By Lee Hyo-sik
The state human rights agency recommended Tuesday that the government abolish an alternative military service scheme under which young conscripts serve as riot police, following a series of abuses in the unit.
The National Human Rights Commission said leaders in the police force have failed to implement measures to prevent physical and emotional abuse of junior police officers by their seniors.
It suggested that the government should instead increase the number of career police officers in riot squads so conscripts no longer have to serve.
“We think the National Police Agency should do more to stop subordinates from being harassed by their seniors. It has to step up monitoring of what happens inside the barracks, impose harsh punishment on abusers and pay more attention to the well-being of the victims,” the commission said. “In the long run, the riot police system should be abolished.”
This is the first time that a state organization has suggested the removal of the riot police. It submitted its suggestion to the National Police Agency and the Ministry of Defense.
The agency pointed out that riot police were initially created to crack down on North Korean spies and South Koreans sympathetic to the communist state. But they have become mere support personnel for career police officers. These days, their main duty is to deal with protesters on days protests are scheduled.
Nearly 30,000 men currently serve in the riot police force in compliance with the country’s mandatory 21-month military service rule.
Their main job involves standing ready outside government agencies and public facilities as well as policing street protests.
But their working conditions are often dangerous when they are mobilized to quell protesters without proper training.
“A large number of riot policemen are recruited at military drill camps against their will. They are mostly mobilized to confront demonstrators who often use violence. Many have been prematurely discharged after sustaining severe injuries,” the commission said.
Among the reported cases of abuse in recent months, one junior officer was slapped in the face by his senior for snoring, while another was forced to eat more than he could endure. Some reported sexual harassment by their superiors within their squads. The officers reporting the abuse were mostly in their early 20s.
Consequently, the commission launched a probe into three separate cases, involving two deaths, in January into claims that the policemen suffered physical assaults or other forms of bullying in their barracks.
It recommended that leaders in the police force step up monitoring of units and take disciplinary action against those responsible for abuse, as well as help the victims readjust to life in the barracks.
In June 2010, a 21-year-old policeman at a unit in South Chungcheong Province died of leukemia. His parents claimed that their son had suffered frequent violence from seniors and had become ill due to extreme stress. Another junior conscript in an Incheon unit committed suicide on Jan. 25 essentially to avoid returning to the barracks after a six-month medical leave.
The commission also inspected abuse cases within a riot police squad in Wonju, Gangwon Province, after the unit was dismantled. Six junior police officers there abandoned their posts after reporting rampant physical and emotional abuse by their superiors.
1 | Koreans stunned by spike in heating costs |
![[INTERVIEW] Partnerships with Korean companies help Delta Air Lines' post-pandemic recovery](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/892c5f8b83fc45018380807ff3c3d42b.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
