SEOUL (UCAN) - A survey of recently released prisoners in South Korea has revealed that about one-third of ex-inmates claim to have been subjected to some form of violence by prison wardens or guards during their incarceration.
The results of the survey, the first such in Korean history, were released here on Dec. 21 with the launching of a book on the subject, "The Reality of Korean Prison: Survey Report on the Human Rights Situation of Prison."
The survey was conducted by the Catholic Human Rights Committee (CHRC) together with a human rights group called Sarangbang (Meeting Room).
The book launching was attended by some 100 representatives of human rights groups, former prisoners and their families, and senior officials of the Ministry of Justice. It also received considerable attention from local media.
CHRC Secretary General Luke Oh Chang-ik announced that, following release of the findings, "We will launch a movement to improve the prison administration system, and we expect a genuine response from the Justice Ministry."
The study was initiated in February 1998 when President Kim Dae-jung, a Catholic, took office and vowed to be a "human rights president." Since then, members of both human rights groups visited some 40 prisons that hold about 60,000 inmates. They also distributed survey questionnaires to hundreds of people who had just been released from prison.
Of 264 former prisoners invited to fill in the forms, 230 responded. According to the report, prison administrators deny that punishment cells exist, but the former prisoners insist that they "had been imprisoned in the punishment cells with no windows or sunlight." The respondents also appealed for abolishment of such cells because they are "too inhuman."
The survey revealed that only 29 percent of respondents claimed to have been diagnosed by doctors when they fell ill in prison.
Also, less than one percent affirmed that they were informed of their right to appeal when denied medical attention or otherwise badly treated.
Lawyer Park Chan-un, who helped write the book, pointed out at the launching that the survey found "women prisoners suffered a lot due to their typical physical condition with low temperatures in the cells during the cold season."
The survey indicates 57.4 percent of respondents claim to have experienced painful swelling or sores in prison due to the cold. Kim Hwa-soo, chief of the correctional institution administration bureau of the Justice Ministry, told those attending the book launch that prisons should be open and monitored. "It is our principle that civic groups and the mass media be allowed to look around prisons as they wish," Kim explained.
"However," he added, "no one can deny that the human rights situation inside prisons has been greatly improved under the Kim Dae-jung government, including the opening of the Chongsong Custody Prison to the public."
UCAN (7. januar 1999)