The NHRC Defends the Rights of Prison Inmates: Commission urges Ministry of Justice to guarantee the freedom to write, work, read newspaper and books, and watch TV in investigation rooms (12-13-2002)
The National Human Rights Commission recommended the Ministery of Justice to revise the paragraph 7 of Article 2 under Rules and Disciplines of Inmates Instruction that the prohibitions prohibits meetings, exchanges of letters, exercise, and watching TV since such prohibition constitute excessive violations of basic rights.
The A blind person (38), by the name of Park, who had been confined in jail, filed a complaint against the chief of Kwangju Correctional Institution with the NHRC. Park had been prohibited from exercising his right to write, watch, meet and exercise in the room for investigation from 8-14 May. Park was confined in the specific room for investigation since he refused to enter into his cell.
The NHRC recommended the Ministry of Justice to eliminate the part of paragraph 2 of Article 7 under Discipline Instruction, which stipulates that writing, working, exercising, reading newspapers and books, hearing radios, watching TV, and using private things can be restricted or prohibited, so long as the chief of the correctional institution had approved. The NHRC said these regulations should be eliminated because these can violate the basic rights of inmates. Moreover, these regulations must be revised so that meeting, exchanging letters and using telephones should be prohibited just in the case that detainees intended to destroy criminal evidences. The NHRC especially clarified that the right to meet with a lawyer must not be prohibited under the any circumstances.
This complaint came after the Kwangju Correctional Institution applied these regulations to Park, as he refused to enter into the cell after he had been beaten by another inmate.
The NHRC examined the records of 130 inmates who had been confined in the investigation room from April to June 2002. The results of the examination showed that the Correctional Institution had banned 99 inmates from writing, exchanging letters and meeting. Therefore, the Kwangju Correctional Institution has begun to apply these regulations systematically to all of the inmates.
After the NHRC comprehensively examined this incident, the Commission concluded that the excessive prohibition of basic rights-- just for the reason that the Ministry of Justice is investigating the detainees-- violates the basic rights of the detainees as follows: Article 10 (the rights to pursue dignity, values and happiness), Article 12 (the liberty of body), and Article 18 (the freedom of communications) of the Constitution,.
