NHRCK’s Advisory Committee on International Human Rights Mechanism Holds its First Meeting of 2020
On May 6, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea’s (NHRCK) Advisory Committee on International Human Rights Mechanism held its first meeting of 2020. Committee Chair Young-ae Choi (NHRCK Chairperson) and all members participated in the meeting to discuss a range of topics including NHRCK’s international human rights projects.
The Committee considered two items for discussion and two items for reporting, including working-level reviews of the NHRCK’s views on the draft version of the 5th State report submitted to the UN Human Rights Committee by the Ministry of Justice and the international conference on combating hate and discrimination to be held in the second half of this year.
Committee members emphasized the need to clarify facts when expressing opinions about the State report to the Human Rights Committee and to present NHRCK’s views more actively. In particular, given the growing importance of NHRI reports in the review by the UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies, the NHRCK needs to explore related topics in great detail in its independent report to the UN Human Rights Committee.
With regard to the international conference on combating hate and discrimination, the Committee advised that the topic of hate and discrimination be discussed in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, the biggest issue of this year, and the conference be used as an opportunity to promote the importance of enacting anti-discrimination law.
The NHRCK will incorporate the views of the committee members in carrying out international human rights projects going forward. The Advisory Committee on International Human Rights Mechanism consists of 11 members that include the NHRCK Chairperson, UN Human Rights Treaty Body experts, professors of international law and NGO members.
