▲ The victims of the Brothers Welfare Center case in which massive human rights abuses took place against vagrants and ordinary people from as early as 1960, hold a press conference after a court ruling on the case on Jan. 31, 2024. (Yonhap)

brothers welfare center-court

Court orders state compensation of 4.5 bln won to 16 Brothers Welfare Center victims

SEOUL, Jan. 31 (Yonhap) -- A Seoul court on Friday ordered the state to compensate victims of human rights abuses at a now-defunct detention facility for vagrants in the southeastern city of Busan, in the second such ruling recognizing state responsibility in the incident.

The Seoul Central District Court ordered the state to pay 16 former detainees of the Brothers Welfare Center some 4.5 billion won (US$3.3 million) in total.

"The state holds the responsibility to compensate for the psychological damage suffered by the plaintiffs while they were locked in the Brothers Welfare Center, with their physical freedom and human dignity violated," the court said.

The amount of compensation was calculated based on 80 million won each per year of detention and the side effects suffered by the plaintiffs, the court said.

The center, established in 1976 in the name of purifying society and rehabilitating vagrants, is accused of massive human rights abuses, such as illegal detentions, forced labor, beatings and sexual violence. Until it closed in 1987, 513 inmates died, according to its records. Some of their bodies were buried secretly.

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