A total of 320,000 cases received by the NHRCK over the past 9 years,
99 cases per day on average
Over 50,000 cases of complaints:
human rights violation 77%, discrimination 19%
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) celebrates the 9th anniversary of its founding on November 25, 2010. Since its establishment on November 25, 2001, NHRCK has been active as a national organization dedicated to resolving human rights issues.
From its founding in 2001 through October 31, 2010, NHRCK has received a total of 322,989 requests for assistance. This is translated into 99 cases per day on average (including weekends and holidays). Among these cases, complaints account for 50,145 cases, 72,889 cases of counseling and 171,124 cases involving inquiries and civil applications.
The number of complaints is escalating each year. As for the number of complaints by year, 803 cases were filed in 2001, 2,790 cases in 2002, 3,815 cases in 2003, 5,368 cases in 2004, 5,617 in 2005, 4,187 cases in 2006, 6,274 cases in 2007, 6,309 cases in 2008, 6,985 cases in 2009 and 7,997 cases by the end of October in 2010. In 2006, the number of complaints had decreased temporarily because the complaint classification method had been modified.
As for complaints by type, human rights violations account for 77.4%, discrimination 18.9% and others 3.7%. Recently, the number of human rights violation cases seems to have decreased while the number of discrimination cases is on the rise.
In the case of human rights violation complaints, they were made against in the order of detention facilities (40%), police (22.7%), other government organizations (11.3%), collective protective facilities (10.7%), local governments (4.8%), and prosecutors (4.5%). Also, as regards reasons of discrimination complaints, they were in the order of disabilities (36.9%), others (15.7%), social status (11.3%), sexual harassment (8.7%), age (7.5%) and gender (4.2%). In the most recent four years, complaints against collective protective facilities and discrimination complaints on the grounds of disabilities have increased sharply. In the case of complaints against collective protective facilities, the number of complaints shot up from 586 cases in 2007 to 685 cases in 2008, 994 cases in 2009 and 1,166 cases in 2010. Disability discrimination cases increased from 256 cases in 2007 to 640 cases in 2008, 711 cases in 2009 and 1,558 cases in 2010. The increase in complaints against collective protective facilities may be attributable to continual education on human rights and growing interest on human rights of the mentally challenged. The growth of disability discrimination cases may be the result of the Disability Discrimination Act that entered into effect on April 13, 2008.
Complaints: Overview of Human Rights Violation by Institution, Overview of Discrimination by Reasons, Others
Correction of Human Rights Violations and Discrimination in Society;
Exchanges and Cooperation with International Community
The NHRCK has been enhancing policies related to human rights and undertaking the investigation and remedy of human rights violations and discrimination in Korean society. Through such activities over the past nine years, the NHRCK has presented new standards on human rights and contributed to redressing human rights violations and discrimination committed subtly all around us. The NHRCK has tendered 2,441 recommendations (including expression of opinions and submission of opinions), among which 86% were accepted by counterpart institutions.
Recommendation Acceptance Rate (as of October 31, 2010)
The NHRCK was also actively engaged in international exchanges and collaborative programs over the past nine years. In 2004, the NHRCK successfully held the 7th International Conference for National Human Rights Institutions which was participated by representatives of national human rights institutions from some 70 countries. The NHRCK also served as the chair and vice chair of the Asia Pacific Forum each on two occasions and as the vice chair of the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (ICC). In addition, the NHRCK is currently serving as a member of the ICC Sub-Committee on Accreditation, an Asia-Pacific co-representative of ICC Working Group on Business and Human Rights and a co-organizer of APF Working Group on Migration. In an effort to promote the migrants’ rights, the NHRCK signed MOUs on exchanges and cooperation with human rights commissions in Mongolia and Indonesia. After operating a training course on the development of human rights policy, mainly related to the provision of technical support for the establishment of national human rights institutions, for Iraqi government officials in 2009, the NHRCK offered the same program to four countries, including Vietnam and Cambodia this year. The NHRCK also initiated various exchanges and cooperation programs such as invitational training for the staff members of human rights institutions in six Asia-Pacific countries, including the Philippines and New Zealand.
The NHRCK has been consistently conducting human rights education to enlighten and improve awareness of the human rights of the public. Since its establishment, the NHRCK has provided human rights education to 267,000 people, including prosecutors, police officers, teachers, welfare facility staff members, journalists, and citizens. In addition, a wide variety of contents on human rights culture, including some 20 books on human rights, 6 films on human rights, 2 animated films, and a few cartoons and posters, were produced and distributed to promote interest and awareness of human rights in the Korean society.
The Year 2011 Celebrates the 10th anniversary of NHRCK,
Standing By the Public
In 2010, according to the "2009-2011 Human Right Action Promotion Plan," the NHRCK has focused on initiating five strategic goals and one special task under the objective of "realizing a society that values advanced human rights that meets international human rights standards." The five strategic tasks are △ actual guarantee of basic freedoms, △ advancing the rights of children and the elderly, △ promoting the economic, social and cultural rights of economically vulnerable groups △ improving the rights of migrants in a multi-cultural society, and △ strengthening the anti-discrimination policies and remedies that pertain to socially vulnerable groups. The special task is improving North Korean human rights. On the occasion of the ninth anniversary of its establishment, the NHRCK will continue to perform missions assigned to the national human rights institution based on its achievements to date. In particular, in celebrating the 10th anniversary next year, the NHRCK will strive diligently to proactively identify and resolve human rights issues faced in daily life.
