The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) recommended to the Minister of National Defense that human rights training be institutionalized in the military with the formulation of necessary regulations. The NHRCK also stated that it would be advisable for the details and execution of such regulations to fully reflect military human rights training guidelines and textbooks jointly developed by the NHRCK and Ministry of National Defense.
1. Status of Military Human Rights Training
A human rights team was newly established in the Ministry of National Defense in response to a series of incidents within the military including the one in 2005 in which an Army captain responsible for training new draftees allegedly ordered his soldiers to eat human feces. The Ministry of National Defense newly included 'Basic Rights of Soldiers' in training directly conducted by the ministry. In collaboration with the NHRCK, the ministry launched a human rights training course for military human rights training instructors and commanding officers at the level of battalion commanders. As indicated above, the ministry has made multi-pronged efforts to bolster human rights training in the military.
According to the Commission’s findings based on its review and analysis of related materials, however, military human rights training still remains at a rudimentary level and needs to be improved in several respects as detailed below:
First, regarding the standpoint on human rights issues in the military, traditional viewpoints still hold sway: men in uniform are still seen as 'targets of management and control' according to the military spirit and the military service regulations, not as 'holders of human rights' just like other citizens as guaranteed under the Constitution. Also, upholding military human rights issues is widely understood as simply preventing accidents.
Second, human rights training directly administered by the Ministry of National Defense remains perfunctory. Since 2006, the military has incorporated 'Basic Rights of Soldiers' as instructed to do directly by the Ministry of National Defense. However, the time period of the training is too short, there is a shortage of textbooks, and the expertise of the human rights education instructors is inadequate.
Third, it is imperative to establish a system for development of professional staff who will take charge of military human rights training in order to maximize the efficacy of the training.
2. Joint Work
In an attempt to redress said problems, the NHRCK (Public Education Team) and the Ministry of National Defense (Human Rights Team) undertook from March to October 2007 joint research on the ways to establish a system for execution of military human rights training and the necessary matters to be included in such training. The effort involved the chairperson of the Commission’s Specialized Public and Civil Human Rights Education Committee, working-level officers from the two organizations, training staff from the Army and Air Force headquarters, and five civilian experts on human rights issues in the military. It led to the development of the draft of 'military human rights education regulations,' which covered the overall execution system of military human rights training in June 2007, and 'military human rights education textbooks' in October 2007.
3. Review Opinion by the Commission
The NHRCK determined that the Minister of National Defense should carefully consider the following in order to put the results of joint work into practical use, make military human rights training more substantive, and guarantee the sustainable execution of such training.
In connection with the regulations on and the process of military human rights training, it would be desirable to:
1) clearly understand the purpose of military human rights training on the basis of proper recognition of the military personnel as citizens in uniform, dissemination of a human rights-friendly culture, and the military's fundamental mission to uphold democracy;
2) formulate comprehensive mid- to long-term plans for systematic implementation of military human rights training;
3) establish the individual goals and principles of human rights training for different groups of trainees including enlisted men, officers and personnel responsible for human rights affairs in the military, and create and manage systematic training programs accordingly including determining proper and reasonable training content, duration, and courses for each group in light of its characteristics; and
4) render military human rights training more substantive and effective by encouraging the Minister of National Defense to regularly monitor and analyze the status and conditions of military human rights training conducted as described above and by seeking cooperation with external human rights agencies and organizations including the Commission.
It is also necessary to guarantee appropriate use of the textbooks jointly developed by the Commission and the Ministry of National Defense in executing military human rights education.
4. Significance of the Commission's Expression of Opinion
In the belief that it is necessary to institutionalize human rights training to make it sustainable and forward-looking, the NHRCK has pursued such institutionalization in every area. This endeavor has mostly taken the form of including human rights training in curricula at educational institutions or incorporating human rights training into education guidelines through inter-departmental consultation.
The latest joint effort between the NHRCK and the Ministry of National Defense represented a new form of cooperation where the two agencies, with the involvement of outside experts, engaged in in-depth discussions on the means of ensuring the efficacy of military human rights training. The outcome was positive and was based on the common understanding of the problems with the existing military human rights training. Internally, the Commission deliberated at length on how to appropriately express its opinion to a joint project partner. Accordingly, it cited actions that it deems necessary to make military human rights training more effective in the future, based on the results of joint work by the two agencies.
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.
