Established on November 25, 2001, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) has marked its 10th anniversary. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary, the NHRCK reflected on its work of past 10 years and expressed its commitment again as a national human rights protection mechanism.
The NHRCK received the cumulative number of 378,372 complaints, counseling requests and enquiries since its establishment up to October 31, 2011. The number of complaints received was 57,481; and 123,762 counseling requests and 197,129 enquiries were received. It was notable that the number of complaints received has increased rapidly by year from 803 complaints in 2001 to 2,790 in 2002, 3,815 in 2003, 5,369 in 2004, 5,617 in 2005, 4,187 in 2006, 6,274 in 2007, 6,309 in 2008, 6,985 in 2009, 9,168 in 2010. The slight decrease in 2006 was a temporary feature due to the change of classification methods. It was viewed that complaints against disability discrimination contributed to the dramatic increase last year.
The complaints were categorized into human rights violations, discrimination and others; and human rights violations made up 77 per cent and discrimination constituted 19.6 per cent of total complaints. The significant number of human rights violations was filed against detention facilities (38.4 per cent) and the police force (22.4 per cent); and the biggest number of discrimination cases received was related to disability (38.7 per cent), followed by social status (10.7 per cent), sexual harassment (9.3 per cent) and age (7.7 per cent).
The NHRCK has endeavored to promote and protect human rights at the national level, through conducting investigations and providing remedial measures for human rights violations and discriminations; issuing recommendations on legislation, policy and practices; engaging in education and advocacy; and cooperating with national and international stakeholders. The Commission has contributed that human rights become a new standard in all sectors of society. In the past 10 years, the NHRCK issued 2,856 recommendations and opinions; and its 86.4 per cent was accepted by concerned institutions and agencies.
The NHRCK has actively engaged with the international society. In 2004, the 7th International Conference of National Human Rights Institutions was successfully organized by the NHRCK, being attended by representatives from 70 NHRIs around the globe. In 2008, the Commission organized the ‘International Conference on the Human Rights of Migrants and the Multicultural Society – Dignity and Justice for All Migrants’, in commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This conference culminated in the adoption of the Seoul Guidelines on the Cooperation of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) for the Promotion and Protection of Migrant Rights in Asia. Moreover, in April this year, the ‘Civil Society Consultation on Strengthening UN Treaty Body System’ was held as a response to the call of the UN Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights. In October, the NHRCK co-hosted the ‘Asia Pacific National Human Rights Institutions Regional Conference on Business and Human Rights’, with the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF).
The NHRCK has undertaken leadership roles at the international and regional levels. The NHRCK served as Chair and Vice-Chair of the APF; and as Vice-Chair of the ICC (International Coordinating Committee of NHRIs). The Commission has engaged with international and regional mechanisms proactively as a member of the ICC Sub-Committee on Accreditation, Asia-Pacific Co-Representative of the ICC Working Group on Business and Human Rights and Co-Chair of the APF Working Group on Migrant Rights. Lastly, the Commission has signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with the National Human Rights Commission of Mongolia and the Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) to cooperate for the promotion of migrant rights. Since 2009, the Commission has invited government officials from Asia Pacific region each year to provide a human rights policy development program as part of technical assistance for establishing and strengthening NHRIs.
The NHRCK has constantly conducted human rights educations and training in order to raise public awareness on human rights and to cultivate a culture of human rights. Since its establishment, it has provided human rights education and training to a total number of 398,000 persons including prosecutors, the police, teachers, detention and care facility workers, and journalists. Furthermore, the Commission has developed a multitude of human rights education materials, including 20 textbooks on human rights, 8 human rights films, various cartoons and posters.
