Home  |  Contact us  |  Korean
±¹Á¦¹ÎÁÖ¿¬´ë KHIS
 
 
about KHIS
Contact Us
activities&resources


 

Statement about the A status of NHRCK
Name °ü¸®ÀÚ Date 2016-07-12 Hits 1067

An A status does not reflect the current state of the NHRCK

-       The Blue House, the National Assembly, the Supreme Court should establish an ¡°independent selection committee¡±

 

On May 24th, the Sub-committee on Accreditation (hereafter SCA) of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institution (hereafter GANRHI) announced that the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (hereafter NHRCK) would maintain its ¡°A¡± status. GANRHI (then known as the ICC), had deferred its evaluation for the NHRCK three times in a row in 2014 and 2015. This has never occurred in the history of ranking a Human Rights Institution at the ICC-SCA.

 

GANRHI had come to the deferral decision because it had understood that the NHRCK had its independence damaged due to the interference of the government, and the poor composition of its human rights commissioners who lack qualifications. In order to reestablish its role, it is important to create a transparent and independent selection process for human rights commissioners. When the SCA observed that a selection process was not specified in the National Human Rights Commission Act (hereafter NHRCK Act), it recommended that the appointing bodies including the Blue House, Supreme Court and National Assembly should establish appropriate selection processes. The ICC-SCA found the commissioners selected and appointed by the selection process provided by the former NHRCK Act not only hardly met the requirements of pluralism and diversity specified by the Paris Principles but also guaranteed the independence of the NHRCK. In this regard, GANRHI recommended the Korean government and the NHRCK to effectively establish a transparent selection process for human rights commissioners that encourages the participation of the civil society.

 

However, instead of taking an effective measure to create an independent selection process, the government and the NHRCK only made a perfunctory revision of the NHRCK Act with the aim of preventing the degradation of the NHRCK at the SCA review. The NHRCK Watch, a coalition of Korean civil society organizations concerned over the NHRCK responded by criticizing the NHRCK for fixating on maintaining the ¡°A¡± status rather than effectively revising its deficient selection process. The NHRCK Watch voiced its opinion by arguing that maintaining an A status is meaningless without any practical changes in the NHRCK. Nevertheless, the SCA of GANRHI acknowledged the so-called ¡°efforts¡± of revision for the NHRCK Act by the NHRCK and the Korean government and reaccredited A status for the NHRCK.

  

According to the press release from the NHRCK, the SCA, in its review statement, highly appreciated the efforts made by the NHRCK and the Korean government including ¡®the revision for the NHRCK Act,¡¯ ¡®the establishment of new internal regulations on the process of selecting Commissions,¡¯ and ¡®the consultations with the appointing bodies for the enhanced participation.¡¯ At the same time, the SCA recommended that the vacancy notification should be made public and the coherent selection process should be ensured by creating a unified independent selection committee. However, even with the revision of the NHRCK Act, the ruling Saenuri Party did not create an official selection body nor did they recommend or appoint a commissioner through a comprehensive and participatory selection process. Additionally, they did not meet the gender quota system under the newly revised NHRCK Act.

 

As aforementioned, the revised NHRCK Act does not guarantee the enhanced independence of the NHRCK as well as the transparency and civil society participation in the selection process of its commissioners. Therefore maintaining the current ¡°A¡± status is substantially meaningless and it only results from the NHRCK¡¯s attempt to cover up its inactions from the international community. Furthermore, considering that the Chairperson Lee Sung-ho¡¯s being selected as the chairperson of the Working Group on Aging in GANHRI last March made the SCA in a difficult position to degrade the NHRCK, the reaccreditation of A status might not mean that the NHRCK was actually fulfilling its mandates, but only encouraging the NHRCK to work harder to act like a NHRI with A status. The NHRCK needs to turn over a new leaf and truly become a national human rights mechanism. Also the appointing bodies of the Blue House, the National Assembly, and the Supreme Court should establish an ¡®independent selection committee¡¯ in accordance with the SCA recommendations.

 

The reaccreditation of A status for the NHRCK is regretful as it might give a wrong message to the NHRCK and the Korean government that there is no more a need to improve the structure and operation of the NHRCK. Therefore, the Korean civil society including the NHRCK Watch urges the NHRCK to make continuous efforts to establish an appropriate selection process for its commissioners and ultimately become a genuine national human rights institution protecting human rights by monitoring state authorities and promoting human rights across the Korean society. The NHRCK Watch will continue to facilitate positive changes of the NHRCK.

