"Protective supervision," which has been accused of being a violation of civil rights, is being abolished. The government and ruling party have decided to abolish the "Society Protection Law" that is the basis of protective supervision, and instead legislate stronger forms of probation for habitual criminals. The Democratic Labor Party (DLP), naturally, and the Grand National Party (GNP) are both in favor of abolishing the Society Protection Law, so this law with a bad reputation that was put together hastily during the Chun Doo Hwan regime will soon disappear into history.
The Society Protection Law was created in 1980 by the "State Preservation Legislation Council" supposedly to prevent repeat offenses, and in some cases could keep repeat offenders and drug-related criminals in isolation for as much as 7 years even after they served their prison sentences. That may even have sounded nice, but it was drafted as a quick answer to concerns people from the Samcheong Gyoyuk Dae would be a problem if they got out all at the same time, and it turns even thieves into lonely isolation in protection centers, earning reputation as an evil law for violating people's civil rights because it constituted double punishment. Civic groups and human rights organizations have continually called for its abolishment, and eventually the National Human Rights Commission issued a formal recommendation that it be done away with. Recently, around 200 prisoners at Cheongsong Protection Center held a hunger strike to demand an end to the law.
The Justice Ministry is to be recognized for changing its position and agreeing to the replacing of the law with something else, having earlier been opposed to abolishing it completely, citing the need for a "social safety net." There does need to be means in place to protect society from perpetrators of heinous crimes, but civil rights and smooth reintroductions into life after prison are no less important. The law was supposedly introduced to further offenses, but from 1984 through 2001 the number of former convicts who committed crimes again was 38.3 percent.
The alternative proposal for habitual criminals is to allow for probation during suspension of sentences periods. That, too, is something designed to prevent repeat offenses, but since overly heavy rules impede prisoners' readjustment to society severe sentences should be avoided. The probation system needs some realistic reform also, as it is outrageously short in people and budget. People currently being held in protection centers need to be made ready to begin readjusting to life on the outside.
The Hankyoreh, 17 February 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] Gov't Right To Abolish 'Protective Supervision' |
