The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued a recommendation (1) to the Minister of Justice to observe the “Regulation on Standards for Judiciary-Related Facilities” stipulation that each prisoner be given a space of at least 0.9 pyeong by expanding prison “disciplinary punishment cells” to fit the legal requirements or construct new cells for disciplinary punishment, and (2) to the Jinju Correctional Institution warden to cease cramping more than one prisoner in such cells until the reconstruction work is completed.
In April 2003, inmate Lee (28) of the Jinju Correctional Institution (Jinju CI) had petitioned a complaint to the Commission, charging that, “’disciplinary punishment cells’ are so cramped, that prisoners cannot extend their legs while sleeping.” The NHRC investigation into the complaint found that: excluding the bathroom, the cells were 150 cm along each side, amounting to a floor space of 0.68 pyeong. The Minister of Justice (MOJ) responded that because the diagonal length of each cell exceeded 210 cm, an adult male should have no trouble sleeping in such a space, and the Jinju CI warden responded that previously, 2 to 3 persons were locked in each “disciplinary punishment cell,” however, in an effort to decrease overcrowding, the Jinju CI now assigned 2 or less prisoners to each cell.
However, the NHRC found that it was only possible for a prisoner to stretch his or her legs while sleeping if he or she slept diagonally across the cell and when only 1 person occupied each cell; thus, the Commission recommended that no more than 1 person be assigned to each cell at the Jinju CI.
Judging that overcrowding in prisons’ “disciplinary punishment cells” was an issue not only confined to the Jinju CI, the Commission requested that the MOJ submit a report on cell dimensions from incarceration facilities nationwide. According to the report, of the 44 incarceration facilities in Korea, there were a total of 906 disciplinary punishment cells (866 for male prisoners, 40 for female), and a large number of these cells did not meet the legal requirement of 0.9 pyeong per inmate. In particular, at one detention center, disciplinary punishment cells measured 130 cm by 140 cm (0.55 pyeong) for men and 125 cm by 130 cm (0.49 pyeong) for women, excluding the bathroom, while at another, the dimensions were 140 cm by 110 cm (0.47 pyeong).
Finally, the Commission noted that not only were such cells in violation of domestic regulations, but they also violated sleeping-space standards of the “Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners“ adopted by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
