It was recently confirmed that Jang Dae-ho, whose life sentence was finalized in the "Han River torso murder case," lost an administrative lawsuit he filed against the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
On the 10th, the 10th Administrative Division of the Seoul Administrative Court ruled against the plaintiff in a suit Jang Dae-ho filed seeking to overturn the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)'s decision to dismiss his petition.
Earlier, Jang filed a petition with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), saying that at the prison where he is incarcerated, his mail, including a complaint he submitted, was opened without authorization. A petition to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is a procedure by which a person who claims to have suffered a human rights violation or discrimination requests relief.
After investigating the case, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) dismissed the petition on Sept. 16 last year, saying, "There is no objective evidence to substantiate the plaintiff's claims, and no separate remedial measure is necessary."
Jang then filed an administrative suit on Nov. 19 last year seeking to reverse the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)'s dismissal. Jang said, "Under the Act on the Execution of Sentences, opening and reading mail constitutes unfavorable treatment, and because the real opposing party to the warden is the prison warden, the prison warden reading it infringes the right to a fair trial."
However, the court found the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)'s dismissal justified, citing as grounds that, contrary to Jang's claims, the duty report prepared at the time by the staff member in charge recorded a statement that the letter was opened after obtaining the plaintiff's consent.
The court also said that although it was true the mail was opened at the prison and stamped with an official seal, the seal was affixed due to the staff member's error in judgment, and considering that the prison warden conducted four rounds of related training for staff to prevent a recurrence, it was reasonable for the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to find that no separate remedial measure was necessary.
The court said, "The defendant (National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)) made the decision in this case after sufficient investigation and verification of the facts, and it cannot be said that the defendant omitted a judgment consistent with the plaintiff's (Jang Dae-ho's) claims."
Earlier, Jang also filed a suit against the corrections authorities seeking confirmation of the invalidity of a "ban on watching television," but he lost in April. At the time, the court found it reasonable to house Jang, who was classified as an inmate with a violent tendency unit due to assaulting prison staff, in a cell without a television.
Meanwhile, petitions filed with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) by prisoners in prisons and detention centers exceed 4,000 every year. According to the Ministry of Justice and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), a total of 11,119 petitions were filed with the commission last year, of which 4,501 (40.48%) were filed by inmates.
However, cases the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) deems to be actual human rights violations are very few. Of the 4,501 petitions filed by inmates last year, only 24 (0.5%) resulted in recommendations. That is one-fourth the acceptance rate for recommendations across all petitions (2.15%).