The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Disability Discrimination Redress Committee said on the 8th it decided to launch an ex officio investigation into the Korean National Police Agency, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, and the police departments that investigated human rights violations at residential facilities for people with disabilities.
The so-called "Saekdongwon case" prompted the move. Earlier, the former head of Saekdongwon, a facility for people with severe disabilities, was sent to trial on charges of sexually abusing female residents.
However, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said questions were raised over whether testimonial assistance was actually provided during police interviews of victims, whether an interview method centered on verbal statements was appropriate for people with developmental disabilities, and whether expert observation and diagnosis results and objective materials were sufficiently used.
Through this ex officio investigation, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) plans to focus on whether, in investigations of human rights violations at residential facilities for people with disabilities such as Saekdongwon, ▲ accommodations were provided in consideration of communication and expression characteristics ▲ trusted persons and testimonial assistance were substantively supported ▲ methods other than oral statements were used to confirm victimization ▲ and structural characteristics, including the closed nature of residential facilities for people with disabilities and power dynamics, were taken into account.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said, "If people with disabilities who have difficulty communicating are not provided with investigative methods that consider disability characteristics and reasonable accommodations, they may be excluded from investigative procedures because they cannot fully explain the harm, or lose the opportunity to be recognized as victims."
It added, "Through the ex officio investigation, we plan to prepare improvement measures for investigative procedures so that victims with disabilities who have difficulty communicating can participate on a substantively equal basis in criminal justice procedures and receive redress."