the facility's illegality cannot be viewed to contain explicitly false information or information
that is against criminal laws.
Violation of the Freedom of Religion of Detained Suspects on Trial
On October 24, we recommended that the head of the respective Detention Center seek ways
to expand the participation of detained suspects on trial in religious events while taking care not
to curtail such opportunities given to convicted inmates. We also recommended that the Minister
of Justice develop and distribute to correctional institutions guidelines for organizing religious
events and setting the criteria for participation in such religious events.
The petitioner was a detained suspect on trial and filed the petition against the petitionee for
allowing convicted inmates to participate in church services on a weekly basis but allowing
detained suspects on trial to participate only once a month, arguing that it was a violation of the
freedom of religion.
As detained suspects on trial are more prone to becoming psychologically unstable, feeling
intimidated, and falling into ill health and more likely to be constrained in exercising their right
to defense, which should be guaranteed throughout the criminal procedures, and to suffer human
rights violations (Constitutional Court; July 19, 2001; 2000-heonma-546), detained suspects
on trial and convicted inmates should be accommodated separately and treated differently.
However, due to the shortage of detention facilities, detained suspects on trial and convicted
inmates are often accommodated together. Participation in religious events can provide comfort,
improve their mental health, and help with reformation and edification, thereby contributing
to preventing incidents such as suicide. As detained suspects on trial can easily fall into a
psychologically unstable state due to the sudden environmental change incurred by confinement
and anxiety about their trial result and as religious events can help them find comfort, it cannot
be viewed that participation in religious events is more critically needed for convicted inmates
than for detained suspects on trial.
Furthermore, even when considering the differences in the sizes of facilities and the number
of inmates accommodated, religious events at detention facilities are being held without any
standards. We also concluded that it was a violation of the principle of proportionality and
freedom of religion under Article 20 of the Constitution to restrict the participation of detained
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Commission's Major Activities