NHRC issues recommendation for supplementation and reform of the prison’s internal mail handling system and for the carrying out of human rights education for related
prison staff
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued a recommendation to the Uijeongbu Correctional Institution (UCI) warden to 1) supplement and reform the UCI’s internal mail handling system in order to prevent reoccurrence of problems stemming from delayed granting of permission for delivery of inmates’ correspondence, and to 2) carry out training about job duties as well as human rights education for the prison staff in charge of handling mail. The recommendation follows the December 2001 complaint against UCI official Mr. Kang, filed by inmate, Mr. Lee (age 47), who argued that his right to privacy of correspondence was infringed in the course of his trial preparations; Kang wrote, “although I had written to the court with jurisdiction over my case to request a postponement of my trial date, the prison did not forward my letter in time, and belatedly informed me that in fact, they had withheld permission to send the letter; thus, I was unable to receive a new trial date and instead was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment at my first trial.”
This case came about on 29 March 2001, when Mr. Lee, then incarcerated at UCI (currently at Mokpo Correctional Institution) and undergoing trial proceedings, had completed the first stage, in which he was indicted by the prosecuting attorney, and had—following the counsel of the public prosecutor for his case—written a letter to the court with jurisdiction over his case to request a deferred trial date. However, the UCI failed to process Mr. Lee’s letter, and only later, on 6 April 2001, after he was already convicted and sentenced, did the UCI inform Mr. Lee that “since your letter is a document relating to your trial, send it by registered mail through the registration division.” This inspired Mr. Lee to file a complaint with the NHRC, saying, “I was disadvantaged because I was unable to get my trial postponed.”
The NHRC carried out a comprehensive investigation, examining the contents of the petitioner’s correspondence, testimony given by other UCI inmates, the petitioner’s actions after being informed that his letter was not granted permission for delivery, the work schedules of the 3rd floor, H-block (where Mr. Lee was held) prison guards, as well as the UCI prison official in charge of mail handling. The NHRC found that on 29 March 2001, while a total of 15 letters were collected from inmates of the UCI 3rd floor, H-block, only 13 were actually sent out for delivery the following day among the 275 letters sent out from all floors and blocks of UCI on 30 March 2001. The NHRC found that the letter was not delivered in a timely fashion because of an oversight in the process where letters are transferred to the UCI Educational Affairs Bureau; thus, the NHRC held the UCI liable for the situation.
The investigation found the UCI internal mail handling procedures to be as follows. After collecting mail from inmates on each cell block, guards drop off the letters at the UCI Security Bureau as they leave work for the day; the letters sit in the Security Bureau until the following morning; after the prison official in charge of mail handling comes to work, he or she inspects the inmates’ letters and decides whether “permission to be delivered” be granted or disallowed; at 1 pm, and again at 5 pm, the mail is finally taken outside the prison by a postal worker. However, in the course of this process, an oversight occurred with the petitioner’s letter and the letter was not sent out on March 30th.
The NHRC did not make any express statements as to exactly whose negligence caused the delay of the petitioner’s correspondence. However, in light of the fact that the petitioner lost all chance of getting a trial postponement because of oversights in UCI mail handling, the NHRC held that lack of proper documentation by UCI ultimately caused the petitioner’s right to privacy of correspondence (ROK Constitution, article 18) to be violated.
