The National Human Rights Commission of Korea recommends Daejeon Metropolitan Government employees to take human rights training
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) recently made a recommendation for the mayor of Daejeon city to place employees of the Daejeon Metropolitan Government (DMG) in human rights training, after concluding that the DMG failed to uphold the right to privacy and confidentiality. The Commission concluded that the violated right was guaranteed in the Constitution and the DMG should make efforts to prevent future cases.
In February of 2007, the complainant, a 36-year-old female known as “Lee,” filed a complaint to review the actions of the Daejeon Metropolitan Government in relation to the arrest of her spouse, who was charged with “obstruction of official duty” after a conflict with a parking enforcement officer. The complainant stated in the complaint that the DMG had violated her spouse’s right to privacy and confidentiality by posting photographs of the scene that clearly revealed his face and license plate number on the Internet (“P” Media). The photographs were posted as part of an advertising campaign for the DMG administrative activities.
The respondent, the Public Information Office of the Daejeon Metropolitan Government, held that the press release and attached materials did not indicate that the individual in the photo was related to the complainant, although the materials were distributed on the same date. The respondent also stated that they believed the media groups were at fault for improperly handling materials, but denied that it had given materials to “P” Media. The respondent maintained that they could not speculate on how “P” Media received the materials for posting.
Following investigation, the Commission concluded that whether or not “P” Media was given materials by DMG directly was not relevant. The Commission stated that it was undeniable that the Daejeon Metropolitan Government had distributed photos that did not attempt to conceal neither the identity of the complainant’s spouse nor license plate of the car through mosaic techniques or other blurring techniques. Furthermore, the photos were distributed without the complainant or the spouse’s consent. These facts led the Commission to conclude that the complainant’s spouse was denied his freedom of privacy and confidentiality.
The Constitution of the Republic of Korea clearly indicates that each citizen has the right to secrecy and freedom to individual privacy in Article 17. Other laws, such as the Act of the Protection of Personal Information Maintained by Public Agencies also protect the identity of individuals. Article 10 (Limitations on the Use and Provision of Information) states that an organization shall not use information collected for reasons other than record-keeping, and shall not provide any information regarding an individual’s identity to another entity.
Given these facts, the Commission concluded that the Daejeon mayor solicit human rights training to the employees of the Daejeon Metropolitan Government to ensure that this incident will not occur in the future.
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea was established in 2001 to promote human rights education and defend those who have experienced discrimination, or have had a right violated, in Korea. The Commission offers counseling, full investigation and protection for citizens, along with educational initiatives for organizations.
