By Kim Tae-jong

Students, apprehended during a street rally to call for the government to halve university tuition, are claiming that the police infringed upon their human rights in the process of their investigation.

“Police officers at Gwangjin Police Station ordered female students to take off their brassieres before putting them into a holding cell. Can you imagine how humiliating it must have been?” the Korean University Students’ Association (KUSA) said Wednesday in a statement.

Thousands of college students, parents and civic group members staged a massive candlelight protest on May 29 and June 10 in central Seoul to call for the Lee Myung-bak administration to deliver on his campaign pledge to halve tuition.

During the street rallies, some 150 students were arrested as the police took a stern stance against any illegal and unregistered collective action such as occupying roads and attempting to swarm the presidential offices of Cheong Wa Dae.

The association also denounced coercive and illegal methods of investigation by the police. “Without showing them search warrants, police officers went through students’ belongings and checked their mobile phones,” the KUSA said.

It also said some police officers spoke using vulgar terms, kicked them on their head and prevented them from meeting or contacting lawyers.

“Human rights should be protected even those under arrest. But the police ignored it and infringed upon students’ human rights just because they are students,” the statement said.

The association is collecting more testimonies of students who experienced injustice and maltreatment during the police investigation.

However, the police refuted the claims, arguing that they followed standard regulations and that the students were making false and groundless accusations.

Bras are defined as dangerous objects as they can be used in suicides, according to the codes for confinement and transfer of the arrested, the police said.

The police said in a statement posted on its website that only one female student was told to take off her bra in the process of conducting the investigation, which was necessary for the safety of the student.
It said police took the necessary steps to make sure she was not embarrassed or humiliated.

“Their claims are groundless. We followed the rules. We allowed them to read a search warrant and to meet lawyers if they requested. We never assaulted the students physically or verbally,” a police officer said.