Annual Report 2014
systems for foreigners in detention including copies of the Refugee Act; v) guaranteeing
the right to external communication via online platforms such as e-mail; vi) protecting
privacy by installing upgraded toilet doors; and vii) ameliorating the foreign detainees’
accessibility to medical service.
J. Recommendation on the Human Rights Improvement Measures
in the Jeju Prison
For the first time since its establishment, the Commission decided to make on-site
investigation to the Jeju Prison in 2014. An investigation team, organized of insiders
and independent experts, visited the Jeju Prison from 25th to 26th of August. The team
conducted a general environmental inspection on the cells, health room, kitchen, and
sport facilities as well as in-depth interviews with prisoners, prison officers, and
managers.
The investigation results confirmed that this 43 year-old prison has numerous
problems due to outdated facilities and inmate overcrowding. In particular, it manages
prisoners who are on trial and those who have already been tried in the same manner
void of a separation area for prisoners on trial, resulting in a variety of problems
regarding the treatment of two groups which are vastly different in nature. The ward
where prisoners on trial are detained has no recreational area, so prisoners have
to be satisfied with access to a minimum of sunlight in a confined place. Water drips
off the ceiling, causing a severe stench of mold during the summer. It lacks even
one solitary cell and a few cells are even accommodated by up to more than 30 prisoners.
Without different types of rooms by the number of inmates, it was virtually impossible
to accommodate prisoners on trial effectively by category or treatment such as by
the type of their crime, whether or not they are a first offender, whether or not
38 ▪▪▪ Part
II. Major Activities of the Commission