The National Human Rights Commission of Korea recommends improvements in the handling of persons in temporary custody for detention rulings.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRCK) recently made a three-fold recommendation to the Minister of Justice, the Warden of the Seoul Detention Center and the Minister of Health and Welfare in regards to a complaint filed in September of 2006. The recommendation requests each institution to correct its handling of persons in temporary custody, while in waiting for detention rulings. Specifically, the recommendation addresses transfers of persons in temporary custody to unreported facilities against their—or their legal guardian’s—will.
The complainant, a 53-year-old male known as “O,” filed a complaint with the Commission, stating that the “Seoul Detention Center transferred me to a facility for people with hearing impairment during the period of suspension of detention even though I had no such impairment, and in the process, changed my address to that of said facility without obtaining my consent.”
After full investigation, the Commission made the following recommendations on August 1, 2007.
▲ To the Minister of Justice:
- To ensure that any persons requiring governmental protection—either because their family does not permit them in their homes or the person does not have a family—be protected in facilities, as guaranteed in the National Basic Living Security Act, and that management and supervision be strengthened to prevent transfer of persons without families or legal guardians to unreported facilities.
-To formulate legal rationale, to which detention/correctional facilities must adhere until those subject to suspension of detention are transferred.
-To establish regulations that set forth procedures for obtaining the consent of the concerned persons before they are transferred to unreported facilities or have their contact information changed officially.
▲ To the Warden of the Seoul Detention Center:
-To rectify the current situation, in which some persons subject to suspension of detention are transferred to unreported facilities, so that the concerned would not be transferred and their personal information will not be changed against their will.
▲ To the Minister of Health and Welfare:
- To require detention/correctional facilities to protect persons subject to suspension of detention by providing protection facilities with proper supervision for the concerned upon request, and to ensure that all transfers of the concerned persons would be made in the most expedited manner.
- To minimize the time necessary for providing transfer into proper medical facilities for those in critically physical condition, and to ensure that these proper facilities presume custody in the case of persons subject to suspension of detention.
- To ensure that in cases where no proper facilities exist within the jurisdiction of the corresponding basic-unit local government, the concerned persons would be transferred to the relevant facilities within the jurisdiction of a nearby basic-unit local government for the purpose of their protection.
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea was established in 2001 to promote human rights education and defend those who have experienced discrimination, or have had a right violated, in Korea. The Commission offers counseling, full investigation and protection for citizens, along with educational initiatives for organizations.
