National Human Rights Commission of Korea building in Seoul. Korea Times file



By Kim Hyun-bin



The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) has concluded police violated a migrant worker's right to remain silent when investigating a massive fire at an oil storage facility last year, by forcing him to confess to arson.



According to the commission, Monday, the Sri Lankan construction worker was detained on Oct. 8 for accidentally setting fire to the large oil storage facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, after letting loose a sky lantern. He then underwent close to 29 hours of police questioning.



The commission evaluated the interrogation footage and found police officers saying "don't lie," or "isn't that a lie?" over a total of 123 times, which the commission believes forced a confession out of the suspect.



The Constitution guarantees a suspect's right to remain silent, and relevant laws also state the police are not allowed to violate that right by forcing a confession, according to the commission.



"The police officers said the suspect was lying when he made remarks that were "advantageous" to himself. This is an act of forcing a confession and cannot be seen as a normal interrogation procedure under the current criminal justice system," the commission said.



Even if there is concrete evidence, it should not be used to pressure or force the suspect to respond, it added.



The commission also found it was inappropriate for part of the suspect's identity to be made public.



"The police released to the press the suspect's nationality, age, gender and type of visa, which violates one's privacy guaranteed by the Constitution," the commission added.



It advised the head of the regional police agencies to give warning to the officers in question and provide education to all of its officers about suspects' rights protection in interrogation.



The police at the time detained the migrant worker and sought an arrest warrant, but the prosecution did not accept the request. Prosecutors questioned him but have not indicted him.

