Ministry of Justice and Korea Rehabilitation Welfare Corporation Accept Recommendations for Human Rights Improvement in Rehabilitation Protection Facilities

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The National Human Rights Commission announced on the 3rd that the Minister of Justice and the President of the Korea Rehabilitation Welfare Corporation have accepted recommendations to improve the system for protecting and promoting the human rights of residents in rehabilitation protection facilities.

According to the Human Rights Commission on this day, the Minister of Justice is currently promoting legislation for the "Act on Support for Social Settlement of Released Persons, etc.," which includes changing the term "rehabilitation protection subjects" to "legal protection subjects." The President of the Korea Rehabilitation Welfare Corporation plans to guarantee the learning rights of youth by assigning teachers with teaching certificates, expanding learning computers, and strengthening the use of commissioned education. Additionally, to provide tailored counseling, a needs survey will be made mandatory upon facility admission, and psychological counseling will be provided with support from the Korean Counseling Psychology Association. Furthermore, to support the growth and recovery of youth admitted to the facilities, the movement paths of youth and adults will be separated, and a psychological stabilization program for youth will be prepared and operated by the second half of the year.

The President of the Korea Rehabilitation Welfare Corporation and private rehabilitation protection service providers also accepted recommendations to strengthen privacy protection by removing unnecessary CCTV cameras that monitor changing rooms and plan to expand single-occupancy rooms. In addition, guidance on how to file complaints with the Human Rights Commission will be installed on facility computers, and the principle of protecting freedom of religious activities will be specified in facility regulations. The Human Rights Commission stated, "We will continue to monitor human rights-related policies and their implementation within protection facilities in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice and related agencies, and will seek practical measures to improve the human rights of facility residents."

Earlier, from April to May of last year, the Human Rights Commission visited nine rehabilitation protection facilities and, after investigation, recommended to the Minister of Justice to revise the term "rehabilitation protection" in the "Probation and Parole Act" to a more human rights-friendly term. It also recommended to the President of the Korea Rehabilitation Welfare Corporation and operators of four private rehabilitation protection facilities to guarantee the freedom of privacy and learning rights of residents and to provide tailored counseling support systems for them.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.