The South Korean Truth Commission has released new findings regarding human rights abuses in the country’s adult homeless detention facilities during the 1980s. Among these facilities are the Seoul Metropolitan Rehabilitation Center, which played a prominent role during that period. The revelations were made public by the Second Truth and Reconciliation Commission following its 86th Committee meeting on September 6, focusing on the experiences of 13 applicants who were admitted to facilities like Chungnam Cheonseongwon, Daegu Metropolitan Hope Center, Gyeonggi Seonghyewon, and Seoul Metropolitan Rehabilitation Center. The investigation unveiled potential government responsibility behind systemic human rights breaches, including forced adoptions conducted in these institutions. Read more here.
The violations uncovered encompass forced detention, assault, cruel treatment, forced labor, and a practice known as “revolving door admission,” where inmates were involuntarily transferred between facilities. Many patients had been transferred from or after release from the Brothers Welfare Centre, a facility notorious for severe human rights violations, including the deaths of 513 individuals between 1975 and 1986, which had prompted a police investigation in 1987. Furthermore, investigations revealed that from 1982 to 1992, bodies were donated without consent to a local medical school for anatomical study, comprising 97 percent of the school’s anatomical materials. Additional details are available here.
The Commission’s report spotlights the non-compliance with Article 4 of the Hague Adoption Convention regarding children born in these facilities. The Convention mandates considering the child’s best interest and obtaining the birth mother’s consent only after the child’s birth. The findings suggest that while some records indicated maternal consent, others showed that consent was often coerced before birth, and mothers objecting were labeled mentally incompetent to care for their children.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established under the Basic Act on Settling Past Events for Truth and Reconciliation 2020. It has the authority to investigate severe historical human rights abuses during South Korea’s authoritarian rule during the 1980s.
For further details, you can access the full report here.