Hong Song-dam, a great South Korean artist who works with woodcuts, once told me, “When I was in the prison, the world was rectangular.” As an artist, he saw everything in his prison cell square or rectangular: especially the door and the small opening in the door through which his square food tray was passed to him. Song-dam was arrested and imprisoned in 1989 for violating the National Security Law of South Korea. What he did was to send some of his artwork to North Korea. Amnesty International adopted him as a prisoner of conscience. While he was condemned by then military government, the world celebrated his creative and inspiring work and bravery. During the time of his arrest, South Korean state-controlled media chastised him for being a criminal. Putting a person like him in prison brought shame on the South Korean government. But then and now people are aware that he was above those authorities who punished him. Arrested in South Korea, Hong Song-dam and many other student and labor activists were tortured, and kept in solitary confinement. The purpose of putting the people in solitary confinement was to a) punish them and b) to break their spirit. He later produced a piece of artwork entitled Dog Food which shows inhumane and degrading treatment for political prisoners by the South Korean regime in 1980s. However, people like Song-dam were strong-willed, dedicating their life to a cause—democracy and freedom of their country. People like Song-dam and many other activists who endured and overcame horrible treatment, including many months of solitary confinement, became heroes bringing democracy and freedom to South Korea.

If the South Korean authorities were thinking they could break their spirit through solitary confinement, they were underestimating the spirit of those who were subjected to such cruel treatment. That does not mean it was an easy task to endure such punishment. Solitary confinement can cause trauma and affect mental health adversely for a prolonged period of time. In short, it is an inhumane and degrading practice, and should not be used as a means of punishment. Let us now look at the standard solitary confinement around the world.

First, when referring to solitary confinement, one should not compare standards of one country to another. As I have written earlier, in general, never compare one bad practice to another. Always compare any bad practice to the ideal best practice accepted broadly as a universal norm. In that spirit, I would like to share some best practice standard of and guidance in solitary confinement. In February 2020, referring to the use of solitary confinement in the United States, UN Special Rapporteur on torture Nils Melzer said that solitary confinement is overused globally, widespread and used arbitrarily. Former UN Special Rapporteur Juan Mendez said solitary confinement could amount to torture. The Mandela Rules, a minimum standard of UN rules, defines solitary confinement as “the confinement of prisoners for 22 hours or more a day without meaningful human contact.” Solitary confinement may only be imposed in exceptional circumstances, and “prolonged” solitary confinement of more than 15 consecutive days is regarded as a form of torture. Melzer then concluded, “This deliberate infliction of severe mental pain or suffering [through solitary confinement] may well amount to psychological torture.”

Istanbul Statement on the Use and Effects of Solitary Confinement states that “the use of solitary confinement in remand prisons carries with it another harmful dimension since the detrimental effects will often create a de facto situation of psychological pressure which can influence the pre-trial detainees to plead guilty.” This underlines the importance of refraining from using solitary confinement, especially when a person is awaiting trial or legal proceedings. After all, everyone should be presumed innocent under any circumstance until a court of law convicts them through a fair trial. The UN Special Rapporteur also urged a complete ban on the use solitary confinement on juveniles and people with mental disabilities. In criminal justice systems, it is encouraged to use the word juveniles together with adolescents, meaning people below the age of 24 or 25.

In short, solitary confinement is a backward and harmful practice. Overwhelming evidence, especially by medical practitioners, demonstrates its adverse effects on people. And reports by the UN show that it is often used arbitrarily as a means of punishment. Furthermore, it is a practice the United Nations is urging countries to completely get rid of or use only in extremely exceptional circumstances with utmost care and consideration. According to the UN, if absolutely necessary, “solitary confinement should be used only in very exceptional circumstances, for as short a time as possible.” It especially should not be used during pre-trial detention, a period of time when a person, (especially a juvenile and adolescent), presumed innocent is awaiting legal proceedings by a credible court of law.

In extraordinary times, law enforcement or correctional services could resort to bad practices like solitary confinement. South Korea used to exert solitary confinement frequently on political activists too in the 1980s. However, even after democratic development in the country, it still struggled to get rid of it—as recently as 2017. The UN has reported the practice is still ongoing. That does not provide any other country with an excuse to say, “See, South Korea is doing it, so why not us?” Again, the best practice to follow here is not what has been happening in South Korea, but the international norms and guidelines described above.

In general, law enforcement and correctional agencies, at least, would like to be seen as professional, fair and of higher standards. When institutions adhere to higher standards, they are trusted by people. When people trust and support their institutions, there is a ripple effect on moralizing of law enforcement agencies. However, the contrary is, when people lose their faith in their institutions, those institutions could get demoralized. What we need is humanized and moralized institutions with best practices everywhere in the world. Institutions and individuals in those institutions that look to improvement through getting rid of bad practices, like solitary confinement, demonstrate their will to improve and excel. When people lose their trust in institutions, especially criminal justice institutions, the society itself gets demoralized. The last thing you would like to see in a society is that people lose trust in their institutions. That would contribute to gradual decline in a city or a country.

(Yan Kei, Advocate for criminal justice reforms)

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