HOME
>
Main Activities
>
Press Releases
Press Releases
프린트
SNS URL 공유하기 레이어 열기
NHRCK to Author Country Report on Human Rights of the Mentally Disabled
Date : 2008.04.21 00:00:00
Hits : 1138
“NHRCK to Author Country Report on Human Rights of the Mentally Disabled”
Comprehensive, methodical survey on the human rights situation of persons with mental disabilities is planned to produce a human rights-friendly mental health service solution
The protection and promotion of the human rights of persons with disabilities is one of the top priorities of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK; Chair: Ahn Kyong-hwan) this year, and the Commission is planning to author a country report for that purpose. A human rights country report typically involves comprehensive, categorical fact-finding efforts led by the government on a certain issue and proposes a human rights-friendly solution.
The human rights situation of persons with mental disabilities remains rather poor in Korea compared to advanced countries. A breakthrough was expected when the Mental Health Act was enacted in 1995 in an attempt to bring the mentally challenged out of facilities and into local communities where they might be healed and live dignified lives. However, the numbers of in-patients and beds for them have been rising steadily. The average number of days of hospitalization is also very high compared to other OECD countries, even up to 20 times higher (Italy: 13.4 days; Korea: 267 days). These facts testify to the continued isolation and exclusion of persons with disabilities from society. What is worse, people have been alarmed and angered by the spate of news reports on human rights abuses committed within facilities. Apparently, Korea has yet to become an accommodating place to persons with mental disabilities where they can voice their opinions and find happiness as human beings; rather it appears to still be a discriminatory and exclusive society that is not ready to fully recognize their human rights.
The NHRCK will soon take bids to farm out six research projects. The six projects are (i) fact-finding on the human rights situation of inpatients and residents in mental health facilities, (ii) research on common acts of discrimination and prejudices against persons with mental disabilities, (iii) investigation into how and why long-term hospitalization has become commonplace, (iv) research on the status of the mental health and human rights of socially vulnerable groups such as the homeless, migrants, seniors living alone, and inmates of correctional facilities, (v) investigation into the living status and conditions of persons with mental disabilities who live at home and their families, and (vi) case study of other countries' efforts to improve the human rights situation of persons with mental disabilities and production of an advanced model to do so. Through this far-reaching initiative, the Commission intends to look not only at the human rights of persons with mental disabilities but also the challenges their families and local communities face and how they cope with them. The final version of the country report is scheduled to come out in June 2009.
