Chairman Hyun Byung-Chul and the Korean Government Must Take Responsibility for the Situation of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea

Two standing Commissioners of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea(NHRCK), Mr. Nam-Young YU and Ms. Kyung-Ran MUN, decided to resign on 1^st November 2010. The reason for their decision was that the revised bill for managerial regulations to the Plenary Committee was introduced, meaning a reduction of rights the Standing Commissioners’ Committee. However, their resignation can be also considered as a final warning to Chairman Byung-Chul HYUN and the Korean government for damaging the independence of NHRCK and rendering NHRCK powerless. From the beginning of current administration, the Korean government ignored human rights and considered the concept of human rights to be a rebellious idea. The Korean government did not welcome the fact that the independent human rights body had been established by the recommendation of the UN that the NHRCK neither belong to the legislative branch, the judicial branch, nor the administrative branch.

The Korean government tried to make the NHRCK an organization under the direct control of the President ever since President Lee was inaugurated. According to the plan to reorganize the NHRCK by the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, the Korean government succeeded in downsizing the NHRCK by 21%, even though there were objections from many organizations in Korea and other countries. The Korean government mistreated the independence of the NHRCK and this situation is considered as a shameful issue to the international community. Moreover, in 2009, the Chairperson of the International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions (ICC) sent a letter addressing his concerns about the independence of the NHRCK to the Korean government and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights sent a similar letter as well. The mistreatment of the independence of the NHRCK reached its peak last year when the former Chairperson Kyung-Hwan AHN resigned and the Chairperson Byung-Chul HYUN was appointed. Former Chairperson AHN criticized the Korean government’s mistreatment of the NHRCK and their independence. Prior to the appointment of the Chairperson Byung-Chul HYUN, the Korean government insisted that the next Chairperson must satisfy the following criteria which include experience with the protection of human rights, specialty in human rights, and an understanding of international human rights. However, Chairperson Byung-Chul HYUN does not satisfy these criteria. At the parliamentary inspection of the administration, Chairperson Hyun stated that the NHRCK is an organization under the administrative branch, and also the NHRCK has kept silent on sensitive issues that are directly related with the violation of human rights such as the prosecution’s investigation on the report about mad cow disease by MBC’s PD Soo-Chup, a formal request on the constitutionality of the law about nighttime assemblies, and the surveillance on civilians by governmental bodies since the appointment of Chairperson HYUN. There has been much criticism concerning the management of the NHRCK, because of the self-righteousness of Chairperson Hyun and the ambiguous operation of meetings.

The NHRCK filed the request Adjudication on Jurisdiction Disputes of Constitutional Court regarding the Ministry of Public Administration and Security’s move to force the NHRCK to downsize its body. However, this request was dismissed by the Constitutional Court and two standing commissioners resigned. This explains that there is no hope for the situation that the NHRCK is in now. We strongly urge Chairperson HYUN to resign and for the Korean government to take measures that will restore the independence of the NHRCK. We also request that any new members of the standing commissioner who are appointed are in the human rights profession and have the ability to help to restore the independence of the NHRCK. The Korean government should realize that this critical situation of the NHRCK is not only a crisis of its own but a crisis of human rights in our society.

November 2, 2010

MINBYUN-Lawyers for a Democratic Society

President Sun-Soo KIM