 

 

The NHRCK-Watch (86 Korean NGOs¡¯ joint network)

Women¡¯s Association, Gwangju Women¡¯s Association United, Korean House for International Solidarity (KHIS), Disability Discrimination Act of Solidarity in Korea, Center for Military Human Rights, Korea Association of Christian Women for Women Minjung, Dasan Human Rights Center, Daegu Kyoungbuk Women¡¯s Association United, Daegu Women¡¯s Association, Disabled People¡¯s International Daegu (DPI Daegu), Daejeon Women¡¯s Association for Democracy, Democratic Workers¡¯ Solidarity, the Minority Rights Committee of Minbyun—Lawyers for a Democratic Society, Democratic Legal Studies Association, Busan Counseling Center against Sexual Violence, Busan Women¡¯s Associations United, Busan Women Education Center, Buddhism Human Rights Committee, Saewoomtuh, National Solidarity for Solving Prostitution Issues, Suwon Women¡¯s Association, Korea Women¡¯s Center for Social Research, Ulsan Women¡¯s Association, Ulsan Solidarity for Human Rights, Korea Center for United Nations Human Rights Policy, Human Rights Education Center ¡®Deul¡¯, Protesting against Poverty & Discrimination Solidarity for Human Rights, Sarangbang Group for Human Rights, Disability and Human Rights in Action, Information & Culture Nuri for Disabled Koreans (South Korea), Solidarity against Disability Discrimination, Jeonbuk Women¡¯s Associations United, Solidarity for Peace & Human Rights, Jeju Women¡¯s Association, Jeju Women¡¯s Human Rights Solidarity, Jeju Human Rights Center, Korean Progressive Network Jinbonet, National Association of Parents for Cham Education, Korean Catholic Women¡¯s Community for a New World, Catholic Human Rights Committee, Youth Human Rights Action Asunaro, Network of Youth Human Right Activists, Chungbuk Women¡¯s Association, Women Making Peace, Pohang Women¡¯s Association, Korean Gay Men¡¯s Human Rights Group Chingusai, Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center, Korean Women Workers Association, Korean Women¡¯s Association United, Korean Womenlink, Korea Women¡¯s Studies Institute, Korea Women¡¯s Hotline, Korean Differently Abled Women United, Women Migrants Human Rights Center, Korea Human Rights Foundation, Housewives Meeting Together Hamjumo, etc.


 

Download
   
 

[J,Statement]Must investigate arms trade Indonesia °ü¸®ÀÚ 2023-10-31 - 119
[Statement]The Sixth Rohingya Genocide Remembrance °ü¸®ÀÚ 2023-09-02 - 155
[OpenLetter]behaviour of Lee Choong Sang °ü¸®ÀÚ 2023-07-31 - 176
[JS]Drop all charges against human rights defender °ü¸®ÀÚ 2023-04-30 - 235
[oint Statement]Two years of Myanmar''s military co °ü¸®ÀÚ 2023-02-28 - 274
[Joint Statement] Taliban must end Gender Aparthei °ü¸®ÀÚ 2023-01-31 - 270
[Statement] on the Iranian government''''s suppression °ü¸®ÀÚ 2022-10-31 - 343
[Statement] National Assemblyenact equalitylaw °ü¸®ÀÚ 2022-05-30 - 531
[Joint Statement] Bangladesh NHRC °ü¸®ÀÚ 2022-03-31 - 619
[statement] KTNC Watch condemns Korean NCP °ü¸®ÀÚ 2022-01-29 - 788
[Statement]condemn the government''s response °ü¸®ÀÚ 2021-11-30 - 767
[Joint Statement]20th anniversary of the NHRCK °ü¸®ÀÚ 2021-11-30 - 783
[Joint Statement]4th Anniversary of the Rohingya G °ü¸®ÀÚ 2021-08-31 - 782
[Comment] For Whom the Korean NCP Exists? °ü¸®ÀÚ 2021-07-31 - 766
The 32nd anniversary of the Tiananmen Uprising °ü¸®ÀÚ 2021-06-30 - 791


 
Àαǰú ÆòÈ­¸¦ À§ÇÑ ±¹Á¦¹ÎÁÖ¿¬´ë  |  Ã£¾Æ¿À½Ã´Â ±æ  |  ´ëÇ¥ÀÚ : º¯¿¬½Ä  |  °³Àκ¸È£Á¤Ã¥  |  À̸ÞÀÏ : khis21@hanmail.net
ÁÖ¼Ò : (03746) ¼­¿ïƯº°½Ã ¼­´ë¹®±¸ °æ±â´ë·Î 11±æ 14-4(ÃæÁ¤·Î2°¡ 54) 3Ãþ  |  TEL : 02-736-5808,9  |  FAX : 02-736-5810
Copyleft ±¹Á¦¹ÎÁÖ¿¬´ë inc All reserved.Design by ÇູÇÑ»ç¶÷µé
±¹Á¦¹ÎÁÖ¿¬´ë ȨÆäÀÌÁöÀÇ ¸ðµç Á¤º¸´Â »ó¾÷ÀûÀÎ ¸ñÀûÀÌ ¾Æ´Ñ ÇÑ Ãâó¸¦ ¹àÈ÷½Ã¸é ÀÚÀ¯·Ó°Ô ÀÌ¿ëÇÏ½Ç ¼ö ÀÖ½À´Ï´Ù.