Regarding the case of physical violence, injury and sexual harassment against inmates at “A” Care facility of Persons with Severe Disability by facility staffs, NHRCK
1) reported 4 staffs who did violence or injure inmates to the Prosecutor’s Office
2) recommended the District Head in In-cheon city to take an appropriate countermeasure; come up with a preventative measure; and impose a penalty on relevant civil servants for not conducting their full responsibility for supervision
3) recommended the head of the “A” facility to take a measure to provide necessary therapy for victims, impose a penalty on offenders and their supervisors, and hold a human rights educational course for entire staffs in order to prevent sexual harassment and other violation.
NHRCK received an anonymous report on the case on November 2011, which triggered a basic investigation. On investigation, NHRCK decided to initiate an ex-officio investigation on November 24, 2011 since it identified that the case contained a grave human rights violation. Subsequently, NHRCK conducted an on-site investigation from November 30 to December 2, 2011 including interviews with staffs, inmates and witnesses and additional investigation from 5 to 23 of December 2011. NHRCK identified the following :
1) Staff “B” broke the femoral region of inmate “C” (male, 11 years old at that time, mental disorder level 2) on July 2010. Staff “D” assaulted inmate “E” (female, 53 years old at that time, mental disorder level 1). Inmate “F” sexually harassed another inmate “G” (male, 9 years old at that time, mental disorder level 2).
2) Even though the head of “A” facility recognized the violence cases, he did not take an appropriate measure for remedy or the prevention of recurrence of such act. A team leader in charge did not report to the supervisor even though he witnessed a regular occurrence of violence against inmates by certain staffs regarding it as a simple disciplinary action.
3) Civil servants in charge at the district office did not take a measure even though they verified human rights violation conducts at the “A” facility two times.
NHRCK decided to refer the case to the Prosecutor’s office and issue a corrective order pursuant to Article 44(1), 45(1) and 45(2) of the National Human Rights Commission Act. Furthermore, NHRCK recommended the District Head to issue those civil servants in charge of supervision and monitoring of the “A” facility since they left the case without any proper remedy for the victims of continuous violence.
In the future, NHRCK will conduct a positive on-site investigation into human rights violation against persons with disability so as to promote and protect their rights.
