Human Rights Commission: "Police Must Improve Excessive Evidence Collection Practices During Prostitution Crackdowns"

The National Human Rights Commission announced on the 14th that it recommended the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency and police station chiefs to improve the excessive evidence collection practices during prostitution crackdowns.

According to the Human Rights Commission, complainants filed grievances in July and October last year, claiming human rights violations occurred during prostitution crackdowns. At that time, police officers took photos of victims’ naked bodies and shared them in the crackdown team’s group chat on their mobile phones. They also shared videos of the crackdown showing victims’ faces and bodies without mosaic blurring with reporters assigned to the police station.

The police station chiefs and frontline officers responded, stating, "Taking naked photos of prostitution victims was necessary and urgent for preserving evidence of illegal prostitution activities," and "No coercion was used during the photography process, so the method was reasonable." They also explained, "The evidence materials from the crackdown site were posted in the joint crackdown team’s group chat but were deleted immediately after the investigation," and "Videos sent to the press liaison officer were provided on the condition that the people’s faces in the footage would be mosaicked and voices altered."

The National Police Agency Commissioner General’s office stated, "Filming the crime scene during prostitution crackdowns to prove charges is a lawful investigation procedure," and "Collected personal information is destroyed immediately after achieving the purpose of processing, adhering to the principle of proportionality in investigations. Training on compliance with legal procedures is also conducted for police officers in charge of morality affairs at frontline police stations."

However, the Human Rights Commission pointed out, "During prostitution crackdowns, mobile phones, which are vulnerable in security and prone to transmission, were used instead of dedicated equipment," and "No designated member of the crackdown team was assigned to manage the footage, and the videos containing the faces of women in prostitution establishments and personal information of male customers were shared in the joint crackdown team’s mobile group chat without mosaic blurring or voice alteration, constituting human rights violations."

Furthermore, the commission stated, "There is a need for the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency to supervise and manage this issue, and for the National Police Agency to grasp the actual situation," and "It is necessary to establish or revise related regulations and guidelines to clarify standards for the collection, storage, and handling of evidence." They also recommended, "To prevent recurrence of similar cases, job training should be conducted for police officers in prostitution crackdown and investigation departments."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.