Amnesty International slams raid on union office

Amnesty International criticized South Korea Tuesday for a police raid on the office of a militant umbrella labor union, saying it breached international human rights and labor standards.

Hundreds of policemen stormed the headquarters of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions in central Seoul on Sunday to arrest striking rail union leaders believed to be holed up there, sparking controversy over the excessive use of police force.

“The entry of police forces into the KCTU building is a clear violation of international norms,” the Seoul unit of Amnesty International said in a statement.

The United Nations’ Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials stipulates that government power should be used only in exceptional cases under strict criteria, but the South Korean government violated that regulation by sending police forces into KCTU, the human rights group said. (Yonhap News)