the marine corps and recommended to establish a regulation on guidelines and methods of
conducting physical checkup for new inmates and remedy the practice of enforcing
monitoring by a correctional officer to be present during visitation sessions, ii) cited lack
of outdoor area, excessive cooling and humidity during summer, and ineffective air
circulation following field investigation of new detention facilities built as a high-rise
building and recommended to refrain from adopting such high-rise building design for
detention facilities, and iii) visited immigration detention facilities for field investigation
and recommended to improve structure of security bars in detention rooms and enhance
regular medical checkup of long-term detainees.
In addition, the Commission delivered its opinions on a number of legislative
proceedings including i) finding the partial amendment to the Criminal Code which can
potentially violate human rights with provisions such as continuance of capital punishment
and introduction of protective custody, ii) expressed concerns for infringement of right to
personal freedom for the drafted law on surgical treatments including surgical castration
for child sex offenders, iii) the partial amendment to the Administration and Treatment of
Correctional Institution Inmates Act in which it may restrict human rights of inmates as it
seeks to tighten censorship of correspondences; and iv) the Use and Protection of
Deoxyribonucleic Acid(hearafter 'DNA') Identification Act which may violate or
excessively restrict the right to self-determination of private information, impede the
principle of presumption of innocence, and undermine the power of warrant at the request
of the Constitutional Court. These activities are testimonies of the Commission’s efforts to
make timely responses to human rights issues and build institutional foundation for
enactment and revision of regulations that embody human rights.
For the first time as a government agency, the Commission conducted an in-depth
survey on the latest information and conditions of torture victims and laid the groundwork
for raising awareness of the public on the severity of damage inflicted by torture and
developing social remedies in the form of legal and policy measures.
Introduction
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