A detention center in Busan. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Korea Bizwire) – The national human rights watchdog recommended legislation Thursday to ensure that inmates will not be held in disciplinary solitary confinement for an extended period.
The National Human Rights Commission made the recommendation to the justice minister over a petition filed by an inmate after he had been put in 114-day solitary confinement at a correctional facility in Seoul for assaulting cellmates and using foul language with prison officers.
The petitioner, who has epilepsy and bipolar disorder, claimed the disciplinary measure violated his personal liberty.
Solitary confinement is the heaviest disciplinary action taken against unruly prisoners, which also entails exclusion from communal events, television watching and receiving visitors.
Under the current law, an inmate can be held in solitary confinement for 45 days at the maximum.
The correctional facility in question has responded that the prisoner had been given the disciplinary action on four occasions in a row.
The rights watchdog recommended that the justice minister revise the act on sentence execution and treatment of inmates in a way that prohibits solitary confinement from being enforced in succession.
It also recommended the establishment of principles on limiting disciplinary actions against inmates who have mental illnesses.
(Yonhap)
