NHRC demands compensation for victim’s survivors; Seoul District Court ruling gives partial win
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had asked the judiciary to undertake “relief” measures to grant adequate compensation to a victim’s survivors in a case where the state had violated an inmate’s (the petitioner’s brother) right to life, and on October 31st, the Seoul District Court civil suit division 26 (presiding judge: Joo, Gyeong-jin) ordered the state to pay a 20 million won compensation to the plaintiff (the petitioner). The original complaint petitioned with the NHRC charged that the state had infringed on the right to life by “carrying out 10 months of continuous punishment against an inmate who showed the symptoms of mental insanity—a condition which would render such punishment inefficacious or meaningless—and by neglecting supervisory obligations for someone who has had a history of attempting suicide,” which in the end, led to the victim’s suicide.
The victim’s younger brother Mr. Ko, had petitioned the complaint in May 2002. After the elder brother, victim Ko, had been sent to Cheongsong 2nd Correctional Institute and up until the time he committed suicide, the prison had disallowed the elder Ko any contact with visitors on the grounds that he was “currently under punishment,” and such severe prison life aggravated victim Ko’s mentally unstable condition. Second, the prison’s negligence in supervisory duties failed to prevent victim Ko’s death.
In response to the original NHRC recommendation on this case, the Minister of Justice has (1) asked the Central Disciplinary Committee to examine the case to determine whether disciplinary measures should be taken against the Cheongsong 2nd Correctional Institute warden and official responsible for security, and (2) set up a Policy and Planning Task Force to examine the related law—Regulation on the discipline and punishment of incarcerated persons—for amendment.
