National Human Rights Commission of Korea Annual Report 2020 facilities, and lack of indoor work-out facilities. The Commission had planned to conduct on-site inspections to speak with patients, but the plan got canceled as it became difficult to visit mental health hospitals and have face-to-face interviews amid the spread of the pandemic. Instead of on-site visits, the Commission conducted paper-based inspections using facility and patient data, facility checklists, and staff questionnaires. Based on the findings and in consultation with the relevant organizations and experts, it plans to discuss legislative, policy, and institutional improvements necessary to address some of the issues facing our mental health welfare system, which has emerged as a more pressing issue in the continuing pandemic situation, and to efficiently respond to infectious diseases and disasters, and make recommendations to the relevant ministries. 3. Key Petitions A. Prosecution, Police, and Courts ■ Human rights violation by prosecution due to unjustified departure ban On June 22, the Commission recommended the Minister of Justice to ensure more robust screening of departure ban requests and notification measures. It concluded that the prosecution’s request to ban a petitioner from departing the country without submitting justification for the ban, requesting that the petitioner not be notified of the ban, and the petitioner unknowingly ending up being on the no-departure list for an extended period of time, constitutes a violation of the petitioner’s right to travel. It also recommended the Public Prosecutor General to ensure more oversight so that abuse of departure ban requests and no-disclosure requests can be prevented, and the director of the district prosecutor’s office in question to issue a disciplinary warning to the petitionees and properly train the staff. The petitioner is a police officer who had faithfully complied with the prosecution’s investigation regarding a case of violation of the Public Official Election Act. The petitionees who were in charge of the case had asked the Ministry of Justice to issue a departure ban on the petitioner and even asked that the latter not be notified of the flight ban. Not knowing that he was 88