More Pictures   2008-08-23 05:49

The "Issues in Depth" series might take a little longer for me to prepare... In the meantime, here are some more pictures of the brutal clash between demonstrators and the police on August 15. Thanks to those who made these pictures available on the net.

Demonstrators face the police.

The "815 Peace Action Group", organized by members of Daum Agora, station themselves between the demonstrators and the police in an attempt to prevent violence. They hold a banner which read: "Mr. President, let's talk!"

Another banner by the 815 Peace Action Group reads: "You can't tame the People of Korea with violence. Stop the indiscriminate arrest and violence!"

Never mind the 815 Peace Action Group, the police began to fire their water cannons almost as soon as they arrived on site. The water was heavily dyed in blue, so that anyone who escaped the scene could be identified and arrested even after several hours. Read my August 16 post for more on what happened.

Our desire to take care of the matter peacefully... got stained all over in blue.

As the manhunt proceeds, volunteers try to care for the injured. According to some reports, the police was so intent on arresting everyone that they even arrested other policemen in plain clothes. The police are no longer being paid cash for arresting us, but instead they get gift certificates and opportunities for promotion.

More arrests. They were dragging us all over the streets!

This woman was exiting a coffee shop when she was splashed with a blue stream of water. She was instantly arrested, and the police claimed that the blue stain on her blouse was evidence that she had been demonstrating. Eyewitnesses testified otherwise, and human rights activists complained hard; but the police took her into custody anyway.

More signs of violence. The women in yellow raincoats (top) were trampled upon as the police advanced upon the demonstrators; the man (bottom) was surrounded by several policemen and repeatedly beaten.

A couple of days after the arrest spree of August 15, it was discovered that some policemen had ordered women to remove their brassieres upon detention. Often drenched all over in water and blue dye, the women were then detained where any men could see them. First reported by the Hankyoreh and widely publicized shortly afterwards, this incident caused a public outrage.

The police argued that (1) they had only been following procedures (the police has the right to confiscate certain personal items if such items are believed to be dangerous, and bras are supposed to be dangerous because somebody might use them to hang herself); and that (2) no harm was done because they didn't forcibly remove the women's bras (they ordered the women to remove their bras, and the women complied after much complaining). But these arguments only caused more outrage. The "procedure" in question was by no means carried out consistently; many dozens of women have been detained this summer for protesting against the government, but few of them had been ordered to take off any of their clothing. As for the second argument, it's nothing more than a slightly different version of the rapist's argument that his victim didn't/couldn't resist.

More likely than not, somebody is trying to use sexual harassment as a means to discourage women from participating in anti-government protests. And the "bra incident" was just the beginning. As concerned citizens began to dig deeper into the case, several police stations were found to have installed the women's bathroom where anyone -- not just the policewoman on duty -- could see whoever was inside. At least one policeman told reporters that he had seen women taking showers there. Of course, this last problem is an architectural one, that must have existed for a long time. But then, it is rarely the case in Korea for jails in urban police stations to be so full of women -- and in particular, well-educated women who can tell when their rights have been violated. It is in these troubled times that some officials reveal themselves to be the savages that they are.

Speaking of savages, here's a video clip showing what the Korean police tends to do with demonstrators who disagree with the government too much. The pictures were taken in a number of occasions between 2000 and 2003 -- long before President Lee came to power -- at labor union strikes and farmers' rallies. It was bad then, and it's worse now. And of course, now the police gets money and praise for beating us up!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6981286511461816014&ei=kdesSL6vMIi4wgPJ54w0&hl=en

You and I could disagree as to whether or not the labor unionists and farmers deserved to be treated harshly. The same may be said about today's anti-government demonstrators. But most of the time, what you see is the police beating up unarmed demonstrators and defenseless detainees (unless that flag is considered a weapon!). Now, who's the rioter? Who is a greater threat to public safety?

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