Police commission concludes farmer killed by excessive police force during civic demonstration

Yoo Nam-yeong, head of the police commission tasked with investigating human rights violations, answers questions regarding the commission’s findings on the death of farmer and civic demonstrator Baek Nam-gi on Aug. 21 in Seoul. (Park Jong-shik, staff photographer)

Details emerge of Blue House and police intervention in victim’s medical treatment

A police commission tasked with investigating human rights violations ruled on Aug. 21 that the death of Baek Nam-gi, a farmer, was caused by excessive use of police force.

The commission made a number of recommendations to the National Police Agency including apologizing to the victim’s family, withdrawing a claim for damages and banning the deployment or use of water trucks. New details also emerged of intervention by the Blue House and police while Baek was receiving medical treatment.

The commission held that police had abused their authority and infringed upon the rights to freedom of association and assembly on Nov. 14, 2015, at a civic demonstration where Baek was gunned down with a water cannon. The commission confirmed that at the time, police had formed a barricade using 738 police buses and mobilized 2,000 officers and 19 water trucks to engage in a “cauldron maneuver” to block protesters from entering the guarded area around the Blue House.

As part of this maneuver, Baek was knocked to the ground by a water cannon. The commission labeled the police’s conduct as unconstitutional abuse of authority, recommending that the police offer an official policy apology to the bereaved family and withdraw their lawsuit against the organizers of the protest.

Details also emerged of intervention by the Blue House and police when medical treatment was being administered to Baek. According to the commission, doctors believed that surgery was meaningless as Baek had no chance of survival, but the chief of the Seoul Hyehwa Police Station and a senior administrator for employment and welfare at the Blue House called the director of Seoul National University Hospital and urged him to perform the surgery. “The immediate death of Baek would have been a heavy burden on the shoulders of politicians and police,” wrote the commission.

The commission also pointed out that unless the government’s one-sided guidelines to controlling demonstrations and protests were changed, the excessive use of force could be repeated in the future.

“Even after an incident in 2005 when police dealt fatal injuries to Jeon Yong-cheol and Hong Deok-pyo during a demonstration by farmers, they took the life of Baek as well,” the report stated.

Baek Nam-gi, a farmer from South Jeolla Province, has been in a coma for eight months since being knocked by the blast from a water cannon at a demonstration in Seoul on Nov. 14 last year, and the hospital where he is staying has said that he has very little chance of ever recovering from the brain damaged he suffered, his daughter reported. (provided by OhMyNews)

However, the commission was skeptical as to whether their recommendations would lead to actual changes. There is no way to hold former National Police Agency Chief Kang Sin-myeong accountable for directing the officers to use force, and it remains to be seen whether the police will implement the recommendations.

The Police Reform Committee had previously recommended that the police withdraw their lawsuit against the organizers of the rally, but the lawsuit remains ongoing. In June last year, the police stated that they would change their rules to no longer permit the use of water cannons, but a year has passed since then with no further announcement.

Baek’s eldest daughter, Baek Doraji, stated, “At the time, I thought it was strange that the police were informed of changes in my father’s condition even before his family was told, and that there was a sudden decision to operate. Now it makes sense. It’s a pity that the commission’s guidelines and recommendations are not binding.”

By Kwon Ji-dam, staff reporter

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