Human Rights Commission: "Correctional Facility Inmates' Permitted Items Must Be Specified"

National Human Rights Commission building. Photo by Human Rights Commission

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The National Human Rights Commission has determined that the permitted items for correctional facility inmates should be specifically enumerated or their scope clearly defined.

On the 24th, the Human Rights Commission announced that it conveyed this opinion to the Minister of Justice, stating the need to revise the enforcement regulations of the relevant laws. The Commission explained, "During the investigation of a petition case at a certain prison, it was found that the 'Enforcement Regulations of the Act on the Execution of Sentences and Treatment of Inmates' do not specifically define the scope of permitted items for inmates, which raises a high possibility that the head of the correctional facility may exercise authority arbitrarily."

Article 214, Clause 15 of the Enforcement Regulations of the Act on the Execution of Sentences stipulates as one of the disciplinary violations by inmates the act of "possessing, bringing in, producing, altering, exchanging, or giving and receiving items without permission." If an inmate possesses items without the permission of the head of the correctional facility, they may be subject to disciplinary punishment as a violation of discipline. The Human Rights Commission pointed out, "If disciplinary targets are uniformly determined solely on the grounds of 'lack of permission from the head of the correctional facility' without specific judgment on whether the safety and order of the correctional facility were compromised, it may lead to infringement of inmates' general freedom of conduct."

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