NHRCK: "Medical Access and Health Rights Must Be Guaranteed for Correctional Facility Inmates"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The National Human Rights Commission has recommended that the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Economy and Finance improve related systems to guarantee the medical access rights and health rights of inmates in correctional facilities.

In November of last year, the Human Rights Commission visited 10 correctional facilities nationwide, including Busan Prison and Suwon Detention Center, to investigate the medical environment. On the 12th, it announced that there were 89 specialist doctors in correctional facilities, which is 25% fewer than the authorized number. The Commission also diagnosed that although the proportion of inmates with mental illnesses and the demand for psychiatric treatment are high, there is a lack of personnel to respond effectively, and the use of telemedicine and the inmate’s sentence (detention) suspension system is limited. Furthermore, it confirmed numerous cases where inmates’ medical and health rights are at risk, such as the standards for appropriate temperature in inmate rooms, hot water supply in winter, and inmates’ outdoor exercise time not meeting international standards.

Accordingly, the Human Rights Commission recommended to the Minister of Justice: ▲ reinforcement of specialist medical personnel ▲ strengthening medical treatment for inmates with mental illnesses ▲ expansion of telemedicine and the inmate’s sentence (detention) suspension system ▲ regular publication of statistics on deaths before and after sentence (detention) suspension approval ▲ legal establishment of appropriate temperature in inmate rooms and improvement of hot water supply during severe cold ▲ expansion of inmates’ outdoor exercise time. To the Minister of Economy and Finance, it urged to reflect the necessary budget for expanding medical personnel and ensuring inmates’ medical access rights and the right to live with dignity as much as possible. The Commission stated, "We plan to continue closely monitoring the human rights situation of inmates in correctional facilities and take various measures to ensure substantial improvement in human rights conditions."

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