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Police to draw up guideline on revealing suspects' faces
SEOUL, March 11 (Yonhap) -- Police will push for a new guideline on revealing the bare faces of suspects accused of serious crimes, an official said Thursday, amid public discontent with an existing police rule to cover the faces of suspects out of concern for their human rights.
Since 2005, South Korean police have covered the faces of criminal suspects with facial masks, baseball caps and other clothing when they appear in public or before the media. That rule was made on a suggestion from the national human rights commission.
But with heinous crimes like child rape on the rise in recent years, the rule has drawn criticism from many South Koreans who say that police are more concerned more about the human rights of suspects than about victims and their family members.
On Wednesday, the rule was put to the test when a suspect accused of kidnapping, raping and killing a 13-year-old girl was apprehended and escorted to a police station. Police in the southeastern port city of Busan left the suspect's face uncovered.
"I think they left his face bare because there is hard evidence (that he committed a crime) and his pictures have already been made public in the wanted list," said Kim Jung-hwak, a senior official at the National Police Agency.
"If his face had been covered, that would have infuriated people," he said. "We will discuss the criteria for revealing the faces of serious criminal suspects."
minsikyoon@yna.co.kr
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