights Commission said Sunday. According to the state-supported commission, the number of complaints about prosecutors' harsh treatment was tallied at 252 during the period from July 2007 to June 2008, a drop of only 12 cases from the preceding year.
The commission cited a case that it handled in 2008 that dates back to May 2007. A complainant claimed that he was shot with Tasers six times and beated up by investigators wielding iron bars on his way to the prosecutor's office after being summoned.
Being transferred to the prosecutor's office, he asked for medical attention but was told, "Drop dead."
The commission took up the case and concluded that his claims were valid, requesting the prosecutor general to set up a guideline on the use of Tasers.
In another case dating back to September 2006, according to the commission, a litigant was verbally abused by a prosecutor. The prosecutor was quoted by Yonhap News from the commission's 2007 compilation of complaints as saying with a generous dose of expletives, "Where do you think you are? You want to give me a lecture. I will teach you manners."
The commission said that the complainant had previously suffered from a stroke, leaving him with an impaired ability to speak. The prosecutor didn't ease up on the abuse, telling him, "I will give you a lesson on law." The complainant claimed that he was too afraid to say anything.
In another case, a suspect who was indicted for allegedly taking bribes complained about verbal abuse from a prosecution investigator. The complainant claimed that the investigator teased him by asking, "Are all who have the same surname as you stupid like you?"
The commission's report also contained a case of physical abuse filed by a person who the prosecution investigators mistook for a suspect in a drug bust.
The investigators didn't bother reading him his rights under the Miranda law, throwing him to the ground and shackling his hands behind his back. When he protested, he was told, "Keep your mouth shut."
The commission said that its scope of action for dealing with alleged cases of prosecutor brutality is restricted because it is hard to investigate the officials concerned and to corroborate the complainants' claims.