NHRC Issues Recommendation to Siheung City Mayor to Ask Siheung Public Library to Respect Civil Liberties; NHRC to Review Required Input of National ID Number to Use Public Library
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has responded to a November 2003 petition submitted by Kim (27) charging that the Siheung City Library (SCL) infringed his freedom of expression and his personal rights by: (1) installing and operating a CCTV system filming library-goers reading inside the library, (2) installing an unmanned seating assignment machine that requires the input of library-goers’ resident registration number (national ID number), and (3) the SCL attack on his freedom of expression when he problematized these systems. The Commission found that the public library's actions do constitute rights infringements and issued a recommendation to prevent recurrence.
However, the NHRC rejected the charges on CCTV operation within the library, mandatory input of resident registration number, and violation of freedom of expression because the library had immediately implemented「relief measures」 altering the situation. Nevertheless, on the issue of infringement of personal rights, the Commission recommended that the mayor of Siheung City undertake measures such that the SCL administrators exercise care in further dealings with the petitioner. In order to prevent recurrence of rights infringements, the NHRC also issued a recommendation to the head of the SCL head for the library staff to take a human rights course taught by human rights specialists.
The facts of the case are as follows. The SCL had installed and operated the CCTV system filming library-goers inside the library beginning in February 2003 because of theft incidents. The CCTV surveillance monitors were installed in the hallways of the library such that any ordinary passerby could look at the images captured by the CCTV cameras. The SCL installed unmanned machines that issued seat numbers only after input of one’s resident registration number in November 2003 in order to reduce squabbles over seating among library goers. The NHRC investigation concluded that these conditions subjected citizens using the library to infringement of basic rights, including portrait rights and the right to secrecy of one’s private affairs.
But after the NHRC began investigating the case, the SCL reoriented the CCTV cameras to capture, not footage of the inside of the library, but rather, of the library entrance and exits and placed bulletin boards in front of the surveillance monitors such that casual passersby could not ordinarily see them. The SCL also re-instituted the old system of receiving seat assignments in tandem with the use of the unmanned machines so as to allow library users the option of receiving a「library seating ticket」 without being forced to give their resident registration number—although the unmanned machine still requires giving one’s identity number—and posted a notice on the unmanned machine to alert library-goers of their options. Regarding the charge of denying freedom of expression by discretionary erasure of the petitioner’s post on the library’s internet page, the SCL issued a public apology for the inadequacies of their homepage administration and promised to reorganize and improve their homepage in the future.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MOCT), the government agency that oversees public libraries, gave notice to the Public Library Association of the NHRC 17 April 2004 policy recommendation for enacting legislation regulating use of CCTVs because installing and operating CCTVs in enclosed public spaces in the absence of legal grounding carries high risk of violating fundamental civil liberties. Additionally, MOCT recommended to public libraries that unavoidably install CCTV systems in advance of the pending regulatory legislation that they post, in a place easily seen by library-goers, a notice explaining whether CCTVs are installed, the purpose, the way the CCTV system is administered, the name of the person responsible for overseeing the system and the chain of authority in the supervisory system as well as the criteria and procedures for CCTV usage. MOCT also recommended that public libraries automatically erase CCTV footage within a certain period (15 days) as well as exercise caution such that stored CCTV footage is not released or misused. Last, MOCT recommended that when the library installs unmanned seat assignment machines requiring the input of one’s resident registration number, that the library provide options so as to avoid restricting or placing undue constrictions on those citizens who oppose input of their identity numbers from using the public library, and that the library post these alternate procedures in an appropriate place.
Thus, the NHRC rejected the aspects of the case relating to CCTV filming inside the library, forced input of resident registration number and infringement of freedom of expression and did not issue separate「relief」 measures on these counts. However, the Commission did find that the SCL administrator—who printed out and posted in the library lounge a personal attack (written by a third party) on petitioner Kim—did infringe on the petitioner’s personal rights and the right to privacy of one’s personal affairs, and thus issued a recommendation to the Siheung City mayor that the library undertake measures to exercise care in dealings with the petitioner and to the head of the SCL to ensure that the staff undergo human rights education so as to prevent recurrence of rights infringement.
Despite the MOCT efforts to undertake reform measures, the NHRC found that requiring the input of one’s national identity card number in order to use a public library remained a controversial aspect of the case and will undertake a review of the 23 public libraries that use such a system in order to assess the exact facts relating to usage of this system. –End.
