Since its establishment in 2001, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) has ceaselessly strived to safeguard the human rights of, and rectify discrimination against, persons with mental disabilities, who are in the dead zone of human rights. In December 2007, it launched a 'task force team on mental disabilities' that takes charge of issues related to mental disabilities. Since its creation, the NHRCK has conducted investigation into about 1,100 complaints pertaining to mental health facilities, including on-site and current status investigations. In an effort to resolve human rights issues confronted by persons with mental disabilities, the NHRCK has conducted international seminars, debates, and human rights training. In addition, it operates a special committee on the mentally disabled that sets the direction of, and provides advice on, policy-making on the human rights of people with mental disabilities.
In Korea, over 70,000 persons with mental disabilities are in hospitals and nursing homes. More than 90% of hospitalized patients were forced into hospitals by their families; heads of cities, counties, or district offices; or metropolitan mayors, or provincial governors. They have been accommodated in those facilities for periods lasting from several weeks to over two decades. A substantial number of the mentally disabled in such facilities are defenseless and subject to excessive limitations on correspondence, violence and debasement by facility staff and other patients, unreasonable isolation, constraint and medication, and infringement on privacy. In an environment where it is difficult for them to leave the facilities without the consent of legal guardians, they can hardly find a dwelling place if they are not accepted by their families even if they do manage to be discharged from the facilities. Given this situation, discharged persons with mental disabilities are naturally re-accommodated in those facilities or become homeless.
The Mental Health Act calls for the isolation and facility accommodation of the mentally disabled. However, it is inadequate in protecting the human rights of the mentally disabled as it merely aims to control chronic mental disabilities.
The volume of complaints concerning mental health facilities filed with the Commission more than quadrupled from 112 in 2004 to 500 as of December 2007. Among 1,432 mental health organizations, only 147 attempt to help the mentally disabled return to society, and they serve only about 4,000 users. Without fundamental change in the mental health system, people with mental disabilities will be forced into mental hospitals resulting from discord among family members and spend half of their lives in mental facilities. In one extreme case, a patient died because of 124-hour constraint.
The existing mental health services, characterized by accommodation in mental facilities and treatment and protection in isolation, must be transformed into a community-based, human rights-friendly mental health service delivery system. Such a system change will certainly incur significant costs and resistance. Therefore, personnel at mental health facilities, officials of government agencies, family members of the mentally disabled, and all of society must joint hands to safeguard the human rights of the mentally disabled.
With the hope of drawing public attention to the issue and urging policy reform by the government, the NHRCK will prepare a country report on the human rights conditions of people with mental disabilities next year. In the report, the NHRCK intends to ascertain their overall human rights status and propose alternatives for community-based mental health services and human rights-friendly mental health schemes.
This is a core task of the Commission for 2008. For the creation of the report, the NHRCK has referred to precedents where mental health service reforms were achieved through preparation of government reports on mental disabilities, such as the Burdekin Report in Australia and the Bush Report in the U.S.
The NHRCK's country report will precisely ascertain the status of the rapidly increasing population of the mentally disabled in Korea, present a completely new paradigm for mental health services in the country, propose a community-centered medical model just like the one in advanced nations, and seek policy alternatives to improve the human rights conditions of the mentally disabled. The Commission will then put forward policy alternatives that will transform the existing mental health services into human rights-friendly services meeting international standards.
For such purpose, the NHRCK is already undergoing preparations for the drafting of the report with the participation of experts, as well as for a wide range of events to raise awareness at the national level.
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.
