NHRC Criticizes the Ministry of Justice For Prohibiting Jehovah"s Witness from holding Religious Meetings in Prison (01-28-2003)
On 14 October 2002 the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had recommended the Ministry of Justice to allow the Jehovah"s Witness to hold religious meetings in detention facilities, since the prohibition of religious meeting is against Paragraph 1 of Article 11 and Paragraph 1 of Article 20 under the Constitution of Korea. This recommendation was made in response to a complaint the well-known radio actor, Ji-Woon Yang, had filed with the NHRC against the Ministry of Justice.
However, on 20 January 2003 the Ministry of Justice rejected the recommendation that the NHRC had made last year. In the 33rd Commissioners" Meeting, on 27 January, the NHRC concluded that the Ministry of Justice has not offered a reasonable explanation for rejecting the recommendation. Therefore, the NHRC determined to make public the recommendation and to send an official document to the Ministry of Justice urging them to reconsider the recommendation.
The Ministry of Justice had mentioned in the reply letter that if the State allows inmates who are Jehovah"s Witnesses to hold religious meetings in correctional institutions, then such an action will only validate their illegal actions, because they had been imprisoned after they had deliberately violated the current law due to their religious convictions.
The Ministry of Justice further mentioned that to grant these particular believers permission to hold their religious meetings in prison would be against the objective to correct and reform inmates, because of the lack of facilities and deficit of budget.
The NHRC has claimed that inmates" religious activities should be guaranteed for all believers regardless of their particular religion, because religion is a source of comfort to inmates while they serve their sentence and religious worship in prison can help inmates adjust more easily to the society after they have been released from prison. The existing policy that inmates who believe in religious traditions other than the three major religious traditions currently recognized by the Ministry of Justice in Korea (Christianity, Catholicism, and Buddhism) are not permitted to hold religious meetings is fundamentally against the aims of correction and reformation.
In addition, the NHRC mentioned that every inmate in the correctional institutions was allowed religious meetings, had violated the current law like inmates who believe Jehovah"s Witness.
On the other hand, the complainant, Ji-Woon Yang appealed that the correctional authority can censor the content of a meeting and prison officers can even join the meetings.
The NHRC clarified that the detention facilities in the advanced countries have made efforts to guarantee freedom of religion even to adherents of minority religions, and even despite poor facilities. In the international community the trend towards recognizing the right to freedom of religion is spreading due to an increase in cultural diversity within States and a rise in human rights consciousness all over the world.
According to the on-site inspection by the NHRC, most detention facilities have auditoriums, which have been used as sites for religious meetings. If the auditoriums are used efficiently, then the problem "lack of places" would be easily solved. Therefore, the NHRC has found the assertion by the Ministry of Justice to be unreasonable. NHRC Criticizes the Ministry of Justice For Prohibiting Jehovah"s Witness from holding Religious Meetings in Prison (01-28-2003)
On 14 October 2002 the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had recommended the Ministry of Justice to allow the Jehovah"s Witness to hold religious meetings in detention facilities, since the prohibition of religious meeting is against Paragraph 1 of Article 11 and Paragraph 1 of Article 20 under the Constitution of Korea. This recommendation was made in response to a complaint the well-known radio actor, Ji-Woon Yang, had filed with the NHRC against the Ministry of Justice.
However, on 20 January 2003 the Ministry of Justice rejected the recommendation that the NHRC had made last year. In the 33rd Commissioners" Meeting, on 27 January, the NHRC concluded that the Ministry of Justice has not offered a reasonable explanation for rejecting the recommendation. Therefore, the NHRC determined to make public the recommendation and to send an official document to the Ministry of Justice urging them to reconsider the recommendation.
The Ministry of Justice had mentioned in the reply letter that if the State allows inmates who are Jehovah"s Witnesses to hold religious meetings in correctional institutions, then such an action will only validate their illegal actions, because they had been imprisoned after they had deliberately violated the positive law [the military service law??] due to their religious convictions.
The Ministry of Justice further mentioned that to grant these particular believers permission to hold their religious meetings in prison would be against the objective to correct and reform inmates, considering the reality such as the lack of correction facilities and deficit of budget.
The NHRC has claimed that inmates" religious activities should be guaranteed for all believers regardless of their particular religion, because religion is a source of comfort to inmates while they serve their sentence and religious worship in prison can help inmates adjust more easily to the society after they have been released from prison. The existing policy-that inmates who believe in religious traditions other than the three major religious traditions currently recognized by the Ministry of Justice in Korea (Christianity, Catholicism, and Buddhism) are not permitted to hold religious meetings-is fundamentally against the aims of correction and reformation.
In addition, the NHRC mentioned that every inmate in the correctional institutions was allowed religious meetings, had violated the positive law like inmates who believe Jehovah"s Witness.
On the other hand, the complainant, Ji-Woon Yang appealed that the correctional authority can censor the content of a meeting and prison officers can even join the meetings.
The NHRC clarified that the detention facilities in the advanced countries have made efforts to guarantee freedom of religion even to adherents of minority religions, and even despite poor facilities. In the international community the trend towards recognizing the right to freedom of religion is spreading due to an increase in cultural diversity within States and a rise in human rights consciousness all over the world.
According to the on-site inspection by the NHRC, most detention facilities have auditoriums, which have been used as sites for religious meetings. If the auditoriums are used efficiently, then the problem "lack of places" would be easily solved. Therefore, the NHRC has found the assertion by the Ministry of Justice to be unreasonable.
